Position:  Program Coordinator (Consultant)

No of Position: 2

Project: Technical Assistance Program - GEP

Base Location: Sheopur, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

Duration: 1^st August 2024 – 31st December 2024 

About Room to Read

Founded in 2000 on the belief that World Change Starts with Educated Children®, Room to Read is creating a world free from illiteracy and gender inequality through education. We are achieving this goal by helping children in historically low-income communities develop literacy skills and a habit of reading, and by supporting girls as they build life skills to succeed in secondary school and negotiate key life decisions. Room to Read collaborates with local communities, partner organizations and governments to test and implement innovative models that can be integrated into the education system to deliver positive outcomes for children at scale. To date, Room to Read has benefited more than 39 million children and has worked in 24 countries and in more than 192,000 communities, providing additional support through remote solutions that facilitate learning beyond the classroom. Room to Read aims to benefit 40 million children by 2025.

Room to Read India was established in 2003 and presently has programs in ten states – Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.

Position Overview:

Room to Read (RtR) India has entered a strategic partnership with government to bring about transformational changes. The long-term goal of program is to institutionalize a life skills program within the educational system, initially at the Block level/ district level and eventually at the state level, focusing on marginalized communities through school-based interventions. Our vision is to equip secondary school-aged tribal girls with the necessary tools and life skills to advocate for themselves, continue their school education, and make informed decisions for their futures. Our immediate objective is to implement a contextually tailored, gender-transformative life skills program for the girls through technical assistance approach. This program will be designed to be eventually institutionalized within the educational system in the long term, ensuring sustained impact and empowerment for the targeted communities.

The Consultant, GEP TA, will oversee the project implementation and lead the agenda of system strengthening at district and block level. The position will be responsible for quality implementation, coordination, development, and reporting of the variant of the Girls Education Program in Sheopur district and would serve as the main point of contact for CACs, DRGs, Block level officials, Tribal Department and district level official on technical support being provided under the project through a team of other staff members of RtR to be placed at block/district or state level. The position would plan, coordinate, and execute the MTs Training, CACs training, monitor teachers training and orientation of government officials. The position will report to the State Program Officer. This position will involve frequent travel to schools located in multiple blocks as well as regular interaction with education officials, school administrators, teachers, and students.

Roles & Responsibilities:

Programme Planning, Management & Implementation

• Develop a thorough understanding of Room to Read’s Girls Education program design.
• Oversee the implementation of the project at block level, ensuring timely, efficient and well-coordinated implementation, adhering to the program and budget guidelines.
• Coordinate and ensure joint monitoring visits with cluster and block level officials for supportive supervision and monitoring as per defined template.
• Overall lead the different offline and online trainings organized for MTs and Teachers.
• Take lead in offline and online training of government functionaries, teachers, field staff and review meetings and play the role of key facilitator for these trainings.
• Provide handholding support to MTs and teachers in the implementation of the program.
• Support the State Program Officer in strategic planning and advocacy, including sustainability planning and future expansion decisions.
• Participate in any other activities which may be required to be undertaken to fulfil the objectives of the organization in consultation with State Program Officer.
• Lead the RtR and support in government campaigns related to the project objectives.

Technical Expertise & System Strengthening:

• Stay updated regarding the changing trends and any new state level policies, programmes, or interventions, as announced by the government.
• Participate in workshops on material development, training module development and training of trainers.
• Support State Program Officer at State Level and DIET for system strengthening efforts.
• Attend review meetings at the block and cluster level and provide reflective feedback on program implementation and design issues and use those forums to advocate for enabling policies and government orders in support of RtR Girls Education Program.
• Provide technical oversight to CACs & BRCs and support them in supportive supervision of teachers during monitoring visits. Identify gaps in their capabilities and plan for their capacity building in discussion with the team.
• Support State Program Officer in organising review meetings at Block level/ district level/state level.
• Represent Room to Read in different forums and advocate the importance of life skills and need of the same in adolescents.

 Coordination & Reporting:

• Make regular joint visits to project schools with key government officials from block and district as per touch points, program design and in coordination with supervisor, for supportive supervision and monitoring as per defined template.
• Collect all the relevant information from field related to program design and implementation. Submit weekly and monthly report to the supervisor and CO as per the standard template.
• Provide technical oversight to the CACs, Teachers and support them in coaching and communication.
• Share at least 3 case stories every month, one each of CACs, Teachers and Students.
• Analyse various data and information emanating from the field, develop programmatic co-relations and flag off issues for larger discussion.

Research and Monitoring:

• Lead the data collection activities by internal and External Agency in the district.
• Support State Program Officer and RME team in reviewing the monitoring and evaluation data of school monitoring visit and supportive supervision.
• Identify key issues around program quality and links between monitoring and evaluation and quality assurance and improvement.
• Represent Room to Read in different forums and advocate the importance of our educational work in the developing world.

To be successful as a member of the Room to Read team, you will:

• have a passion for our mission and a strong desire to impact an up-and-coming non-profit organization.
• be an innovative and creative thinker – you are not afraid to try something new and inspire others to do so.
• have a very high level of personal and professional integrity and trustworthiness.
• have a strong work ethic and require minimal direction.
• be both self-confident and humble.
• work well independently as well as part of a team.
• thrive in a fast-paced and fun environment.

Local Contextual Awareness:

• Demonstrated understanding of Madhya Pradesh’s girls’ education issues.
• Knowledge of state’s policies and guidelines governing education in the state

Qualifications:

• Educational Background: A master's degree in a relevant field such as education, social sciences, or a related discipline.
• Experience: Proven experience in program implementation.
• Relevant Experience: 2-5 years of experience in program implementation, working with schools and teachers.
• Familiarity with various programs and organizations in the field of girl’s education and life skills.
• Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Ability to working with government officials, teachers to convey feedback on the programmatic activities.
• Collaboration: A team player with a collaborative mindset, capable of building strong working relationships with diverse stakeholders.

Technical Evaluation for Consultant:

Professional/Academic Background:

• Evaluate will be based consultant's educational/academic qualifications.
• Score out of 5 based on educational qualifications.

Experience in Relevant Areas:

• Review work she/he has done previously in the areas of girl education, children, teachers and with schools.
• Assign a score out of 5 based on the assessment.

Local Awareness:

• Demonstrated understanding of MP state’s educational challenges, including girls’/gender issues.
• Assign a score out of 5 based on the assessment.

Travel and Relocation:

• Assessment will be based on the willingness to relocate at district/block level and extensive travel in the field areas.
• Score out of 5 based on clarity and alignment with project requirements.

Other Terms:

• The consultant will have to submit an approved invoice along with timesheet to claim payments every month.
• All project-related travel expenses will be covered by the Consultant and will be reimbursed upon submission of supporting documents, under the RtR- TA project budget.
• Working days – Monday to Saturday.
• Working timing – 9.30 am to 6 pm/or as per school opening time.

Room to Read is a child-safe organization; all personnel are expected to adhere to Room to Read’s Child Protection Policy and Child Protection Code of Conduct.

Proposed Timeline

The duration of the contract would be from Aug 24 to Dec 2024.

• Consultant should apply with their detailed CV and share relevant work experience and samples, where required.
• CV to be sent to India.Bids@roomtoread.org (without copying anyone) in RTR, with the Subject line “Program Coordinator (Consultant – GEP TA) at MP”.              
• Last Date for the submission is 21 July 2024.

• Only shortlisted candidates will be acknowledged.
• Any incomplete application or process deviation, the proposal will automatically be rejected.

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