Education Coordinator

Organizational Context

The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) is an international non-governmental organization with a mission to accompany, serve, and advocate for the rights of refugees and forcibly displaced people. The organization was founded in November 1980 and has a presence in over 57 countries. JRS undertakes services at national and regional levels with the support and guidance of an international office in Rome. The style of JRS service is human and spiritual, working in situations of greatest need, seeking the long-term wellbeing of refugees and displaced persons, while not neglecting their immediate or urgent needs. JRS offers opportunities to a wide variety of staff, local and international, while maintaining a realistic and localized scheme of salary/stipend, insurance, etc.

In Burundi, JRS works in five (5) Congolese refugee camps (Kinama, Musasa, Kavumu, Bwagiriza and Nyankanda) in the provinces of Ruyigi and Muyinga, in the urban environment (Bujumbura and Rumonge) and in repatriation zones of the country. Its sectors of intervention include education, economic empowerment, psychosocial, protection, reintegration, reconciliation, and social cohesion. With a cross border range of activities in the area of reintegration, reconciliation and social cohesion, JRS is also working in Tanzania mainly in the sectors of inclusive education, psychological support in the refugee camps of Nduta and Nyarugusu, region of Kigoma.

The education program covers formal education (kindergarten, primary, secondary and post-secondary education). It deals with teacher training, and non-formal education, such as adult literacy and vocational training in all the zones of intervention for the refugees and the repatriates.

It is in this context that JRS Burundi – Tanzania is recruiting a Country Education Coordinator for the education program in both countries.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Under the direction and supervision of the Country Director, the Education Coordinator will be responsible for the following duties and responsibilities:

General objective of the position

• Coordinate with all partners and relevant stakeholders in the Education in Emergencies sector, in an inclusive and transparent manner.
• Provide oversight and support for effective and inclusive education sector coordination at sub-national and camp level, as appropriate.
• Promote effective inter-agency program implementation, supported by common reporting structures and tools, needs assessments, standards / and harmonized project design to maximize impact, prevent overlap and minimize gaps.
• Contribute to common education sector advocacy and resource mobilization.
• Monitor sector progress and ensure timely and accurate reporting of all partners against key indicators and targets.
• Share information about education needs/gaps analysis to guarantee a common understanding by all partners of the education sector’s needs, to ensure that the strategy’s objectives and targets are met.
• Prepare and organize monthly EiE Sector working group (SWG) meetings at national level, together with UNHCR and Ministry of Education and Sports to set strategies and monitor progress toward common targets, share lessons learnt, challenges and action points between EiE partners; At sub-national (district)and/or settlement level, ensure and monitor that lean, results oriented education sector coordination is in place.
• Participate and/or represent EIE SWG in inter-sector coordination meetings and other relevant Inter Agency processes to ensure that appropriate linkages are made with other sector’s objectives and strategies.
• Identify core Education advocacy concerns and support capacity building for JRS staffs in advocacy strategy.
• Educational support to JRS Burundi-Tanzania education projects. Coordination with country office members and field teams for effective support in the implementation of quality education.
• Strengthening the quality of JRS education programs through continuous investigation and proposing improvements in education, within the framework of international standards education in emergencies
• Aligning JRS Burundi-Tanzania’s educational strategy based on JRS values and the international strategy for education.
• Supporting refugees in the process of integration into the various national education systems.
• Capacity building of educational institutions in refugee camps and areas of return as well as JRS teams for the implementation of JRS projects.
• Regular coordination with the different education actors in the country, UNHCR, partners, the education cluster, the Ministry of Education and administrative authorities to ensure effective information exchange, technical support and advocacy in the framework of humanitarian education action in the country.

