ABOUT LINK COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Link Community Development is a family of not for profit organisations working together to transform education for children and communities across impoverished rural areas of Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda and Uganda. Since our foundation in 1995 we have worked in 3,000 schools and improved the lives of over two million children through unique and effective school improvement models. We guide governments and educators to adopt low-cost solutions to improve learning and support for children, with a focus on literacy, numeracy and inclusion for the most marginalised children. Through a partnership delivery model which embeds piloting and learning within local systems, we influence changes to policy, practice and accountability on a national scale, and our interventions are regularly adapted and replicated by governments and NGOs in new countries and contexts. Link Community Development International (LCDI), based in Edinburgh, Scotland supports all project, M&E, fundraising, finance and governance activities in our five sub-Saharan partner countries.

Link Community Development believes that a child, vulnerable adult or person at risk should never experience abuse of any kind. We have a responsibility to work in a way that promotes the welfare of all and protects them from harm. We have a zero tolerance approach to any harm to or exploitation of a child or vulnerable adult by any of our staff, representatives or partners.JOB PURPOSE

The Regional Assistant will support the Regional Specialist to support the delivery of Task 3 of TARGET, the DFID-funded programme to support the Government of Ethiopia’s General Education Quality Improvement Programme for Equity (GEQIP-E).  Task 3 of TARGET aims to enhance instructional leadership to improve school performance. Reporting to Link’s Regional Specialist, the post-holder will work closely with this Specialist to ensure efficient delivery and reporting of a number of model interventions in their respective region.

ABOUT THE PROGRAMME

Objective 3 of the TARGET terms of reference is to provide technical assistance to the FMoE and its key directorates, agencies, regional education bureaus, woredas, districts and schools as relevant to the programme.  The technical assistance is intended to be strategically linked to deepening the impact of DFID’s financial aid and the intended results to be delivered. Model interventions will be implemented in the four emerging regions of Afar, Somali, Benshangul-Gumuz and Gambella, focusing initially on 9000 least performing schools. These will be designed to directly improve School Improvement Planning (SIP) activity.

As part of improving the current national school leadership training and working towards gender equity, TARGET will enhance instructional leadership through on the job capacity development programmes for school supervisors, school leadership and community members.  The programme will work with the FMoE, REBS, Zones as relevant, and Woreda Education Offices (WEOs) to identify the least performing schools and strengthen school leadership and management to improve inclusion, community engagement, teacher classroom performance, and career development, helping to improve school performance levels over time.

Specifically, Link will support the strengthening of the School Improvement Programme (SIP) and SIP standards, as well as the development of a number of ‘model interventions’ to be implemented in each region according to context with a focus on:

a) Improving inclusion of often-excluded children -  rural girls, children with special needs, and pastoralist children – using workable and innovative models to improve attendance and achievement of such disadvantaged learners.

b) Improved impact of school and cluster-based training on teacher performance in the classroom especially in early grade reading and writing.

c) Improved engagement with communities to build a sense of shared ownership of the schools, school management and the safety and inclusion of all children, demonstrated through inclusive school improvement planning and the more efficient use of school resources for learning.

INDICATIVE AREAS OF KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Work closely with the Regional Specialist to ensure the implementation of TARGET in a specific Region
• Develop close and supportive working relationships with Regional and Woreda staff and local CSOs
• Aid the research, monitoring and support to local CSOs who will deliver efficient and effective support to marginalised learners
• Assist in the co-ordination of stakeholders to ensure that all work plan activities are delivered on time and on budget and to the required quality
• Perform finance tasks to ensure smooth running of activities in the regions
• Contribute to delivery of detailed operational plan including budget for implementation of project activities based on approved project budget and work plan
• Support compilation of progress reports
• When necessary, attend and represent Link at high-level engagement zone, federal, regional and national dissemination events

Tenure

• Until November 2022

PERSON SPECIFICATION

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS

Essential

• Strong knowledge and understanding of international best practice on education and inclusion – namely girls, people with disabilities and pastoralists, and community engagement
• Experience working with local CSOs and community groups
• Demonstrable experience of the Ethiopian education system
• Experience of working with government officials within Ethiopia
• Strong project management skills and experience in coordinating delivery of multiple activities through different partners
• Proven experience in child protection and safeguarding activitie

Desirable

• Experience delivering projects for marginalised beneficiaries
• An understanding of inclusive education programming, including those with disabilities
• Experience in pre-primary, primary and secondary education levels
• A postgraduate degree in a relevant field (International Development, education, research skills)
• SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES

Essential

• Excellent interpersonal and management skills
• Ability to self-manage a demanding workload
• Ability to think and plan strategically
• Strong ability in MS Office
• Demonstrable ability to complete work to a high standard
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Proven track record in monitoring, evaluation and learning

Desirable

• Working knowledge of Amharic and/ or a Regional language