Project Assistant TVET

Position Title

Project Assistant, Technical and Vocational Education (TVET) - BRIDGE PROJECT- Southwestern Uganda (2)

Position Grade

G0

Duty Station

Isingiro & Kikuube

Contract

12 months, Renewable

Reports to

Senior Project Officer TVET

Management Responsibility

None

Key Relationships

Regional Coordinator Southwestern, Project Officer Secondary AEP, Protection Officer

Background

War Child Canada is an internationally recognized charity organization.
Registered in Toronto, Canada, dedicated to helping children and their communities overcome the devastating effects of war.  Its vision is “Accelerating Peace by Disrupting the Cycle of Violence,” and its mission is “Driving Generational Change for the Hardest Hit by Investing in the Power of Local Communities.” Since being founded in 1999, War Child Canada has worked in 20 countries across the world, and we are currently operational in Afghanistan, Yemen, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Uganda.

During the past five years, War Child Canada reached over 2,500,000 conflict-afflicted children and adults; 985,000 people benefitted from War Child’s educational initiatives; 480,000 people were helped to climb out of poverty, and 1,075,000 people learned more about their rights and had better access to justice systems. War Child Canada in Uganda: Since 2014, War Child Canada has worked in 10 districts (mainly refugee-hosting), implementing integrated education, access to justice (includes peacebuilding), opportunities/livelihoods, and programs. Our current districts of operation include: Adjumani, Obongi, Yumbe, Arua, Koboko, Isingiro, Lamwo, Kikuube, and Kamwenge districts.

Context

The BRIDGE PROJECT: War Child Canada, in partnership with Mastercard Foundation, Community Empowerment for Rural Development – CEFORD, Education Local Expertise Uganda (ELECU), and eight Refugee-led Community-based organizations, will be implementing the BRIDGE: From Secondary Education and Skills Development to Job Opportunities for Refugee and Host Community Youth in Uganda Project.

The BRIDGE project that will be implemented from 2022 to 2026 is designed to further the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works Strategy (2018 to 2030)[1] And address the youth unemployment challenge, focusing on refugee and host communities in Uganda’s refugee settlements in Adjumani, Obongi, Isingiro, Kamwenge, Kikuube, Yumbe, Arua, and Koboko districts.

War Child Canada and project implementing partners will employ a gender sensitive and inclusive approach to programming, empower young people, and recognize their potential as agents of change to ensure effective implementation and sustainability of the interventions.  This will be achieved through two outcomes.

1. Increased access to market-relevant secondary and tertiary education and skills for refugee and host community youth
2. Improved capacity of education institutions and teachers to offer quality and relevant education and skills for refugee and host community youth

The program will help to increase demand for education through a strong community engagement and strengthen education supply by strengthening the capacity of Alternative Education Program (AEP) host schools and TVETs on gender and age sensitivity education and enroll 20,400 Lower Secondary AEP learners (14,280 female) and 2,168 (,518 female) Advanced level learners into 34 lower secondary AEP centers, 2,003 learners (1,402 female) in 11, Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) schools and 136 learners in different universities across the country.

The proposed program aims to improve the quality and relevance of education by placing a strong focus on teacher capacity and formal, non-formal and alternative education and learning opportunities.

The program will further support young people in their transition to dignified work and throughout the life of the project, to thrive in their chosen form of employment or livelihood. Activities to support their success will include conducting market analysis annually to tailor interventions to the business context at the refugee settlement, implementing an adopted i-UPSHIFT business incubation “boot camps”, strengthening youth business support centres and TVET institutions through training and infrastructure improvements, providing financial support to young people to access training programs and set up businesses and pairing young people with mentors from the business community. 

Finally, the program approach promotes continuous learning and development to ensure project sustainability.

Position summary

The Project Assistant, TVET, will manage relationships across WCC’s Implementing partners in the design, planning, implementation, and reporting of the project’s activities that build capacity in areas linked to BRIDGE’s strategic goals. This position will support the Master card Foundation/ WCC’s BRIDGE project activities across the areas of operations.

He /she will provide a full range of project management support to the Senior Project Officer- TVET to ensure improved quality of and access to TVET and skills development services while providing technical and management support for empirical and policy-oriented analyses

Responsibilities:

• Support the Senior Project Officer- TVET in developing and implementing weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual project work plans, project activities, and budgets in line with the approved WCC’s BRIDGE project proposal, work plans, and budgets.
• Support in leading field-level planning and delivering planned project activities in accordance with WCC’s BRIDGE project’s implementation plans.
• Take leadership in the implementation of all project activities in operational areas of southwestern Uganda on the TVET scholarship program.
• Mobilize target community members, youth, women, families, and key stakeholders from the settlements, Sub-Counties, and district level to participate in TVET WCC- BRIDGE Project activities.
• Participate in regular coordination meetings concerning livelihood and skilling with all the actors in the settlements, sub-counties, and parish levels
• Assist with project risk management in the implementation of the project to minimize their occurrence and possible effects on the project in line with the WCC- BRIDGE Project Risk Management plan and risk mitigation.
• Ensure quality TVET clubs' activities, including attendance, club decoration, regular sessions, and updating of club records and data.
• Monitor TVET activities implementation and budget utilization of the WCC’s BRIDGE project and provide field-level accountabilities.
• Organize and directly facilitate training sessions and other capacity-building initiatives for support committee members, mentors, youth groups, parents/ caregivers, and male partners on TVET.
• Support the establishment and strengthening of the TVET WCC- BRIDGE project implementation, monitoring, documentation, and profiling innovations, lessons learned, and best practices for replication.
• Develop and maintain a sound TVET network with government and other stakeholders in operational areas.
• Provide support to WCC’s BRIDGE project’s Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) team with TVET activity tracking and monitoring, data collection, database administration, and M&E-related coordination as required.
• Compile and submit regular project activity reports and other project implementation updates.  

Requirement:

Education

• Bachelor of Vocational Studies in Technological Studies with Education , Bachelor of Vocational Studies with Edution or related field
• Advanced university degree in the field of Technical and Vocational Education (TVET) or related areas is an added advantage.
• Minimum of three years of relevant work experience in education, preferably in technical and vocational education and training, teacher professional development, and higher education.
• A clear understanding of the government of the Republic of Uganda’s Technical and Vocational Education (TVET) and other vocational skills training is a must

Other Skills/Competencies

• Excellent understanding of partners’ expectations and trends in the TVET sector.
• Excellent project management skills, including results-based management, financial management, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting.
• Integrity, reliability, and a sense of commitment in the execution of duties.
• Good analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to build and maintain partnerships.
• Ability to work under pressure, to manage heavy workloads and to meet tight deadlines, paying close attention to detail and quality of work.
• Strong IT skills, including good knowledge of standard office software and online collaboration tools.
• Experience communicating with beneficiaries
• Experience of working with local governments and within an NGO context.

Personal Attributes:

• Affinity with War Child Canada’s mandate.
• Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, tact, and diplomacy.
• Creative, energetic, adaptable, and flexible.
• Stress-resilient to be able to cope with deadlines and complex problems.