Technology for Development (T4D) Officer in Education

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias, or favouritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic, and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfil their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries.
Therefore, the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Papua New Guinea made tremendous progress in the education sector for the previous decades to increase access to education across the country. However, school retention and completion and transition between school levels are low. Net enrolment rates for 2019 were 85 per cent for elementary; 58 per cent for primary; and 20 per cent for secondary. The transition rate from the last grade of primary education to the first grade of secondary education is only 64 per cent.

Children start their education late and repetition is common. The student gender parity ratio declined from 101 girls per 100 boys in preschool and elementary to 96 girls in primary and 75 girls in secondary school. In 2021, 34 per cent of Grade 5 children lacked minimum reading proficiency, while 27 per cent lacked minimum numeracy proficiency, with no gender differences. There are 23 specialized centers for children with disabilities, but no data are available on those in or out of regular schools. Challenges include insufficient quality of teaching, lack of safe and conducive learning environments, and inadequate resilience to crises.

Alternative learning pathways exist to support children and adolescents who are out of the formal education system to catch up with Grades 7–12. The capacity is limited, however, with almost no services available in rural areas. Important skills for self-protection, violence prevention, respect and gender equality are not adequately taught, while gendered social norms and patriarchal traditions pose barriers to adolescent participation and civic engagement.

For the duration of the new UNICEF PNG’s Country Programme 2024-2028, the overall objective of its Education Programme is that significantly increased number and percentage of school-age children, especially adolescent girls, children disabilities and children affected by crises and disasters, improve foundational learning and continue to lower and upper secondary school or vocational training, while gaining life and work skills for full participation in the economy and society. The specific Education Programme strategy focuses on the following Output areas:

1) Inclusive and gender responsive early childhood education (ECE) for better early learning and school preparedness
2) Improved retention, completion, transition and learning outcomes through the new 1-6-6 school structure, focusing on teacher professional development support, innovative and digital solutions for education and training and gender responsiveness and inclusion
3) Student well-being and welfare through safe school environment, enhanced guidance and counselling services and skills development opportunities, with a special focus on adolescent girls
4) Resilient education systems to natural disasters, man-made crises and climate change effects to mitigate impact and promote continuity of learning

Under the overall sectoral guidance of the Chief of Education, direct supervision provided by the Education Manager, and technical guidance provided by the T4D Officer through matrix management, as well as based on established policies, guidelines and procedures, the UN Volunteer – Technology for Development (T4D) Officer in Education will support demand for T4D programmatic needs in Education.

UNICEF programmes increasingly leverage digital means for effective programme delivery, systems strengthening and monitoring. The T4D Officer supports programme teams in the identification, assessment and integration of ICT and digital innovation into UNICEF programming; strengthening internal capacity to support T4D related initiatives; identifying and engaging with key partners; building and maintaining business relationships; applying reusable and replicable technical buildings blocks; and maximizing the potential for the scale-up and sustainability of technology and digital innovation for UNICEF programming. The T4D Officer works side by side with Education Programme staff to support and provide inputs to the UNICEF’s cooperation with the Government of Papua New Guinea in the education sector.

1. Digital/Data Solution Implementation
Support and design of T4D Interventions
• Provide technical support to the Education Programme in the identification, selection, concept design, deployment and sustainability of T4D interventions to address bottlenecks towards the achievement of programme results.
Solution Procurement and Evaluation
• Provide inputs into the review of technical solutions to ensure UNICEF standards and Technology Playbook are followed; contribute to project management processes, generation and review of terms of reference and vendor selection.
Deployment Advice and Support
• Assist with implementation strategy of digital technology initiatives, including technical oversight, troubleshooting and the documentation of challenges and resolutions.
Data Management and Tracking Progress
• Support the collection, validation, management, and dissemination of data related to the education program.
• Develop a user-friendly dashboard to visualize data clearly, enabling stakeholders to track progress, analyze trends, and make informed decisions.

2. Strategic Oversight and Policy Compliance
Digital Development and Technology Innovation Strategy
• Support implementation of the technology and digital innovation strategy for the Education Programme. Bring visibility to T4D gaps, opportunities and scale-up strategy in support of Education Programme priorities.
Quality Assurance
• Monitor development and quality assurance during planning and deployment of T4D initiatives; participate in establishing and maintaining standards, documentation and support mechanisms for T4D.
Compliance with T4D Best Practices
• Contribute to Country Office T4D Governance Committee and support compliance of T4D initiatives with the Principles for Digital Development (http://digitalprinciples.org/) and UNICEF Technology Playbook.

3. Resource Mobilization
Proposal and Donor Development
• Identify and explore opportunities for resource mobilization and new partnerships. Assist proposal and donor development efforts.
Provide Advice and Support to Programme Partners
• Provide inputs to technical and operational support to a wide range of stakeholders and partners on UNICEF policies, practices, standards and norms on technology for development.
Document Localized Partners and Profiles
• Maintain catalogue of country specific T4D partners and their profiles/areas of engagement to promote and enhance UNICEF goals for outcomes for children through Technology for Development.

4. Project Management and Portfolio Coordination
Project Management
• Monitor initiatives to ensure timely delivery throughout the lifecycle from assessment through to implementation and ongoing operations, while ensuring consistent stake-holder engagement.
Portfolio Coordination
• Work closely with the Regional Office in deploying a portfolio approach and developing a digital roadmap for adapting common solutions prioritized for UNICEF programming (e.g. Digital Public Goods). Use UNICEF’s INVENT global online portfolio for T4D and innovation to record solutions and their status.

5. Knowledge Management
Share Lessons Learned
• Identify, capture, and share lessons learned from T4D for integration into broader knowledge development planning, advocacy and communication efforts.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
• Work with Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation to ensure documentation and clear monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for innovation and T4D projects in Education Programme including baseline data collection, on-going monitoring, as well as first phase data collection and analysis.
• Contribute to annual progress reports and information products by integrating data and visual content to enhance the visibility and impact of education programs.

Contribute to Peer Support Networks
• Contribute and share to regional and global digital development and technology innovation networks and activities where appropriate.

6. Digital Capacity Building
Utilize Data for Evidence Generation
• Support the identification of data needs of programmes and partners and propose solutions. Support capacity building of programme staff and partners in analyzing the large amounts of data generated through T4D initiatives including the use of data visualization techniques and analytics tools.
Guide Stakeholders and End-users
• Participate as resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies, capacity and knowledge within the programmes on digital development. Guide UNICEF staff, partners, government counterparts and other end users in digital development and technology innovation.

7. Digital Innovation
Identify and Assess New Technology and Digital Innovations
• Support programme sections to identify and assess new T4D initiatives, or new phases of on-going initiatives, with immediate potential to improve UNICEF programming. Assist programme sections to identify significant product, organizational and process opportunities.
Build Awareness around Innovation and Frontier Technology
• Support the development of staff capabilities in using frontier technology and innovations such as UAVs, wearables, Internet of Things (IoTs), mobile money, blockchain etc. Maintain updated knowledge of the latest trends and developments.

8. Business Analysis
User Centric Design
• Utilize human/user-centric design methods to support user-acceptance testing, evaluation, documentation and analysis (e.g. design thinking)
Landscape Mapping
• Maintain an inventory of Technology and Innovation interventions, assets, resources and networks.


Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:
• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day).
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country.
• Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities.
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly arrived UN Volunteers.
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.