Consultant At the 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: Consultant – Research on Examining Factors Contributing to Drop out Rates Among boys in Schools in Nigeria

Job no: 573209
Location: Abuja
Level: Consultancy
Categories: Education

How Can You Make a Difference? 

• As home to approximately 206 million people, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, and the population is continuously growing. According to current projections, by 2050, 1 of every 13 births globally will take place in Nigeria.
• To protect the right to education, the country developed policies that guarantee free and compulsory basic education and has seen increasing access to education. Progress in enrolment, however, is threatened by high out-of-school rates, school dropout, and persistent inequality.
• According to the National Personnel Audit 2018, 10.2 million children of primary school age and 8.1 of junior secondary school age are out of school. Due to the limited access to school and the poor quality of education provided, 70 percent of 10-year-olds cannot read a simple sentence. Poor quality of education fuels school dropout as well.

Purpose of Assignment

• Given a gender parity that historically favors boys, UNICEF Nigeria implemented successful scalable interventions targeted at increasing access to education for girls in the past 10 years.
• These interventions brought an additional 1.5 million girls to schools across 6 states in Northern Nigeria. However, recent reports have highlighted that many boys are out of school and dropping out of school across states in the country.
• Understanding the situations and causes of school dropout among boys, which would be different from those of girls, is key to addressing the out-of-school children issue in the country.

Scope of Work
The purpose of this research include:

• Collect data on school dropout at primary and junior secondary level (public school only) in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and other data necessary to analyze school dropout and factors associated with the likelihood of dropout across the country. Identify data available from secondary sources, and data that need to be collected through surveys/interviews as primary sources.
• Measure and assess the prevalence of dropout in both the number and rates of dropout for boys and girls respectively, by location, education level, types of schools, and others.
• Examine factors associated with the likelihood of dropping out of school for boys and girls respectively, which include demographic factors of children/families (e.g., age, grade level, poverty), school characteristics, and community characteristics, among others.

Under the supervision of the Chief of Education, and with the guidance and support of the education manager and education specialist, the consultant will be responsible for the following:

Develop an inception report with a literature review:

• Conduct a literature review on boys’ dropout in developing countries especially in Africa including Nigeria.
• Building on the existing evidence and insights, develop an inception report, which presents the background, literature review, problem statement, research questions, research framework, methodology, data collection plan, limitations, deliverables, and timeline of this research project.

Develop a detailed survey plan:

• Based on the results of secondary data analysis, identify additional data to be collected through field surveys to conduct qualitative analysis and if necessary additional quantitative analysis.
• Develop a detailed survey plan that outlines the objectives of field surveys, types of data/information to be collected, survey methodologies (e.g., questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions), sampling strategy and size, and data collection instruments. The field survey should be implemented in multiple locations (e.g., rural and urban, different states) to get insights into the realities of marginalized children in different contexts.

Conduct field surveys and use primary data to perform qualitative/quantitative analysis:

• Administer the filed surveys to collect the primary data from key stakeholders to complement the secondary data analysis.
• Using the primary data collected, conduct qualitative (and quantitative analysis where necessary) to provide further contextualization of the findings on the factors explaining the dropout of boys.

Develop an analytical report and strategy notes and present findings:

• Develop a final analytical report that provides details of findings with policy recommendations to address boys’ dropouts in Nigeria. The technical report should include the background, literature review, research questions, problem statement, data and methodology, limitations, findings, discussions, and policy recommendations.
• Develop strategy notes on the prevention management of dropouts with a clear Theory of Change (TOC) based on evidence-informed interventions.
• Present the findings to UNICEF, the government, and other education stakeholders, using PPT slides summarizing the research project.

Tasks/Milestones
Develop an inception report with a literature review:

• Conduct a literature review on boys’ dropout in developing countries especially in Africa including Nigeria.
• Building on the existing evidence and insights, develop an inception report, which presents the background, literature review, problem statement, research questions, research framework, methodology, data collection plan, limitations, deliverables, and timeline of this research project.

Deliverables/Outputs:

• Literature review
• Draft inception report
• Final inception report

Develop a detailed survey plan:

• Based on the results of secondary data analysis, identify additional data to be collected through field surveys to conduct qualitative analysis and if necessary additional quantitative analysis.
• Develop a detailed survey plan that outlines the objectives of field surveys, types of data/information to be collected, survey methodologies (e.g., questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions), sampling strategy and size, and data collection instruments.
• The field survey should be implemented in multiple locations (e.g., rural and urban, different states) to get insights  into the realities of marginalized children in different contexts

Deliverables/Outputs:

• Draft survey plan with instruments
• Final survey plan with revised instruments

Conduct field surveys and use primary data to perform qualitative/quantitative analysis:

• Administer the filed surveys to collect the primary data from key stakeholders to complement the secondary data analysis.
• Using the primary data collected, conduct qualitative (and quantitative analysis where necessary) to provide further contextualization of the findings on the factors explaining the dropout of boys.

Deliverables/Outputs:

• Primary data collected
• Draft/Final research report with policy recommendations and TOC
• Draft/Final strategy notes on prevention management of dropout
• PPT slides on the research project and findings presented to stakeholders.

Requirements
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have:

• An Advanced University Degree in Education Development, Education Policy, Social Policy, International Relations, or a related field.
• A minimum of 8 years of experience in education, and research, including quantitative and qualitative methods, in development and/or humanitarian contexts, with demonstrated experience in gender analysis.
• A minimum of 8 years experience in gender analysis in education.
• A minimum of 8 years of working experience with using education data to inform evidence-based decision-making to address key barriers to education access for marginalized populations.
• Fluency in English

Skills:

• Strong working knowledge of key data sources on education data (MICS, DHIS, UIS, NEDS in Nigeria, and others) is an asset.
• Experience in mapping data against key policy and international priorities.
• Ability to present ideas concisely for diverse audiences and to give practical, actionable advice grounded in evidence.

Application Closing Date
4th July, 2024.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
CLICK HERE TO APPLY