Multiple and Flexible Pathways for Adolescents Consultant
Organizational Context
UNICEF operates in over 190 countries, dedicated to saving children's lives, defending their rights, and helping them reach their full potential from early childhood through adolescence. We are committed, passionate, and proud of our work, viewing the promotion of every child's rights not just as a job, but as a calling. We foster a diverse and passionate culture with opportunities for professional and personal growth.
Job Purpose
This consultancy aims to address critical gaps in supporting adolescents, particularly those affected by conflict and displacement, in acquiring knowledge and skills for education, work, and citizenship. Many adolescents face barriers to formal education, such as interrupted schooling and age-grade mismatches. Flexible learning pathways are crucial but inconsistently implemented. This assignment will focus on documenting effective practices, overcoming barriers to certification and progression, and developing practical guidance for fragile and displacement-affected contexts. By analyzing promising approaches from PROSPECTS partnership countries, the consultant will identify strategies to expand quality, flexible education opportunities, ensuring adolescents can transition successfully to further education, decent work, and active citizenship.
Responsibilities
The consultant will identify and analyze promising approaches to flexible learning pathways for adolescents, drawing on evidence from PROSPECTS partnership countries. This includes examining existing documentation of effective practices and identifying barriers to certification and progression for adolescents in fragile and displacement-affected contexts. A key responsibility will be to develop practical guidance for UNICEF country offices and partners to support the expansion of quality, flexible education opportunities. This guidance should address challenges related to interrupted schooling, age-grade mismatches, lack of documentation, and legal restrictions. The consultant will also analyze how flexible learning pathways can be aligned with qualification frameworks, certification systems, and learning-to-earning pathways. The work will involve synthesizing findings from various sources, including PROSPECTS partnership countries, and presenting them in a clear and actionable format. The consultant will contribute to strengthening education systems by providing evidence-based recommendations and practical tools to enhance adolescent learning and transition outcomes in challenging environments.
Work Experience
A minimum of 8 years of professional experience in education systems strengthening, with demonstrated expertise in Multiple Flexible Pathways (MFPs), secondary education, and skills development.
Skills
Designing and operationalizing system-level reforms, Integration of non-formal and alternative pathways within national education systems, Alignment with qualification frameworks, Alignment with certification systems, Alignment with learning-to-earning pathways, Working in humanitarian contexts, Working in development contexts, Analysis of educational practices, Development of practical guidance, Adolescent education, Skills development, Education systems strengthening