The British Council is seeking to establish a pool of technical experts who are interested in short-term and flexible longer-term consultancy roles to support the delivery of the ASEAN-UK Supporting the Advancement of Girls’ Education (ASEAN-UK SAGE) Programme, a five-year FCDO-funded programme for ASEAN and Timor-Leste. Flexible (framework) consultancy contracts will be issued to successful candidates, and consultant inputs will range from 5-days up to 100-days, to be delivered during ASEAN-UK SAGE implementation phase 1 which runs to March 2025. Interventions supported by the technical experts will include providing technical assistance to ministries of education and supporting the design and delivery of pilot projects that align with the ASEAN-UK SAGE pillars, as well as research and advocacy work. Experts will be appointed on a rolling basis, as need arises: the first step is to submit an expression of interest and CV (see below).
ASEAN-UK SAGE Programme Brief:
The ASEAN-UK SAGE Programme emerged from the UK’s official Dialogue Partner status with ASEAN and is the first ASEAN-UK cooperation programme implemented under the ASEAN-UK Plan of Action 2022-2026. Phase 1 of the programme is implemented by the British Council (www.britishcouncil.org), SEAMEO Secretariat (www.seameo.org), Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) (www.acer.org), and EdTech Hub (www.edtechhub.org) with the first two as Programme co-leads. The programme – which is managed by a programme management office based in Jakarta and Bangkok - aims to provide evidence-based technical input that will enable key players in the region including the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC), SEAMEO, and ASEAN Member States to develop effective policies and programmes that improve education outcomes for all, and that tackle exclusion and constraints limiting the achievement of girls and marginalised groups. To achieve this, the programme is delivered through the following workstreams/pillars:
Pillar 1: Foundational learning for boys and girls. Addressing foundational learning poverty; supporting acquisition of basic literacy & numeracy.
Pillar 2: Out-of-school girls and marginalised groups. Improving equitable education provision for out-of-school girls and marginalised groups.
Pillar 3: Gender barriers to basic digital skills for employment. Reducing gender barriers to basic tech. and digital skills; improving employment prospects.
Integration of education technology crosscuts the three pillars.
The technical experts will play a key strategic role in achieving ASEAN-UK SAGE programme goals to deliver positive outcomes across ASEAN Member States’ education systems. They will contribute to the effective design and implementation of pilots and/or the delivery of short term consultancies to government stakeholders by (a) leading on the detailed design, implementation and oversight of specific pilot project interventions and (b) providing expert inputs and reports, to (c) strategically support programme goals to improve quality of life outcomes through a more sustained, supported access to an inclusive, quality education offering which also helps to narrow the development gap in ASEAN.
Requirements
ASEAN-UK SAGE has a strong focus on working with ASEAN Member States at policymaker level and with intergovernmental and non-governmental associations and organisations to effect positive outcomes within education systems, therefore technical expert(s) should be able to demonstrate extensive background and experience relevant to the ASEAN region, having positively engaged at senior levels of basic education systems. Alongside this we require experts with a strong interest in gender sensitive education policymaking, with senior management and advisory experience relevant to this field. Expressions of interest are sought from individuals with professional expertise and experience that aligns with the ASEAN-UK SAGE pillars in the following (indicative) areas:
Foundational learning
Out-of-school girls and marginalised groups
Removing gender barriers to digital skills and employment
Selected cross-cutting themes:
Master’s degree or higher qualification in education is desirable. Undergraduate degrees will be considered only if backed by extensive work experience in education. Working proficiency in English at level C1 or above are required for all experts. Experience of working on international programmes or projects is desirable.
Equality, diversity and inclusion statement
The British Council is committed to policies and practices of equality, diversity and inclusion across everything we do. We support all staff to make sure their behaviour is consistent with this commitment. We want to address under-representation and encourage expressions of interest from under-represented groups – in particular, but not exclusively, on grounds of ethnicity and disability. We welcome discussions about specific requirements or adjustments that are needed to enable participation and engagement in our work and activities.
How to submit an expression of interest
Interested parties should complete the short form provided to indicate their areas of expertise and to return this to us with an up-to-date CV. A copied of this job advert is also available for download. Please submit your completed Expression of Interest form and CV by email to UniPrayuti.Prayuti@britishcouncil.org cc. Panisara.Paireepinath@britishcouncil.org with the subject ‘ASEAN-UK SAGE Technical Expert(s) EOI – [Name]’.
The British Council may follow up with candidates to discuss their expression of interest further. We may run additional selection processes for particular roles or assignments within the programme. Details of how to participate in these will be shared at the appropriate time with those who have expressed interest and been shortlisted.
Please note that issuing this call for experts does not commit the British Council to select any expert and/or candidate. Only shortlisted individuals will be contacted.
For successful applicants, contracting will be subject to clearance including: identity check; right to work; employment history, criminal record check, prohibited transactions.
Personal information gathered through expressions of interest will be used for the purposes of shortlisting potential experts for the ASEAN-UK SAGE programme and will not be shared further without prior consent. The British Council’s global policy statement on information security and privacy can be accessed here: www.britishcouncil.org/about-us/how-we-work/policies/information-securit…
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. We do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and the countries we work with –changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust. We work with over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language and education, 7 of which are in Southeast Asia. Each year we reach over 20 million people face-to-face and more than 500million people online, via broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body.