Main responsibilities of the position

Planning of activities

• Under the supervision of the Country Director, help the field teams to plan and prepare the monthly activities to be carried out for an effective support of the school programs in the camps and sites according to the established projects.
• Support internal strategic planning and coordination across JRS Burundi/Tanzania EiE operation areas and ensure harmonization and continuity amongst projects and target groups.
• Ensure JRS’s active participation at sector level, in national and sub-national working groups, task teams and inter-agency meetings.
• Ensure JRS’s compliance with standards, reporting procedures and harmonized sector tools.
• Ensure JRS’s EiE activities are in the line with sector commitments and the JRS global strategy, and fulfil JRS commitments regarding activity reporting, monitoring, and target setting.

Project implementation

• Define and harmonize the pedagogical criteria for JRS.
• Joint planning, technical support, and supervision in the implementation of the educational activities of the projects.
• Provision and development of reference materials and documents for the work of field teams.
• Support to national directors, project directors and national program officers in the development of annual projects.
• Build the capacities of teachers.
• Evaluate the training needs of teaching staff to improve performance.
• Supervision and coordination of continuous training plans for projects.
• Implementation and improvement of the educational monitoring plan for.
• Design and development of monitoring and evaluation tools for quality education
• Organize training in adapted methodologies.
• Technical support for skills training projects.
• Support the self-care process.
• Provide technical support for the smooth running of the process of integrating schools in refugee camps into the education system of the host country.
• Accompaniment of the work of accompaniment of Parents of Students Associations, supporting and strengthening the process of community participation.
• Coordinate with the various players in Education.
• Regular participation in education coordination meetings with UNHCR and partners, education cluster and coordination meetings with the Ministry of National Education.
• Support the field teams in the technical coordination work with the decentralized state services.
• Ensure the effective exchange of information, technical support and advocacy within the framework of humanitarian education action between JRS and other actors.

Reporting

• Contribution to the development of reporting tools
• Write and share with program managers monthly activity reports.
• Report to JRS teams on agreements made in meetings with other education actors (UNHCR and partners, MEN, etc.).

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Support Monitoring and Evaluation department with common sector data collection tools, capacity building, and external communication of needs assessments, reports.
• Participate in the identification of educational needs in the camps and new opportunities.
• Propose or develop useful outlines for the evaluation of indicators concerning the impact of our projects on the quality of education in the camps.
• Take stock of the results of annual reviews of project beneficiaries.
• Support program managers in the monitoring and evaluation process
• Plan and coordinate meetings of program managers to promote an exchange framework.
• Collaborate with national offices specializing in the field to facilitate the understanding and monitoring of educational tools.
• Prepare, in collaboration with the program managers, an assessment of the level of implementation of projects and share with the country Director, the impact of these projects on academic performance.

Others

• Technical support on the development of concept notes and proposals, especially those ones prepared for our main donors such us UNHCR, UNICEF etc….
• Participate in the recruitment process of educational staff.

Skills and qualifications

• Masters in educational sciences or equivalent experience
• Proven work experience of at least 3 years for the same position in a Humanitarian organization or have at least 5 years of experience in the field of teaching
• Experience working with refugees or forcibly displaced persons. Knowledge of the reality of life in camps for refugees and displaced persons.
• Knowledge of the education systems of the people served
• Knowledge of the functioning of educational centers and training of teachers.
• Knowledge of international standards on emerging education.
• Be perfectly bilingual in French and English (oral and written).
• Attitude and professional behavior: dynamism, capacity for coordination and teamwork, autonomy in the performance of one’s duties, leadership, honesty, sense of organization.
• Master computer tools, especially software: Word, Excel.

Qualities

• Adhere to JRS values, code of conduct and other policies in place.
• Ability to take initiatives and bring innovative ideas.
• Communication skills.
• Sense of discretion and responsibility
• Ability to adapt to working conditions and tasks that may change with the reality on the ground.
• Leadership capacity and work organization
• Ability to work in a pressurized environment.
• Openness to a different culture

Terms and Conditions

The contract is for 1 (one) year, renewable with an initial probationary period of three months. The JRS remuneration policy is aligned with the JRS ethos of offering effective and professional services and at the same time expressing solidarity with the people served. Details will be discussed with short-listed candidates.