Curriculum Development Technical Advisor-Somali Diaspora Expert At International Organization for Migration

I. General Information

Position: Curriculum Development Technical Advisor

Position type:Diaspora Expert

Date of Issue: 5 March 2024

Duty Station: Somali National University

Duration of Assignment:12 months

Deadline for Applications: 26 March 2024

II. Background Information

About the MIDA FINNSOM III Health and Education Project

Over the last few decades, there has been a consistent trend of migration from diverse African nations, leading to a “brain drain” that has adversely affected numerous public sector systems throughout the continent. Since 2008, the IOM Migration for Development in Africa (MIDA) program has been instrumental in harnessing the expertise of Somali diaspora professionals. These professionals have actively contributed to institutional capacity building, service delivery, and policy development within health and education institutions across Somalia.

The MIDA FINNSOM phase III – Health and Education project – contributes to strengthening the health and education sectors in Somalia toward achieving specific priorities in the Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) and the Essential Package for Health Services (EPHS), as prioritized and outlined by the government. The project is devoted toward contributing to the promotion of sustainable employment opportunities in the health and education sectors for local experts who will work in close coordination with the Somali diaspora experts to exchange knowledge and experiences and contribute with their requisite expertise.

Brief background of SNU and the Faculty of Education

The Somali National University (SNU) was established in 1954. SNU obtained its official university status in 1969. From 1971 to 1973, other degree courses were instituted including agriculture, chemistry, medicine, engineering, and geology. In the mid-1970s, the teacher’s college at Lafoole, one of SNU’s remote campuses, was made stand-alone institution (“Lafoole Teacher’s College”). The language of instruction was English. In 1973. The SNU developed into an institution of higher learning with twelve faculties.

The Faculty of Education and Social Sciences was known as Lafoole College of Education and had its beginning with the founding of the National Teacher Education Center in 1963. The original campus buildings have been augmented by several new structures including additional classrooms, expanded library capacities, and new laboratories. In the wake of the civil war in the early 1990s, classes at the university were suspended. After the civil war, Somali National University was reopened in 2014. The faculty now offers six academic programs at the undergraduate level that are designed to develop the intellectual, academic and professional capacity of the students enrolled. Our pre-service programs in teacher education combine disciplinary knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge with practical field experiences in areas such as science and mathematics education, language education and social science education.

III. Duties & Responsibilities

Somali National University is the only entity training teachers for public schools in Somalia, therefore to promote educational reform and to enhance the quality of higher education in Somalia, a partnership between the Somali National University and the University of Helsinki was established in 2018. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two academic institutions was signed in 2018 and renewed in 2020 (valid until 2025). The main objective of the MoU is to promote cooperation in the fields of education and research, focusing primarily on the respective Faculties of Education. This includes curriculum review, enhancing teaching practices through pedagogical frameworks, developing relevant academic policies and guidelines to improve education systems, and enhancing the standard of research. This cooperation is based on the needs of the faculty of education at SNU and the context of Somalia, while it also responds to the rapid changes in education systems globally.

The incumbent will take up the following duties:

1. Document review benchmarking of the existing Teacher Education curriculum.
2. Conduct consultative meetings with SNU and other education stakeholders.
3. Identify areas of improvement to suit the context (add, change, or eliminate, methodologies, content knowledge, resources, equipment, and learning outcomes).
4. Establish context-specific learning objectives for each of the courses.
5. Enrich the curriculum with conceptualization and adoption of the outline of the course module following quality benchmarks to ensure alignment with global standards and requirements of the labor market (ex. postgraduate diploma courses, teaching practice and specialization courses)
6. Define and apply new trends of pedagogical approaches, and assessment techniques to be integrated into the courses.
7. Review and reform faculty policy documents and manuals.
8. Conduct training of trainers for the faculty and four training workshops), observation and teaching/co-teaching at SNU and other capacity building activities

IV. Requirements

Besides the specific outputs mentioned in section III, the MIDA FINNSOM III Heath and Education project is requiring the following deliverables to be submitted throughout the assignment. These are the standard requirements for all assignments under this project:

1. Transfer of knowledge: The main responsibility of the qualified Somali expatriate—which he/she will be measured against—will be to ensure continuous and systematic transfer of knowledge and skills as related to the assignment.
2. Work plan: A work plan must be developed with the supervisor to provide clear and time-bound activities to successfully achieve the outputs of the assignment. This work plan can be revised during the assignment to reflect on new developments or changes.
3. Quarterly and Final Reports: Quarterly progress reports will be submitted by the expert to the supervisor and IOM project team. At the end of the assignment, the participant must also provide a final report covering the duration of his/her assignment.
4. Exit interview: An exit interview will be conducted to ensure that a proper exit plan has been put in place to sustain the achievements, upon completion of the assignment.

V. Qualifications

Level of Education:

• PhD or Master’s Degree in Education, Curriculum Development or Innovation

Years of work experience in what area(s):

• Minimum 5 years’ experience in curriculum development

Languages needed:

• Fluent in English and Somali

General Skills / Other Requirements:

• Good communication, leadership and management skills
• Knowledge of the education reform, and social landscape of Somalia
• Ability to work effectively in cross-cultural environments with a broad range of partners
• Problem solving skills

Level of Education:

• PhD or Master’s Degree in Education, Curriculum Development or Innovation

Years of work experience in what area(s):

• Minimum 5 years’ experience in curriculum development

Languages needed:

• Fluent in English and Somali

General Skills / Other Requirements:

• Good communication, leadership and management skills
• Knowledge of the education reform, and social landscape of Somalia
• Ability to work effectively in cross-cultural environments with a broad range of partners
• Problem solving skills

VI: Subsistence Allowance

The monthly stipend amount will be determined by the MIDA FINNSOM III, Health and Education project, based on degree and years of relevant experience.

VII: Security and insurance modalities

Health insurance—including evacuation due to a medical emergency—will be covered by the project. However, experts will be requested to provide a recent medical certificate stating that they are physically fit and able to work in a hardship area in Africa.

Please note that IOM, according to the contract, will not be responsible for the security of qualified Somali expatriates. The host beneficiary institution will be responsible for the security of the individual.

Before leaving the country of residence or upon arrival in Somalia, the qualified Somali expatriate will receive a pre-service briefing including security advice and cultural background.