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For every child, education. 

The importance of Early Childhood Education and Development (ECED) interventions are considered critical as they lead to various benefits related to brain development and significant social return.

The government of Nepal has made a significant investment in ECED, including the establishment and management of ECED centres, and through mainstreaming a yearlong ECED programs in the basic education system in 2016. The government provides free and compulsory one year of pre-primary education targeting children 48 months to 60 months of age.

However, there is a need to clarify the outcome of the ECED programs. The purpose of holistic development and school readiness among children set by the ECED curriculum and Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS) were not measured previously. An initiative for assessing ECED management and early learning and development of children was initiated by the Education Review Office (ERO) with support from UNICEF Nepal. In 2017, Grade 1 entry level assessment framework developed through a consultative process with the experts and relevant stakeholders. This assessment gives an opportunity to assess children’s learning and development status based on the ELDS and serves as proxy to assess outcome of ECED programs at Grade 1 with the nationally representative sample selected using stratified randomized sampling method. While the national assessment is comprehensive, due to challenges in large scale assessment, the cluster sample size was capped to 15 students. (The details of the assessment can be confirmed through ERO website: https://www.ero.gov.np/content/37/school-tayari-report-2080--2023-26-ad-/)

The assessment conducted in 2025 is a small-scale assessment of the Bagmati Province to overcome this limitation in the sample size of the national assessment. The School Readiness Study of Bagmati Province, 2025 aims to study any differences and similarities in comparison to the national assessment for the small schools with less than 10 students. For this assessment, with similar stratified randomized sampling method as for national assessment, sample survey was done in 91 schools (673 children) of 60 municipalities in the Bagmati province. This assessment covered both small and non-small schools for the comparison. The assessment was done through Kobo Toolbox and data is exported to excel files. This consultancy is expected to support data analysis and report writing of this assessment.

How can you make a difference? 

Scope of Work:

Under the supervision of the Education Specialist (ECD) and overall guidance of the Section Chief, the consultant will conduct the following activities to assist Education Review Office to develop School Readiness Report for the Bagmati Province 2025:

Data analysis

• Generate descriptive data and graphs on assessment trends and background information collected.
• Develop a summary of perception on school readiness based on the transcribed qualitative data.
• Compare and validate results with the national assessment in 2023/24.

Report development

• Work closely with the Education Review Office and UNICEF Nepal to draft the report based on last school readiness report and the data analysis mentioned above.
• Attend consultation meetings and develop revised versions to refine and update the report based on the inputs.

TASK

• Data check and cleaning as per need of the analysis (confirm outliers, missing information)
• Summarize the transcribed interviews of perception on school readiness
• Conduct descriptive analyses of the frequency and distribution of data on children’s learning and development outcomes, as well as the characteristics of schools and teachers (with reference to reports from previous years).
• Conduct descriptive and statistical comparisons of these frequencies and distributions by key child and school characteristics (with reference to reports from previous years).
• Compare the distributions (including means and variances) of children’s learning and development outcomes for small and non-small schools this year and with national-level data collected schools (previous data).
• Build multiple regression models to examine the relationships between children’s learning and development outcomes and school/teacher characteristics, using appropriate statistical approaches to account for nested data (e.g., multilevel models or cluster-robust standard errors). (with reference to reports from previous years)
• Draft a report summarizing the analysis results, with reference to reports from previous years in consultation with ERO and UNICEF team.
• Revise the report based on the series of consultations with the expert team and wider stakeholders
• Develop materials to concisely present the key findings for dissemination.

Deliverables. 

First Deliverable

• Descriptive statistics and graphs
• Summary on perception towards school readiness
• Clearly formatted tables and figures for univariate descriptive statistics, bivariate descriptive and test statistics (e.g., group comparisons), and multiple regression analyses.
• The log of analysis for record-keeping and reproducibility (e.g., clearly annotated R code, with references to R code from previous years).

Second Deliverable

• First draft of the report with background, literature review, findings, statistical analyses, initial conclusions and recommendations

Final Deliverable

• Final draft of the report on design incorporating comments from the stakeholders
• PPT slides for dissemination

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have… 

Education:

Advanced university degree in Education, Statistics, data science or relevant field.

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

• • At least 5 years of professional experience in quantitative analysis, preferably in education or social science.
  • Proven expertise in report writing. (Please provide links to reports in application)
  • Familiarity with early childhood/primary education or classroom-based interventions is desirable.
  • Familiarity with Nepal's education system and previous work with government or educational institutions preferred.

230939507. 230939507. required:

• • Advanced technical skills in R or any compatible software (national assessment was analyzed and data codes are in R).
  • Strong analytical and data management capabilities.
  • Strong skills in data presentation.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and Nepali.
  • Ability to collaborate across teams and organizations.
  • Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and deliver within timelines.

For more information, please click Term of Reference-Assessment Report.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace, UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. Click here to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

Remarks:  

female candidates and candidates from the under-represented ethnic groups are strongly encouraged to apply. 

Interested candidates are requested to submit their financial proposal in Nepali currency, based on the deliverables outlined in the vacancy notice.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract.