District Coordinator (EOF) at Plan International

PURPOSE

Plan International in partnership with Instiglio and the Jacobs Foundation will implement the Education Outcome Fund Programme (EOF) under the Ghana Accountability and Learning Outcomes Programme (GALOP). The programme aims to improve the quality of education in low performing basic education schools and strengthen education sector equity and accountability in Ghana. The Programme will run for a period of 4 years and will be implemented across 3 regions in Ghana (North East, Savana and Bono East) and 11 districts. The Project will support a total of 240 communities/schools.

The Lead District Coordinator will work with the Regional Coordinator and Project Coordinators on all community level activities, including monitoring, stakeholder engagement, and working with parents to ensure pupils’ regular participation in Programme activities. The Lead District Coordinator will play a key role in ensuring teaching and learning activities take place at the school/community level as planned. The jobholder will support the CPD of project facilitators and support their mentoring.

Dimensions of the Role

The Lead District Coordinator will work with stakeholders at the districts/municipal and community level to support the implementation of the Project’s activities to support learning outcomes for out of school and in-school student. The Lead District Coordinator will be responsible for coordinating quality programming and results, financial management and compliance, stakeholder and partner relations, and donor deliverables at the district and community level.

He/she will coordinate the establishment of Accelerated Learning Programme and school Remedial sessions in the region. He/she is responsible for program planning, implementation, and reporting in compliance with donor and government agreements. The post-holder will be based in North East, Bono East/ Savanna Region and travel to project communities where the project operates.

The job holder will be able to support the CPD of teachers and school management and supervision. It is expected the lead district coordinator will conduct regular monitoring on lesson delivery, teaching quality, as well as tracking enrolment and attendance of beneficiaries.

Accountabilities

Community Engagement and Project delivery

• Responsible for communities’ involvement and the implementation of project activities in the designated districts
• Provide CPD support to Project facilitators and follow up on their teaching needs
• Conduct regular lesson observations of teachers
• Arrange and implement animation for CBE programme in conjunction with the Ghana Education Service, the Complementary Education Agency and the District Assemblies,
• Coordinate 6 Project Coordinators to strengthen School Management Committees and Parent Teacher Associations to engage selected schools to establish a more inclusive, resourceful and informed support network for parents
• Secure venues for events and activities of project at the district and community level
• Deliver all forms of invitations to stakeholders both at district and community level
• Mobilize students for after school sessions 
• Support Regional Coordinators and Project Coordinators on other Programme activities
• Engaging with GES, Municipal Assembly, traditional authorities and school authorities when requested.
• Identify and work with local service providers to deliver school snacks

Monitoring and Reporting

• Support tracking the progression of pupils as they transitioned to the next level of education
• Conduct routine follow up visits to meet with parents and guardians whose wards have not attended school regularly
• Undertake routine monitoring and collect school registers for attendance data entry.   
• Support the identification of local role models
• Conduct routine checks on school security
• Input and collect data within time
• Monitoring lesson delivery

Staff Relation and Recruitment

• Responsible for appraisal and Performance Management procedures for Project Coordinators
• Coach and supervise Project Coordinators to ensure quality delivery and performance
• Support Programme Manager in identification of talents and recruitment process to fill gaps in the workstream
• Ensure close collaboration with other Programme Team members for efficient project delivery

Responsibilities

Ability to work independently with minimal supervision. Ability to solve problems and plan changes based on M&E data. Ability to prescribe and implement innovative solutions to challenges found in a complex learning education project with marginalized students and out of school children. Ability to support the teaching capacity of a wide range of stakeholders face to face and remotely. Ability to anticipate risks and mitigate them. Ability to manage remote staff. Ability to understand the challenges that marginalized beneficiaries encounter in educational settings and capacity to propose solutions to overcome them. Ability to analyse issues for decision making to strengthen and support project delivery and refer to higher manager for approval

Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Key relationships

Technical expertise, skills and knowledge

Essential

Qualifications & Experience

• Educated to degree level or equivalent and holding relevant professional qualifications.
• Excellent knowledge of methods and channels for engaging with a wide range of stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds.
• Previous experience delivering CBE
• A comprehensive knowledge of good communications and engagement practice and of how to translate practice into innovative and effective solutions.
• 4 years of experience of working in community engagement and/or communications, and on educational projects.

Key skills & Competencies

• Skills in community organization and meeting facilitation
• Knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point and other ICT skills
• Ability to work in a cross-cultural environment and with multi- and interdisciplinary teams
• Must have valid Motorbike license and experience in ridding in rough terrain
• Proficiency in (Ewe, Twi, Konkomba, Adele and Atsorde)
• Should be familiar with the culture of project districts
• Ability to speak dominant language in project district
• Outstanding communication skills, both oral and written
• Ability to engage and build relationships with a range of stakeholders
• Strong organisational and planning skills
• Ability to prioritise in the face of competing demands, and proven success in delivering work personally (and through others) to tight deadlines.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, enabling the post holder to influence at all levels and to work effectively as part of a team.
• Computer literacy enabling the effective use of the Microsoft suite of packages including Outlook.
• Ability to work collaboratively with other experienced professionals including school principals, assistant principals, teachers, and other colleagues.
• Ability to maintain discretion regarding confidential matters.

Personal Attributes

• Good communication skills
• Ability to work under little or no supervision for long hours  
• Good team player and a forward-looking person

Desirable

• University degree in Education
• Teaching experience
• Accreditation in school leadership and teacher training
• Experience in Inclusive education in the education sector in Ghana in mainstream and non-mainstream settings
• Experience providing capacity building to Primary and Junior High School teachers
• Familiarity with primary teaching, pedagogy and assessment frameworks
• Experience with the state education system/curricula in Ghana.
• Proven experience in curriculum design for English and Maths and gender-specific training