Mid-Level Consultant - Education Management Information Systems (EMIS)

OVERVIEW

Parent Sector : Education Sector (ED)

Duty Station: Paris

Job Family: Education

Type of contract : Non Staff

Duration of contract : 6 months

Recruitment open to : External candidates

Application Deadline (Midnight Duty Station Time) : 15-MAR-2025

UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST

A. BACKGROUND 

UNESCO plays a crucial role in strengthening Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) worldwide, supporting Member States in ensuring data-driven decision-making in education policy and planning. Through capacity building and technical assistance, UNESCO helps ministries of education develop, modernize, and sustain EMIS frameworks, improve data collection, processing, and foster data use and analysis. 

Within the Division of Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems (ED/PLS), the Section of Education Policy (EDP) contributes towards strengthening resilience, quality and equity of Member States’ education systems to flexibly respond to evolving learning needs. At the global level, EDP animates an international community of practice on EMIS and data systems in education, bringing together policymakers, researchers, and practitioners to exchange best practices, share innovations, and build collective expertise. EDP also plays a normative role, developing guidelines, standards, and policy frameworks to facilitate EMIS strengthening and ensure EMIS are reliable, and aligned with national and international education goals, particularly SDG 4 (Quality Education).  

Long Description

B. MAIN DUTIES/TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:  

Under the overall authority of the Assistant Director-General for Education, of the Director of the Division of Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems, and of the Chief of Education Policy Section (ED/PLS/EDP) and under the direct supervision of the EMIS programme officer, the incumbent will perform the following tasks: 

1. Develop a community strategy aiming at expanding scope and relevance of the UNESCO international community of practice on EMIS and data systems in education in the context of the Sound Data for Good Governance initiative. 

2. Act as a community manager for the EMIS CoP during the entire duration of the consultancy, through animation of CoP discussions, design, organization and facilitation of monthly engagement meetings and workshops for the members. 

3. Lead the conceptualization and development of a competency framework on Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) through implementation of the following steps:

a. Conducting a Situational Analysis 

i. Review existing competency frameworks related to EMIS, data management, ICT in education and education planning and management 

ii. Identify competency domains relevant for EMIS looking at existing frameworks developed by UNESCO such as the EDP EMIS Progress Assessment Tool for Transformation.  

b. Stakeholder Consultation 

i. Engage with CoP members and other relevant UNESCO networks, ministries of education, school administrators, EMIS professionals, and development partners to gather insights. 

ii. Conduct focus group discussions and key informant interviews. 

c. Development of the Competency Framework 

i. Define core competencies for different roles (e.g., EMIS managers, data analysts, IT support, policymakers). 

ii. Categorize competencies into knowledge, skills, and attitudes. 

iii. Align the framework with international best practices (e.g., UNESCO, OECD, World Bank standards). 

d. Validation of the Framework 

i. Organize workshops to review and validate the draft framework. 

ii. Incorporate feedback from stakeholders to finalize the document.

e. Finalization and Dissemination 

i. Develop a final document outlining the competency framework. 

ii. Propose an implementation plan for capacity-building  

Long Description

C. OUTPUTS/DELIVERABLES 

Deliverables and technical reports are to be submitted to ED/PLS/EDP, including progress of technical support, results, challenges, and lessons learnt.  

The detailed timetable and deliverables based on the scope of work outlined above will be as follows: 

• D1 - EMIS community strategy (15 pages) 
• D2 - Situational Analysis Report summarizing key findings from the review and consultations (10 pages) 
• D3 - Draft Competency Framework with clear competency descriptions and proficiency levels (40 pages) 
• D4 - Final Competency Framework incorporating feedback from validation workshops (40 pages) 
• D5 - Implementation Guidelines outlining strategies for capacity-building and training (10 pages) 
• D6 – Four CoP monthly meeting reports (2 pages each) 

Long Description

D. PAYMENT SCHEDULE

E. CONDITION OF WORK 

The consultant shall be reporting to the UNESCO HQ Office, Paris, a minimum of three days a week (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, 9 :30am to 17:30pm). 

F. OFFICIAL TRAVEL 

The consultancy does not include missions on behalf of UNESCO in pursue of the work assignment.  

COMPETENCIES (Core / Managerial)

-

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

•    Advanced university degree (Master's or equivalent) in education, public policy, public administration, governance, international development, data science, statistics or related fields.  

•    At least 5 years of relevant experience in education planning, policy development, monitoring and evaluation. 

•    Proven expertise in developing education frameworks and methodologies. 

•    Proficiency in English.  

SELECTION AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Footer