Early Childhood Development Specialist

Workplace Circumstances

• Environment: Office
• Languages: English, Khmer
• Location: Phnom Penh

Position Summary

Location: Phnom Penh and travel to provinces

Schedule: Intermittent

Job Purpose: Support project government officers in reporting to the PMU Director and coordinating with the PMU gender focal point and the provincial team for the design of and guidance in the implementation of the planned community preschool services and upgraded facilities to address the needs or rural households and more specifically to enable women to participate more effectively during training and other field activities supported by the project.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Conduct assessments, through desk review and field visits, of key issues in the availability, quality, and demand for community preschools in project-targeted communes.
• Support PMU in the target provinces in establishing criteria to select pilot community preschools for capacity development and in strengthening and expanding services for smallholder farmers.
• Develop tools to assess facilities and services of selected community pre-schools, including surveys of teacher capacity, parent service preferences, and willingness to pay;
• Prepare a menu of options for project-support to enhance community preschool services and templates for Commune Councils/CCWCs to community preschool improvement plans.
• Conduct participatory assessments of pre-schools with selected Commune Councils and CCWCs, and to prioritize capacity-strengthening activities and supports.
• Conduct surveys and/or focus group discussions with parents to identify demand and willingness to pay to improve and expand community preschool services, including options to extend operating hours.
• Train Commune Councils and CCWC focal points to prepare community preschool improvement plans and develop project-support submissions.
• Conduct surveys and/or focus group discussions with parents to identify demand and willingness to pay to improve and expand community preschool services, including options to extend operating hours.
• Support to develop procedures to review and approve Commune Council requests for community preschool improvements to be supported by the project and develop tools to monitor implementation.
• Support Commune Councils/CCWC focal points in implementing prioritized community preschool improvement activities.
• Review available professional development training programs for preschool teachers from diverse sources, including training on childhood learning, and healthy diets. Plan preschool teacher training refresher programs, identify trainers, and supervise implementation.
• Support commune councils in mobilizing resources (commune budget, parent contributions) to ensure the sustainability of improved or expanded preschool services.
• Monitor implementation of community preschool activities and prepare reports.
• Prepare reports on community preschool activities and document learning and practices to share knowledge of priorities for enhancing community preschool services for smallholder farmers.

Languages

• English - Fluent

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in social science with evidence of further study with a diploma in education sciences, early childhood, neuroscience, or psychology
• Master's Degree is preferred

Work History

• Work experience working in or with community preschools or other early childhood education centers for 12 years as a minimum

General & Technical Skills

• Strong experience in project management and adult training, autonomy, rigor, and innovative capacity
• Advanced computer skills Ms. PowerPoint, Ms. Word and Ms. Excel
• Excellent written and spoken English communication skills,

Soft Skills

• Willingness to undertake extensive fieldwork in the target communes.