Project Manager

UNICEF work in Egypt is focused on promoting sustainable development with multidimensional equity for children, embodying the fair chance for every child principle. In line with national priorities, UNICEF work in Egypt focuses on Early Childhood Development bridging the first 1000 days through the first years of formal education, as a key means by which multiple threats to children may be addressed through cross-sectoral linkages. The expected results of UNICEF’s work in Egypt will contribute to national efforts and priorities and the 2030 National Sustainable Development Strategy; as well as the United Nations Partnership for Development Framework (UNPDF 2018-2022).

UNICEF’s programme in Egypt contributes to strengthen the knowledge base for more child-sensitive social protection, and improve three fundamental elements of the early childhood years (health, nutrition and development). UNICEF’s work on learning and protection covers all children of all ages, focusing on the most vulnerable children, children with disabilities and adolescent girls.

Barriers for refugees and migrant children access to formal education
Out of the 725,000 UNHCR-registered refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt, 34% (246,000) are school-aged children. Despite the Government of Egypt’s pledge to the Global Refugee Compact on school inclusion, refugee and migrant children often find it difficult to access public schools. The Ministry of Education and Technical Education (MoETE) decree issued in 2014 encourages many non-Egyptians to access private education while allowing Syrian, Sudanese, Jordanian, Libyan, Yemenis, Saudis, and any non-Egyptian deemed fit for acceptance, on a case-by-case basis, to enrol in public schools. However, learning opportunities for those listed nationalities (mainly from Arabic-speaking countries) tend to be disrupted due to complications with their documentation (i.e., residency permit, identification documents, etc.) and lengthy admission processes.
Non-formal learning opportunity serving as a safety net UNICEF’s quality assessment of over 200 Community Learning Centres (CLCs), which are refugee and migrant-led non-formal education settings, identified that approximately 78,000 refugee and migrant children are enrolled in CLC’s nationwide. These CLCs are not regulated by the Ministry of Education and Technical Education (MoETE) or any other ministry. Whilst the quality of CLCs vary, they play important roles in educational continuity for non-Egyptian children, especially those not eligible or able to enrol in public schools.
Learning Spaces also serve as a non-formal learning opportunity for those unable to enrol in public schools. This model was initially established in Aswan governorate to accommodate refugee, migrant and host community children, and provide them with core curriculum and psycho-social support, as well as build a bridge to public school enrolment. Learning Spaces are operated by registered NGOs/CSOs under the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS). A drawback to the Learning Space modality is that the digital learning environment is limited.
Low achievement in foundational literacy and digital divide among host community children
Many Egyptian children find themselves in vulnerable situations when it comes to accessing quality education and language acquisition. Despite near universal primary school enrolment, over half of Egyptian children are unable to read and understand a simple paragraph by grade 4 and 5. This percentage is higher for children in remote and rural areas. Egyptian Community Schools (ECSs) have been established under the supervision of MoETE to support children in underserved areas and who are at risk of not accessing school. Across the country, over 100,000 children attend approximately 5,000 ECSs, which practice multigrade teaching. Despite these efforts and MoETE’s intention to integrate technology and innovation in education, significant challenges remain such as low academic achievement, poor language proficiency, and limited resources.
UNICEF will partnership with Akelius Foundation to initiate a 2-year project aiming to improve the quality of language teaching and learning using dynamic, blended and personalised learning. This approach aims to tackle the challenges posed by diverse student needs, crowded classrooms, and less-than-ideal learning environments by fostering a tailored educational framework that supports targeted students in their language learning journeys.

Under the supervision of Education Officer, the incumbent will contribute to the implementation of a project Enhancing foundational English and Arabic literacy skills of vulnerable children in Egypt through improved digital learning environments funded by Akelius Foundation by undertaking the following tasks:
• Map available hardware resources and assessing needs among teachers and learners in the target community learning centres, learning spaces and Egyptian community schools (these three types of spaces are called ‘educational spaces’ below);
• Oversee procurement and delivery of necessary digital equipment and accessories with suitable specifications in collaboration with local service providers;
• Manage the selected implementing partner including handling budget transfer, report review and support implementation of project activities in target educational spaces;
• Ensure progress of activity delivery through regular check-in call with implementing partners and in person field monitoring visits;
• Map language curricula used in the target educational spaces (Sudanese, South Sudanese, Egyptian community school) to the Akelius language curriculum;
• Organise capacity-building training for educators in collaboration with implementing partners
• Support target educational spaces to plan and carry out school community-based activities to promote digital learning;
• Identify educational spaces to target in the second year of the project;
• Exchange information and lessons learnt with other UNICEF country offices who implement projects using the Akelius language programme;
• Strengthen the Education section’s knowledge management, including documenting key milestones and lessons learnt of the project and producing routine internal briefs.
• Drafting monthly updates, interim and final reports (both narrative and financial) to the donor;
• Contributing to other programme related tasks as appropriate, including (not limited to) inputs to support communication, development of funding proposals and donor visits, etc.