MINELRES: Vacancy Announcement: Education Expert, OSI EUMAP, Roma project

[MINELRES moderator]

Original sender: Katy Negrin <knegrin@osieurope.org>


Vacancy Announcement: Education Expert (Consultant - 1 position)

The Open Society Institute (OSI) Budapest is currently seeking to 
engage a consultant education expert for the EU Monitoring and 
Advocacy Program's (EUMAP) Equal access to quality education for Roma 
project. The project, in collaboration with OSI's Education Support 
Program and Roma Participation Program, will cover the eight 
countries included in the Decade for Roma Inclusion (Bulgaria, 
Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and 
Montenegro, and Slovakia). It will result in the publication of a 
volume of monitoring reports, to include eight individual country 
reports and an overview report outlining the main findings across the 
countries monitored. The consultant will be responsible for advising 
a Budapest-based team in the preparation of these reports on 
education policy and practice. The consultant should have a 
background in minority education issues, and substantial experience 
in designing and conducting data collection and analysis. The 
consultant will work with OSI to develop the reporting methodology 
and template upon which the reports will be based, help train teams 
in eight countries to apply the methodology and template, and assist 
in preparing substantial reports based on the country teams' 
research. The consultancy is expected to last 18 months, beginning in 
April 2005; the education expert should be based in Budapest or 
elsewhere in Europe, with frequent travel to the region. 

Responsibilities:
The consultant will have the following main responsibilities:

Methodology development: Carrying out an extensive literature survey 
to establish key sources of information on Roma education issues in 
the eight countries covered; consulting widely with a range of 
interlocutors, including from international organisations, in 
preparation for developing the methodology; in cooperation with OSI 
staff, developing a comprehensive methodology detailing the content 
and format for the project; refining the methodology as required 
throughout the project.

Support for the monitors: Working with the monitoring teams in each 
of the countries to support the collection of relevant data; 
participating in preparatory meetings in Budapest bringing together 
all concerned with the project, including the individual country 
monitoring teams.

Training and capacity development: Traveling regularly to the eight 
countries to meet with the reporting team and discuss and develop the 
monitoring carried out in each country; in collaboration with other 
OSI staff, providing support, training and capacity building to the 
monitors as required.

Report preparation: Collaborating with the EUMAP editorial team to 
ensure the substantive accuracy of the country reports; contributing 
to the preparation of the final overview report drawing together the 
main findings, conclusions and recommendations across all the 
countries monitored.

Period of engagement:
The education expert will be engaged on a consultancy basis 
(approximately 50 per cent engagement) continuously from April 2005 
to end October 2006. At certain key periods of the project, agreed at 
the beginning of the project, an increased availability of the 
consultant would be requested. The education expert will be paid a 
daily rate commensurate with experience.

Profile:
The Consultant will either be based in Budapest or elsewhere in 
Europe with frequent travel to Budapest. He or she will also be 
required to travel regularly to the eight countries included in the 
Decade of Roma Inclusion. He or she will have the following profile:

Education:
- Postgraduate degree in education, sociology or a related field.
- Knowledge of statistical analysis and sampling techniques.

Experience:

Required
- At least five years experience with an international organisation 
and/or intergovernmental bodies working on educational issues in Europe;
- Significant experience in designing and conducting quantitative and
qualitative data collection and analysis; 
- Significant experience working on national, regional and international
education projects; 
- Substantial knowledge of developmental and education policy issues 
in some or all of the eight countries involved in the Decade of Roma
Inclusion;
- Knowledge of the specific issues related to minority education in
Europe;
- Familiarity with international legal instruments, policies, and
programmes relating to minority education;
- Experience in international networking.

Desirable
- Knowledge of the specific issues related to improving the educational
opportunities for Roma;
- Experience in working with developing Roma civil society sector and
developing the skills of individual and NGO partners (training);
- Experience in working collaboratively on a complex project.

Other skills and competencies:
- Very good English language skills (written and spoken);
- Ability to work independently, using distance communication (email,
phone, internet);
- Good computer skills;
- Effective communication skills with people from diverse cultures and
backgrounds;
- Ability to design and deliver convincing presentations and to
represent organisational priorities.


For examples of previous EUMAP reports, please see
http://www.eumap.org/reports. 

Please submit a CV and cover letter by 11 March 2005 to
applications@adminconsult.hu. 
Please reference "EUMAP Education Expert" in the subject line.