Job Title: Lead Education Economist/Specialist
Employer: World Bank Group
JOB #: 132295
JOB FAMILY: Education
LOCATION: Abuja, Nigeria
RECRUITMENT TYPE: International Hire
LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT: English [Essential]; French [Desired]
Background / General description:
The Africa Region (AFR) of the World Bank Group serves 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Countries range from low income countries among them fragile and conflict states to a small but growing number of middle income countries (MICs) but with weak human development indicators. Average annual per capita income varies widely and inequalities persist in most AFR countries, with most of the Region's people living in poverty. The Bank's strategy in AFR is focused on two pillars – competitiveness and employment, and vulnerability and resilience – and a foundation – governance and public-sector capacity.
The Human Development Department in the Africa Region is comprised of three sectors: Health, Education and Social Protection. The education sector is divided into two units: West and Central Africa; and East and Southern Africa. The Africa Education Sector Unit for West and Central Africa (AFTEW) is responsible for policy, analytical and operational work in the education sector in the sub-region. The unit currently has a portfolio of IDA projects, Trust Funds, analytical work and technical assistance products in fragile, low and middle-income countries. The portfolio spans the full spectrum of the education sector from early childhood education to higher education as well as skills development. Many countries have achieved considerable progress in access to basic education but particular attention is now needed on issues of improving the quality and relevance of education at all levels, expanding access to post-basic education and training, and improving skills development so as to produce a quality workforce to sustain and expand on the current growth in the region in an inclusive manner.
AFTEW works with client countries – at the regional, sub-regional, national and sub-national levels – to address these challenges. The aim is to contribute to breaking the equilibrium of low-level quality at all levels of education, increasing the efficiency and accountability of education services, modernizing the higher end of the formal education continuum, more effectively integrating science and technology, and better aligning skills formation with the needs of fast-growing Region, including MICs. In doing this, AFTEW aims to not only deliver high quality products but also to support efforts towards inclusive growth, and build capacity in client countries through collaborative interactions with country counterparts and other development partners. It seeks to bring the best possible knowledge to bear on the practical challenges facing client countries and at the same time puts a high priority on knowledge generation, including through benchmarking and rigorous impact evaluations of education interventions. The lending portfolio is increasingly using new instruments to shift emphasis from financing inputs to delivering results; and to support holistic and systemic reforms. Increasingly, the unit is witnessing demand for knowledge products and innovative AAA work (including through fee based services). Specifically, AFTEW (i) assists countries in developing and implementing strategies for ensuring quality teaching and learning at all levels of education (pre-school, basic education, secondary education, tertiary education and science & technology), and in addressing the issues that face these countries' disadvantaged population groups; (ii) ensures that education systems respond to the needs of labor markets; (iii) continues to stress the focus on results; builds capacity for monitoring and impact evaluation of reforms; fosters knowledge sharing; (iv) promotes innovative approaches, cross-sectoral linkages, and partnerships with the private sector and other development partners whenever relevant; (v) develops and scales up successful strategies for regional collaboration to leverage economies of scale; and (vi) works to strengthen governance, accountability, and transparency in the education sector.
Nigeria constitutes a major part of our work in education. With almost a quarter of the population of sub-Saharan Africa, success in Nigeria is critical to achieving significant progress at the regional level. The education sector is the largest for any single country in Africa and is characterized by several challenges at all levels. These include: the challenges of managing access at all levels in view of a large and growing population, addressing the high numbers of out-of-school children, challenges in quality of education and learning outcomes, efficiency and sustainability of financing, regional and gender disparities, a complex sector governance system; and political economy issues in implementing reforms. The Bank currently has a large portfolio in the country and increasingly, the need for a multi-sectoral approach is becoming eminent.
In the light of the above, AFTEW is seeking Lead Education Economist/Specialist candidates to be based in Abuja, Nigeria with: (a) experience in policy technical dialogue, including with MIC clients; (b) have strong analytical skills; and