Education Consultant (Child Rights)

Vacancy Notice: ECCR_01_GR/23_15

Job title: Education Consultant (Child Rights)

Location: Home based

Type of contract: ICMC

Starting date: 4 January 2023

Closing date for applications: 11 December 2023

Contract duration: 6 months (end date: 30 June 2024)

ABOUT ICMC

The International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) is an international non-governmental organization, whose mission is to protect and serve children as well as uprooted people, including refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced people, victims of human trafficking, and migrants - regardless of faith, race, ethnicity, or nationality.

ICMC started a partnership with UNICEF in Greece in order to deploy a highly qualified affiliated workforce to assist UNICEF Greece Country Office.

SCOPE OF WORK

Greece, as one of the first signatories to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and a firm supporter of children’s rights to equitable access to education, provides a strong legal framework and political commitment that accommodates about 1.2 million children in state schools. However, the system is marked by an absence of long-term vision and strategy for ensuring every child in Greece has equal opportunities for quality learning, fostering “here-and-now” well-being as well as competencies and skills for future employment outcomes, and the engagement with others in increasingly diverse and complex societies.  Such a strategy should also be accompanied by elaborated national targets, a strong monitoring system and a sustainable budget. 

Moreover, the latest report issued by the Committee of the Rights of the Child,2 while noting the measures taken to improve access to education for children in vulnerable situations, recalls SDG targets 4.1, 4.2 and 4.5, and recommends that the State party strengthen the inclusiveness of its education system, remove barriers to school enrolment and ensure among other that children with disabilities, Roma children, asylum-seeking and refugee children, unaccompanied migrant children, children from low Socio economic Strata are promptly integrated into, retained and finish the mainstream pre-primary, primary and secondary education, regardless of their place of residence.  In the same document it is noted that there is need to strengthen the quality of learning and transferable skills in schools, ensure that schools are fully and safely accessible and equipped with adequate infrastructure and educational technologies.

Quantitative data confirms concerns of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. In the beginning of the previous school year (2022-23) it was estimated3 that 8,700 children with refugee background (of whom 3,700 are children from Ukraine) were out of school, and arrivals are currently on the rise; previous references by UNICEF (42% of children were enrolled to formal education in 2020) and Greek Ombudsperson (2021)4 indicate this as a persistent challenge in the Greek education system, although significant improvement has been recorded for the 2021-2022 school year, with 16,417 refugee and migrant students being enrolled.5

Same challenges appear for Roma children as only 69% of were attending compulsory education in 2016 while discrimination and segregation issues remain; 20% of Roma felt being discriminated against when in contact with school as parent or student in the past 5 years while half (48%) of Roma children of age between 6 and 15 attend classes in schools in which either all pupils or most of them are Roma.6

A high number of children with disabilities is believed to be out of education, however there is still no official data to indicate the extend of the problem in compulsory education.

According to the latest PISA report (2018)7, student performance in all reading, mathematics and science was below average compared to other OECD countries, while the difference regarding the socio-economic status explains 11% of the variance in reading performance. More qualitative indicators associated with school climate and teachers practises imply lack of engagement.

Finally, data collection and monitoring of the realization of children’s rights remains an area that could be improved. Specifically, the lack of a consistent system of collecting and analysing disaggregated data on children rights continues to impact the ability of the state to plan and respond effectively.

UNICEF aims to ensure that all children benefit from inclusive, equitable, quality education, through the implementation of a Child Rights Based Schools (CRBS) model that responds to identified rights-based needs, based on evidence, with consideration given to reaching the most marginalized children in the country context (children experiencing multiple violations of their rights). UNICEF will develop a strategic plan for rolling out the Child Rights Based Schools (CRBS) initiative in active cooperation with the Ministry of Education, the Institute of Educational Policy, and other stakeholders, working through policy, curriculum reform and teacher training and by embedding child rights into monitoring and inspection frameworks, as well as by transforming the whole school environment to become rights-respecting via the CRBS model.   

Responsibilities

The incumbent will be assigned contributory accountabilities for all or part of the following duties: 

• Design a roll out plan for the implementation of a CRBS model in schools in Greece.
• In collaboration with the Institute for Education Policy (IEP) and the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports (MoERAS) carry out a mixed method needs assessment of a sample of 25 schools of different level, area and type of challenges faced, to identify a group of schools that will commit to engage in a roll out process of piloting the CRSB programme.
• Support the development and implementation of CRSB initiative using processes and tools to assess how rights respecting school is, based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and using rights-based child participation.
• In a selective sample of schools (chosen for piloting phase) work collaboratively with school leadership and community to suggest specific action plans based on identified needs. 
• Design and organize a series of awareness raising and capacity building activities in schools, targeting leadership, educator, student and parent levels, while adopting and implementing a whole school approach with reference to Child Rights Education.
• Provide technical support to MOERAS and IEP on the development of tools and materials to strengthen Child Rights education and inclusive education more broadly, targeting specifically refugee and migrant children, children with disabilities and special education needs, and Roma children.
• Translate and adapt Toolkits, Guides and Educational Material developed by UNICEF regionally and worldwide to be used in the Greek context.
• Develop new educational material to facilitate the horizontal integration of Child Rights in all school subjects and practices.
• Consolidate the CRBS model and develop an Action Plan which will include actions to be endorsed by state authorities at national and school level.

Requirements

1. Education

A university degree in one of the following fields is required: education, education psychology, legal studies with a focus on human/child rights.

2. Experience

A minimum of three (3) years of relevant professional work experience providing support to programme/project management is required.

Experience in the area of child rights is an asset.

3. Language Requirements

Fluency in English and Greek is required.

HOW TO APPLY

Interested candidates should submit a detailed CV of maximum four pages in English, a motivation letter and two professional references with full and up to date contact details via email, to:

Mr. Akis Papakonstantinou, ICMC HR Officer

The closing date for receipt of applications is 11/12/2023.

The Vacancy Notice number ECCR_01_GR/23_15 and the applicant’s full name must be quoted in the email subject line.

Applications will be evaluated upon reception and interviews with shortlisted candidates may be conducted before the closing date. Referees may be contacted prior to the interviewing stage.

DATA PROTECTION

By submitting an application, you agree that ICMC collects and manages the information that you provide. You also agree that your data may be shared with UNICEF. Your personal information will be used for recruitment purposes only. Your application will be treated with strict confidentiality.

Owing to the volume of applications, ICMC regrets that only applicants short-listed for an interview will be notified.

ICMC is committed to equal employment opportunities for all applicants. ICMC does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, color, national origin, religion, physical or mental ability, marital status and age. Applications will be treated with strict confidentiality.

ICMC is committed to a Zero-Tolerance Policy toward sexual exploitation, abuses and all forms of unlawful harassment, including but not limited to sexual harassment. Screening of applications includes the vetting for records of prior misconduct and reference checking. By submitting your application, you declare your consent for your former employer to disclose any details concerning criminal convictions or misconduct.  ICMC can take other necessary measures to ensure that people involved in substantiated cases of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment are not recruited.