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For every child, the right to Education

The Ministry of Education in Fiji has secured a System Transformation Grant (STG) from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) to improve foundational learning for children aged 5 to 8 years. This initiative aims to ensure that all children, including those with special educational needs, have access to quality early childhood education (ECE), which includes one year of pre-primary and the first three years of primary education. Despite high enrollment rates, learning outcomes at the end of early primary remain low, prompting a focus on enhancing teaching quality and inclusivity. The programme centers on three key areas: comprehensive teacher professional development, developmentally appropriate curricula, and quality teaching and learning materials. These efforts are supported by system strengthening, monitoring and evaluation, and the use of digital tools and gender-transformative approaches. The programme aligns with national policies and regional frameworks such as the Denarau Declaration, the Fiji Partnership Compact, and the Pacific Regional Education Framework (PacREF). It complements existing initiatives like the World Bank’s eHCI and TEACH ECE, EQAP’s assessment work, teacher training by USP, and the Australia–Fiji Education Partnership. To ensure effective implementation, a Programme Coordinator will be appointed within the Ministry’s Primary Education unit in Suva to oversee coordination, monitoring, and travel to sub-national areas as needed.

✨ How Can You Make a Difference? 

The Programme Coordinator will support Fiji’s Ministry of Education (MoE) in implementing its System Transformation programme (STG), focusing on:

Key Responsibilities:

• Technical & Logistical Support: Assist in planning, coordination, and execution of STG activities, including workshops and consultations.
• Monitoring & Evaluation: Track progress, manage timelines, collect and analyze data, and prepare reports for stakeholders including GPE.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Collaborate with MoE divisions, teacher training institutes, and partners like the World Bank and EQAP.
• Curriculum Development: Support revision and rollout of Early Childhood Education (ECE) curriculum and materials for ages 5–8, emphasizing inclusion.
• Capacity Building: Strengthen teacher development through mentoring and coaching.
• Risk Management: Maintain a risk register to address implementation challenges proactively.
• Communication: Develop outputs (blogs, social media, etc.) to showcase programme impact and innovations.

 Reporting & Collaboration:

• Reports to UNICEF’s Education Specialist.
• Works closely with MoE’s Director of Primary Education and Senior ECE Officer.
• Coordinates with national and international consultants and partners.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: Terms of Reference

GUIDANCE FOR APPLICANTS:  

Please submit a separate financial offer along with your application. The financial proposal should be a lump sum amount for all the deliverables and should show a break down for the following:

• Monthly / Daily fees– based on the deliverables in the Terms of Reference above
• Travel (economy air ticket where applicable for field mission travel) - based on the Terms of Reference above (10 trips/missions within Fiji).
• Living allowance where domestic travel is required
• Miscellaneous- to cover health insurance, communications, and other costs.

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

🎓 Minimum Requirements – Are You the One? 🌟

📘 Education
Master’s degree in Education or a related social-sector field, ideally with coursework in policy or planning. A bachelor’s degree with substantial, directly relevant experience will also be considered.

📈 Experience
Minimum of 8 years of progressive experience in education or social-sector work, including programme planning and stakeholder consultation.

🌍 Contextual Knowledge
Strong familiarity with Fiji’s education sector, policies, and plans is highly desirable. Comparable experience in the Pacific region will also be considered.

🤝 Stakeholder Engagement
Proven ability to build strong professional networks and engage effectively with diverse stakeholders.

📊 Monitoring & Evaluation
Experience in evaluating government programmes is a definite asset.

👥 Teamwork & Relationships
Ability to quickly build rapport and contribute meaningfully within multidisciplinary teams.

⚖️ Equity, Inclusion & Quality
Solid understanding of these cross-cutting themes in social-sector programming.

🗣️ Communication
Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, with the ability to tailor messages for technical and non-technical audiences.

💡 Personal Attributes
Flexible, adaptive, and resilient—ready to thrive in dynamic environments.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment. 

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:  

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. 

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy 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. Consultants 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 visa (when applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts. 

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. 

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.