Background
In 2014 the Mombasa County Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to address the problem of youth unemployment in Mombasa. This agreement resulted in the co-creation of the Mombasa County Youth Employment Project (MCYEP). The UK Department for International Development (DFID) contracted Adam Smith International (ASI) to implement the project on its behalf. MCYEP was later re-branded and is now known as Kuza project.
Kuza is committed to fighting the root causes of youth unemployment in Mombasa. Within the overall approach of enhancing employment creation, development of marketable skills and policy support. The Kuza project aligns itself with the objectives and plans of the County Government of Mombasa and cooperates with the Mombasa County Government, the private sector and civil society including CSOs. Kuza aims at training a total of 8,000 targeted youth to improve their employability by June 2017 and at supporting the creation of 5,000 employment opportunities after completion of the project.
The clearly defined target group of the Kuza project comprises:
- Youth between 18 and 30 years
- Having no or low income (below 10,000 KShs per month)
- Emphasis on young women (50%)
- Having a low educational background (no completed secondary education)
- Belonging to the indigenous coastal population (70%)
- Being unemployed/underemployed
- The inclusion of disabled persons is highly encouraged.
The Mombasa County Government Department of Education and Children (DoEC) is seeking the assistance of the Kuza project in providing an education policy consultant for a short-term assignment. The policy consultant is expected to support the DoEC in building policy capacity to manage the devolved responsibilities of DoEC in Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
The policy, legal and regulatory environment affects both education and economic performance and plays a central role in establishing the right conditions for increased youth employment in Mombasa County. It encompasses national and devolved institutions, policymaking functions - covers issues of education, employment and involves a broad array of actors.
The Department of Education and Children is in process to rethinking and reforming existing approaches to education through a holistic approach comprising of two interlinked main components, namely the Dignified Care Quality Framework (outlined in the Child Care Facility Bill of 2015) and the Talent, Knowledge and Workforce Development.
This will encompass firstly the development and revision of strategy, policy and regulation concerning youth, skills development, workforce development, the acquisition of skills via formal or non-formal learning, and addressing policy issues arising within the TVET sub-system, on-the-job training and soft skills training. Secondly, capacity building exercises to core staff in charge of policy development within DoEC. There will also be an emphasis on stakeholder engagement to ensure that policy options are locally specific, economically feasible and informed by those with working knowledge of the skills development sector in Mombasa County; and thirdly the generation and communication of information.
The Kuza project will assist the DoEC through an Education Policy Consultant who shall focus on talent, knowledge and workforce development in line with Kuza’s mandate of enhancing youth employment.
Objectives of the policy assignment
With the introduction of devolved governance and the new policy and legislation-making function of the county government, the project in support of the DoEC, is seeking to first agree on the scope of the skills development policy, covering a range of policy issues relevant to Mombasa County; and secondly to develop a coherent policy document to guide the County Government and other sector players in delivering enhanced skills development in Mombasa County. This will involve understanding the Talent, Knowledge, and Workforce development (TKW) approach envisioned by DoEC and develop a policy that is conducive to the socio-economic empowerment and transformation of young people in Mombasa. This approach offers the relevant options for all young women and men in Mombasa to access employment or for starting a small business as basis for their livelihood and as a productive contribution to the local economy.
Scope of Work
To achieve the objectives listed above, the consultant will be expected to;
- Pick-up from the policy scoping paper, constitute a Kuza portfolio working group to identify the right policy options and prepare an outline of priority policy areas for DoEC.
- Harmonize the talent, knowledge and workforce development policy with the pending bills developed by DoEC.
- Develop a policy for transformation of existing village polytechnics to city poly-technics, home craft centres to master craft centres, and libraries to talent & knowledge development centres with emphasis to develop market oriented skills for Mombasa’s youth.
- Re-define mandate, vision, roles and legislative frameworks of existing city polytechnics, master craft centres, libraries and skills & workforce development centres in line with DoEC’s objectives to improve the technical and service infrastructure in Mombasa.
- Assist DoEC in outlining regulatory and administrative strategies to improve the management of Technical and vocational education centres, quality of learning and teaching.
- Develop a conceptual framework for quality assurance of public and private training providers that are in line with the National Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TVETA), national policies and standards.
- Provide support and guidance to DoEC’s planning and management by defining talent, knowledge and workforce development target groups and spell out key features that will aid in providing complementing learning pathways for students in Mombasa County.
- Mentor and work closely with the policy liaison staff to the county executive to build their capacity in the policy formulation process.
- Create a policy framework for skills development that can be replicated by other counties, especially member counties of the Jumuiya ya Kaunti za Pwani partnership.
Expected Deliverables
- Policy Document
- Regulatory and administrative strategies manual
- A policy framework for skills development which should be aligned to the national qualification framework
- A stakeholder engagement framework
- A service prospectus of quality training and learning for TVET and recommendations of where they would fit in with respect to city polytechnics, workforce centres and libraries.
Selection Criteria
- 10+ years working on education policies, skills development and vocational training policies in Kenya or comparable Countries;
- 10+ years of experience as an educationist with a strong background in technical education, political science, sociology or other related subjects;
- Robust understanding and application of policy concepts, methodologies and tools - proven capacity to draft skills development policy papers;
- 5+ years mentoring and coaching experience of public servants in change management, policy formulation and analysis;
- Teamwork, enthusiasm and flexibility
- Broad Knowledge and understanding of Kenya’s devolved governance structure and development issues specifically in the education sector;
- Robust knowledge and understanding of skills development concepts and approaches
- Strong analytical skills;
- Fluency in Swahili would be an added advantage.
Reporting:
The policy consultant shall be based at the DoEC office at Bima Towers under supervision of the Deputy Director of policy and partnerships. He/she will work closely with DoEC staff and the Kuza policy and advocacy adviser.
The consultant will also provide regularly updates of the assignment to the Kuza team leader to whom He/she will report.
Duration and Timing:
The assignment is full-time for period of 3 months initially (with the potential for a 3 month extension) and is based in Mombasa. It is expected to start as soon as possible.
HOW TO APPLY:
Please send your CV to david.owens-callan@adamsmithinternational.com with the subject line “Education Policy – Mombasa”. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
