International Consultant - Inclusive Education (Remote) at United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)

United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: International Consultant - Inclusive Education

Job No: 585932
Location: Abuja (Remote)
Contract type: Consultant
Duration: 12 Months (Remote with regular travels to Nigeria including Borno, Adamawa and Yobe)
Level: Consultancy
Categories: Education

Background

• Nigeria is home to approximately 206 million people, 43 per cent of whom are below 14 years of age. By 2030, there will be close to 126 million children in Nigeria.
• The growing child population places significant pressure on the provision of schooling and the delivery of education services.
• Despite the progress made in the past years, 10.2 million children of primary school age and 8.1 million children of junior secondary school age remain out of school.
• Due to the limited access to schooling and poor quality of education, about 75 per cent of children aged 7–14 do not develop foundational literacy and numeracy skills, which are critical building blocks for continued learning and acquisition of advanced skills.
• Insecurities such as armed conflicts and natural hazards in North-East and North-West of Nigeria poses additional challenges in securing and expanding access to quality, inclusive education for children in Nigeria.
• The protracted armed conflict in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa States have further exacerbated the barriers to education.

How can you make a difference? 
Purpose of the Assignment:

• UNICEF Nigeria is the lead consortia partner for the ECW MYRP II and within this programme there is significant work required to support the Government of Nigeria and partners with ensuring there are more children with disabilities learning.
• Through this funding, UNICEF will support both the Federal Ministry of Education and the States of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa with technical expertise which will lead to practical and implementable interventions to increase access and learning opportunities for children with disabilities.
• This includes conducting a comprehensive disability assessment to generate reliable data, identify key barriers, and inform practical, scalable interventions aimed at improving access, participation, and learning outcomes for children with disabilities.

Scope of Work
Under the overall supervision of the Education managers in Abuja and Maiduguri, the consultant will undertake the following:

• Provide technical expertise to UBEC on the implementation of inclusive education policies for children with disabilities through three high level technical meetings
• Support the Government to develop guidelines and operational protocols with guidance from the national document to promote the effective inclusion of children with disabilities across all education services (infrastructure, teaching and learning, assessment)
• Lead a review and update of the current training materials for teachers on inclusive education in collaboration with UBEC (Training pack for teachers on inclusive education)
• Provide technical support to States to domesticate and implement State level inclusive education action plans
• Provide technical support to MYRP consortium partners to mainstream inclusive education, ensuring that children with disabilities have improved access to quality education in project- supported schools. This will be through high-level technical workshops and meetings as well as coaching and mentoring to relevant partners.

Deliverables / Outputs:

• Provide technical support to Bay States to map existing referral pathways for support with children with special needs.
• Outputs:
  • Minutes of meetings and mapped referral pathways submitted.
• Support the Government to develop guidelines guidance from the national document to promote the effective inclusion of children with disabilities across all education services (infrastructure, teaching and learning, assessment)
• Outputs:
  • Guidelines submitted
• Lead a review and update of the current training materials for teachers on inclusive education in collaboration with UBEC
• Outputs:
  • Training pack for teachers on inclusive education submitted
• Provide technical support to MYRP consortium partners to mainstream inclusive education, ensuring that children with disabilities have improved access to quality education in project supported schools. This will be through high- level technical workshops and meetings as well as coaching and mentoring to relevant partners.
• Outputs:
  • Short report of technical support given submitted
• Support the consortia partners and the MRYP II Government partners to conduct and present the results of the assessment. This will involve leading a technical working group to undertake the assessment and present the results.
• Outputs:
  • Minutes of meetings and plan for conducting the assessment submitted

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Masters level degree in Education with a specialism in Inclusive Education, Special Education, SEND Teaching qualification in SEND (desirable)
• Demonstrated strong working knowledge and experience in inclusive education at a global level for at least ten years.
• At least five years of experience in supporting inclusive education in developing contexts.
• At least five years of experience in working with inclusive teams to design, develop, plan and conduct assessments to identify children with special needs.
• Ability to develop training materials to orientate MoE staff on inclusive education
• At least five years of experience in leading and facilitating high-level technical working groups and providing quality technical advice to MoE staff, school leaders and teachers.
• Fluency in English with strong written and oral skills.
• Fluency in English writing skills for training materials, assessment and roadmap development.

Application Closing Date
18th November, 2025; 11:55 PM West Central Africa Standard Time.