Nigeria is home to approximately 206 million people, 43 per cent of whom are below 14 years of age. By 2030, there will be close to 126 million children in Nigeria. The growing child population places significant pressure on the provision of schooling and the delivery of education services. Despite the progress made in the past years, 10.2 million children at the primary level and 8.1 million at the junior secondary levels remain out of school. Lack of access to safe, quality, inclusive education impacts learning of children. Approximately 50 per cent of students in school cannot read or write, while only one in four children in Nigeria demonstrate foundational literacy and numeracy skills.

The Federal Ministry of Education has recently launched the Nigeria Education Sector Renew Initiative (NESRI). The six key priority areas are: promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medical Sciences (STEMM), education, Reducing the Number of Out-of-School Children, Enhancing Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), advancing Girl-Child Education, Harnessing Data and Digitalization and Strengthening Quality Assurance Mechanisms. UNICEF’s education programme is centered around providing technical expertise in education to the Federal and State Ministries of Education, as well as key education commissions including the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in support of NESRI and across three the pillars of access, learning and system strengthening.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

To provide technical expertise to lead UNICEF’s data systems interventions with the Federal Ministry of Education and selected States

How can you make a difference?

The consultant will work in close collaboration with the Ministeries of Education (MoE) at the federal and state levels to provide expert technical guidance so that EMIS can be implemented across selected states working with UNICEF. The EMIS consultant will work closely with UNICEF, State Ministries of Education and an international firm to continue the role out of EMIS so that the first round of data from the Annual School Census (ASC) can be completed, and the data analyzed. This will require a backwards implementation plan for each state involved, and technical advice and coaching for state and local government area (LGA) level staff, troubleshooting, and addressing emergent needs. Close guidance to all teams to ensure timelines are met is a critical part of this role.  The consultant will work with Jigawa state to oversee the development of an integrated EMIS system. This is an initial project with the European Union to integrate ACS, teacher data, student data and to conduct a mapping of OOSC. Coordination and collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education and State Ministries of Education and development partners is a key component of this work to ensure no duplication of systems occurs and that all stakeholders are fully onboard with the EMIS system that is being developed. The consultant will also work with UNICEF field office teams to train and coach them to provide ongoing technical support in the area of data to state officials. In addition, UNICEF will prepare a package for all states to be able to implement the digital EMIS system independently

The Specific Tasks are:

1. Conduct a rapid needs assessment on the current state of all data interventions to be shared with all stakeholders.

2. Work closely with UNICEF, state Ministries of Education and an international firm to continue the roles out of EMIS so that the first round of data can be completed, and the data analyzed.

3.Provide technical assistance and oversight on the development of an integrated EMIS system, initially in Jigawa including a needs assessment, support to the technical committee overseeing the project, a detailed backward  plan to ensure donor timelines are adhered to and coordination with the institutional firm providing the software.

4. Review the work undertaken in the student attendance monitoring system and make recommendation for a way forward for UNICEF to support student attendance monitoring data.

5.Prepare an EMIS report on progress, including at least two case studies from states that have successfully implemented EMIS with lessons learned and recommendations for next steps for UNICEF’s support in data systems.

 Work Assignment/ Overview:

Tasks/Milestone:

1. Conduct a rapid needs assessment on the current state of all the data interventions to be shared with all stakeholders

Deliverables/Outputs:

Rapid needs assessment to be shared with all stakeholders.

Tasks/Milestone:

2.Work closely with UNICEF, State Ministries of Education and an international firm to continue the role out of EMIS so that the first round of data can be completed, and the data analyzed.

Deliverables/Outputs:

Detailed backward plan developed.

Tasks/Milestone:

3. Provide technical assistance on the development of an integrated EMIS system, initially in Jigawa including a needs assessment, support to the technical committee overseeing the project, a detailed backward plan to ensure donor timelines are adhered to and coordination with the institutional firm providing the software.

Deliverables/Outputs:

Detailed backward plan developed with Jigawa state.

Tasks/Milestone:

4.Review the work undertaken in the development of the TMIS system, progress made by states and gaps/bottlenecks which need to be addressed so that the TMIS system can be integrated or adapted for the integrated EMIS system in Jigawa.

Deliverables/Outputs:

Summary report of recommendations for way forward on TMIS for integrated EMIS

Tasks/Milestone:

5.Review the work undertaken in the student attendance monitoring system and make recommendations for a way forward for UNICEF to support student attendance monitoring data.

Deliverables/Outputs:

Summary report of recommendations for way forward on student data collection for integrated EMIS.

Tasks/Milestone:

6.Coordinate and collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Education and State Ministries of Education and development partners to ensure that all stakeholders are fully onboard with the EMIS system that is being developed, and no duplication of systems occurs.

Deliverables/Outputs:

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

• An advanced university degree in Education or social Science or public policy or Business Administration
• A minimum of Eight (8) years of relevant professional experience with government education systems to develop monitoring and evaluation systems to collect data on schools and monitor performance of schools.
• At least five years of working at field level to train and coach district and federal level education officers in data systems.
• Advanced knowledge of education management information systems.
• Training and coaching skills on education data management, data collection and analysis, education data and planning.
• Experience of supporting at least two countries in EMIS implementation required.
• Previous UNICEF experience and working with Ministries of Education required.
• Previous experience of working with international firms required
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.