Training Associate – Children With Special Needs – Leadership For Equity (LFE)

Leadership For Equity (LFE)
Leadership For Skilled Education Foundation (branded as Leadership For Equity, LFE), is a non-profit (NGO) based out of Pune, Maharashtra.

We envision Public Education Systems That Refuse To Let Children Down

APPROACH: In our two-fold approach to change, we build the capacity of government system leaders and we influence system processes. In partnership with the local and state education bodies, we co-create programs that shift teaching-learning practices and improve student learning and well-being. This work coupled with our research and advisory support to influence policies, we hope to create an effective government education system.

Over the last 5 years, LFE has built the capacity of 2100+ system leaders, and 40,200+ teachers to impact 8 million students across Maharashtra. Additionally, LFE has recently expanded its operations and started working in another 3 states of India including Haryana, Tripura & Andhra Pradesh. In Maharashtra, LFE works with 5 districts (Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Satara & Akola), 3 municipal bodies (Pune MC, Pimpri Chinchwad MC & Nagpur MC) & 5 state level education bodies (School Education Dept, SCERT, Samagra Shiksha, Tribal Development Dept, & TRTI). In Andhra  Pradesh, LFE works closely with the Samagra Shiksha Office, SCERT & The World Bank on a multi-year strategic project to improve the quality of learning across 13 districts of the State. And lastly in Haryana & Tripura, LFE works with SCERTs of both states in setting up targeted program management units (PMUs) to strengthen delivery of large-scale academic programs.

BELIEF: We believe Public Education Systems are the gatekeepers of social EQUITY, especially when India’s 120 million poorest-of-the-poor children continue to go to government-run schools. A multi-layered, complex, and systemic problem of educational inequity, will require a solution rooted in the SYSTEMS CHANGE approach. We believe that a COLLECTIVE effort by forging partnerships with governments, like-minded philanthropists, corporates, donors, nonprofits and grassroot organisations will help bring scalable and sustainable social change.

About Mantra4Change 

Founded in the year 2013, Mantra4Change is a Bangalore based non-profit that works in the field of school improvement and education leadership development. Mantra4Change currently works in the field of education system strengthening by driving capacity building initiatives for education leaders such as school head teachers and other system actors, by creating tools for observation and monitoring, by reimagining systems & processes such as enrollment drive and parent-teacher meeting, by enabling partnerships and by promoting spaces for appreciation.

Mantra4Change currently is working with the states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh on various aspects of systemic transformation. We believe in the idea of co-creation and co-planning and hence while the underlying approach remains the same, programs are developed keeping contextual realities and needs in mind.

About Andhra Pradesh Government Project
LFE & Mantra4Change are coming together to support the Andhra Pradesh Government, which has been on an ambitious plan to revamp the government school system into a high performing schools system for serving children from underserved communities. Supporting Andhra’s Learning Transformation (SALT) project is a multi-organisational project focused on improving the quality of teaching and learning in classrooms. The project aims to enhance human capital and achieve sustained reduction in learning poverty across all districts of the state.

The SALT operation will support the GoAP in three key results areas:

(i) Strengthened Foundational Learning;

(ii) Improved Quality of Student-Teacher Interactions and;

(iii) Strengthened Institutional Capacity for Service Delivery

The project will be implemented in close collaboration with the Department of School Education (DoSE), GoAP and state-level administrative units including the SCERT, SIEMAT and the local network of DIETs. The focus will be to achieve the outcomes with an inherent focus on strengthening the people and processes within the public education system.

The scope of work for the entire project will be as follows:

• Strengthen the technical and operational capacity of school complex leaders to provide evidence- and needs-based training to teachers, utilizing teacher training facilities as sites for on-site support.
• Build the capacity at SCERT and DIETs to improve planning, implementation, and monitoring of the reform by introducing a teacher needs assessment system to formally encourage professional learning and growth.
• Strengthen the technical and operational capacity of SCERT and DIETs to provide evidence- and needs-based support to teachers through developing training courses for teachers on the state Learning Management System (LMS)
• Strengthen the technical and operational capacity of SCERT and DIETs through the development of online learning materials for teachers and students on the state Learning Management System (LMS)
• Coordinate with various stakeholders to ensure timeline development of the technology tools as noted above including the TEACH tool

The duration of the project will be 60 months from 2021 to 2026.

Job Description and Responsibilities
The Training Associate CWSN will work with the Program Managers and Implementation Coordinators to ensure project goals are achieved. Additionally, they will collaborate with government stakeholders and members across teams as and when required

The key responsibilities are as follows:

• Design Training content based on understanding of child psychology, pedagogy for children learning disabilities and other special needs
• Conducting need analysis and CWSN DIagnostic Report of the State
• Travel across districts to facilitate and deliver teacher / school complex leader trainings as per designed content and plans using engaging, experiential and creative strategies
• Research evidence based creative facilitation practices to align with training content, integrating belief and culture of equity, inclusion and well-being among all participants
• Maintain excellent relationship with target stakeholders to understand their needs and context, taking into account specific challenges around CWSN in rural areas across AP
• Collaborate with content associates to prepare a facilitation plan and scripts aligned to training content
• Lead training dry runs and participate in training site observations
• Enable timely collection and reporting of training data
• Contribute to the making of project reports as required, and support the managers and implementation coordinators as needed to be accountable to the outcomes of the projects across the different streams of deliverables as prescribed in the Project scope
• Conduct regular update meetings with organizational leadership and provide progress towards goals of the relevant trainings in a consumable digital and print format to all stakeholders (LFE leadership + Govt)
• Create timely (monthly, quarterly and annual) project status and impact reports to the leadership team
• Conduct any observations or user interviews as necessary to gain feedback on training and tweak plans as necessary
• Participate in all the organisational team spaces and structures

Requirements

• Education & Experience
• Degree in special education / teacher development or related social science / inclusion / equity / management discipline. Masters’ degree preferred
• 2-5 Years of experience delivering large scale CWSN related training programs, preferably with the government or with government school teachers
• Proven experience in teacher training and facilitating large groups on topics of CWSN
• Experience working in Andhra Pradesh / Telangana would be preferable

Important: Given the nature of the project please apply only if you qualify based on above requirements

Knowledge, Skills & Capabilities

• Excellent written and oral communication skills – and a functional knowledge (oral and written) of Telugu would be highly preferred
• Being able to take initiative and work in an autonomous, semi-structured environment
• Belief in the potential of the public sector and that government systems can and will change towards overcoming systemic inequities and ensuring improved outcomes for all citizens
• Working experience or knowledge of public policy implementation would be highly preferred
• A basic understanding of social equity, development discourse and education policy in India
• Adaptability to changing responsibilities and resourcefulness to respond to them
• High openness to learning
• Ability to influence people, taking initiatives, build and sustain relationships with multiple stakeholders & partners across public and private spaces
• Strong ability to create outstanding presentations, work with Microsoft Excel & Google Suite
• Patience and resilience to stick it out in the face of setbacks and uncertainties

Location and Compensation
Location: Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. Frequent travel to rural areas across the state.

Compensation: Apart from being a part of a young and dynamic learning team, the individual will receive a healthy compensation at par with the non-profit sector benchmark for this position, commensurate with the individual’s prior experience and qualifications.

The current compensation band offered, based on fit and experience is 4.5-5.5 lakh INR per annum CTC.

Leadership For Equity is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Prohibits Discrimination and Harassment of Any Kind. We do not discriminate on the basis of caste, race, religion, colour, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other non-merit factor.