Regional Coordinator (14), on temporary basis, with effect from 1^st October until 15^th November 2010

Placement

Thimphu, Paro, Punakha, Wangdue, Bumthang, Mongar, Lhuentse, Trashiyangtse, Trashigang, Samdrup Jongkhar, Zhemgang, Damphu, Chhukha and Samtse

Job Description:

1. Assist with management of large scale project to assess learning levels of all school children of classes 4, 6 and 8
2. Assist in planning effectively and coming up with innovative solutions for the successful administration of the project in the region of placement
3. Liaison with the schools, Dzongkhag Education Officers, and other relevant persons for smooth implementation of the project
4. Help in recruiting test administrators for the project in the region of placement
5. Carry out all the tasks required for test administration in a standardized manner across the region
6. Assist in data verification, collection of the test documents and their delivery after test administration
7. Handle all the logistics issues for the region

Candidate Profile:

1. A minimum of Bachelors Degree in any field of studies
2. Good communication skills (both spoken and written) in English and Dzongkha
3. Good interpersonal skills and social networking capability
4. Has good experience in using the internet and email correspondence
5. Should have a mobile, for easy contact
6. Can walk to remote locations
7. Can bear hardship and adjust easily to new situations (particularly rural)

Preference will be given to the candidate who/with:

1. is a resident of the area of placement
2. 1-2 years experience in execution of projects with complex logistics
3. good computer skills
4. knowledge of the region of placement, including trekking routes
5. ability to communicate in the local language
6. experience working in/for Education
7. certificate in Management/Administration

Interested Candidates fulfilling the above criteria can apply to:

Royal Education Council
P. O Box #. 1468,  Motithang, Thimphu,

with attested copies of the following documents latest by 5.00 p.m, 10^th September 2010.

1. Academic transcripts  and certificates (attested)
2. Other certificates, if any (e.g. trained in computer applications)
3. Citizenship Identity Card
4. No Objection Certificate (if employed)
5. Two references from your previous employers, if employed before
6. Security Clearance
7. Medical Certificate
8. Any other relevant documents

Note: Incomplete documents will not be entertained. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for selection interview.

Tentative Interview Dates:  20^th – 22^nd September 2010

Venue for the Interview: Office of the Royal Education Council, Motithang, Thimphu

For further information, please contact Mr. Sonam Tobgay (HRO) at: 02- 337414/337417 during office hours.

As a follow up of the Annual Status of Student Learning (ASSL) Study conducted with all classes 4, 6 and 8 students in 2008 and Teacher Needs Assessment (TNA) Study conducted with all teachers teaching classes PP-4 in 2008, the REC conducted dissemination workshops in four Dzongkhangs – Thimphu, Mongar, Paro and Sarpang – in July 2010 with a total of 202 school principals and teachers from these dzongkhags and district education officers from all 20 dzongkhags. Ministry of Education professionals and members from the Samtse College of Education also participated in the workshop that was conducted for 2 days in each dzongkhag and facilitated mainly by members from Educational Initiatives (http://www.ei-india.com). The focus was on the main findings of the studies and more importantly showing the school principals and teachers how to interpret the reports and use them for improvement in learning and teaching.  One of the main requests by the participants in all the four venues was a copy of the presentation slides so as to enable them to share what they learnt at the workshop with their colleagues in school. The slides are uploaded on the REC website to make them widely accessible to all DEOs, school principals and teachers interested in using them for enhancement in ‘learning with understanding.’

……..

Workshop Presentation Downloads >

• ASSL
• TNA
• What is a Good Question ?
• Benchmarking
• Teacher Misconceptions
• Understanding Data report
• Student Achievement Tracking System

Workshop Pictures >

The management system includes clear planning and performance targets set by each school at the start of the year, and greater transparency and fairness in assessments based on targets at the end, officials said.

Citing an example, the head of education monitoring service division (EMSD), Wangchuk Namgyel, said that a school would have to assess the net attendance of students, their access to schools, teachers’ and principal’s attendance, student drop-out rate, community involvement, student learning, and percentage of students involved in discipline problems.

“There’ll be proper records and information disseminated for timely support and intervention at the district and ministry levels,” he said.

The performance management system requires teachers to receive formal feedback from their principals or senior teachers at least once a month. Education officials said that the school would also submit reports on a teacher’s initiative or workload, their number of classes and students, and the students’ performance.

“Principals will review teacher’s targets together and then give ratings in front of him or her,” Wangchuk Namgyel said, adding that all assessments or appraisals would be based on evidence. “The system will allow principals and the ministry to better assess teachers to provide timely support or appreciation.”

Principals would also receive monitoring and feedback from respective DEOs at least once a month. DEOs, on the other hand, would review the progress of a school and submit a report to the dzongda and the ministry five times a year.

“We’re looking at a strengthened information link, where DEOs should be constantly reviewing all schools, principals and teachers and students under them,” the chief of EMSD said. “The ministry will examine incentives for teachers or principals based on school ratings and the targets achieved.”

Education officials also said that, rather than using a ‘one size fits all’ approach, the management system empowers teachers and head teachers to set up performance targets for their different schools. “This would provide the ministry clear areas of focus,” a planning officer said, adding that the three main pillars of the performance management was setting targets, measuring performance and rewarding performances.

The government of Australia yesterday presented a cheque of AUD 1M (approximately Nu 40M) to Bhutan to reconstruct basic school services affected by the September 2009 earthquake.
The money that will be routed through UNICEF over the next three years will rebuild toilets at 50 schools, water supply schemes at 40 schools, and enable the complete reconstruction of 13 community primary schools in the country, said the Australian parliamentary secretary for international development assistance, Bob McMullan, MP, who presented the cheque.  “Australia will work with the Bhutanese government to ensure that school children have access to basic facilities and education throughout their student lives,” he said.The money will also be used to train beneficiaries on how to manage the new water and sanitation facilities and to conduct health and hygiene sessions. School principals and teachers in all 20 dzongkhags of Bhutan will also be trained in emergency disaster preparedness and risk reduction.The UNICEF Bhutan representative, Dr Gepke Hingst, said that UNICEF will collaborate with the ministries of home and cultural affairs, education, and health to carry out the activities.“Thank you, Australia, for your wonderful gift to provide water, toilets and hygiene to the school children – a powerful combination when it comes to health and learning for the future citizens of Bhutan,” she said.Dr Hingst also congratulated the government for its commitment to rehabilitate the lives of the people affected by the disaster with a vision of ‘building back better’’.Australia also provided AUD 500,000 (approximately Nu 20M) to the world food program’s school feeding programme in 2009.“This programme encourages poor households to send their children, especially girls, to school. It provides at least one nutritious meal in a day, and can help boost enrolment and promote regular attendance, giving children an education and a future,” Bob McMullan said.He also congratulated Bhutan for being, amongst the developing countries, most clearly in track towards achieving the millennium development goals, especially in the area of education.“In my discussions with senior members of the royal government of Bhutan, I was very pleased to hear of the important contribution that Australian scholarships have made over 40 years in developing the skills and capacity of the Bhutanese people,” he said.In 2009-2010, Australia provided two additional scholarships to study at Australian universities, bringing the total number of Australia awards scholarships for Bhutan to more than 40 annually.Australia is also funding the Queensland university of technology and the ministry of labour and human resources to strengthen technical and vocational education in Bhutan.Bob McMullan is in Bhutan to represent Australia as the head of the Australian observer delegation at the SAARC summit.

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NEA: National Education Assessment; BLQS: Bhutan Quality Learning Survey, World Bank