Technical Partner for Accelerated Learning & Reintegration Pilot for Out-Of-School Learners in South Sudan job at World University Service of Canada

Introduction

WUSC is a Canadian global development organization working to catalyze positive education and economic outcomes for young people. We collaborate with a diverse network of partners, volunteers, students, schools, governments, and businesses who share our vision of a more inclusive, equitable world. Together, we foster youth-centered solutions that enable young people—particularly women and displaced populations—to thrive and belong. WUSC operates in 28 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, and in Canada, delivering a diverse portfolio of development projects in collaboration with multilateral and bilateral donors.

Background to WUSC’s work in South Sudan

In South Sudan, WUSC is implementing the Strengthening Collaborative Action and Learning for Education (SCALE) project, funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC). SCALE is a five-year initiative that aims to help adolescent girls and young women access better, safer, and more empowering education opportunities.

SCALE seeks to empower girls and young women by removing barriers that limit their access to education and by improving the overall quality of education provision. The project’s core outcomes include:

• Increasing support for adolescent girls and young women to be in control of their health and educational choices;
• Increasing ability of community & school groups to actively promote girls’ access to education;
• Increasing capacity of teachers & education leaders to create safe, inclusive & gender-transformative schools & learning environment;
• Increasing knowledge & application of promising practices to support safe, inclusive & gender-transformative education systems.

The project, launched in October 2025, operates in Yei, Kajo Keji, and Magwi counties - areas characterised by large numbers of returnee families. These counties have been strategically selected to support education system actors to respond to heightened needs, drive advancements in gender equality and female empowerment, and test scalable interventions to improve education outcomes across South Sudan.

Assignment Purpose

As part of SCALE’s commitment to empowering adolescent girls and young women and strengthening inclusive education pathways, the project will support the design and delivery of a small scale pilot to test second chance learning opportunities for out-of-school learners - including young mothers, returnees, learners with disabilities, and other marginalised groups - with the goal of generating insights and recommendations for scaling within South Sudan.

To achieve this goal, WUSC is seeking a Technical Partner to design and implement an Accelerated Learning Pathway for 240 highly marginalised out-of-school adolescents. The goal is to provide a "bridge" program that rapidly builds foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) skills, allowing learners to transition into the formal school system at age-appropriate grades.

The partner will be expected to deliver a model that is:

• Accelerated: Covers key primary competencies in a condensed timeframe (3–6 months).
• Flexible: Adaptable to the non-linear learning gaps of returnees and OOS girls.
• Evidence-Based: Utilises proven pedagogical approaches (e.g., digital learning, TaRL, or condensed ALP curricula).

Scope of Work

The Technical Partner will be responsible for the following:

1. Instructional Model Design and Contextualisation
   • Provide or adapt an existing instructional framework (digital or otherwise) aligned with the South Sudan National Curriculum or relevant curriculum standards.
   • Ensure materials are gender-responsive and inclusive of the lived experiences of SCALE’s target project participants, including adolescent girls who may be young mothers or refugee returnees.
   • Integrate content that directly responds to the needs of target learners (to be identified through a needs assessment being completed by WUSC).
   • Define the minimum package of competencies required for a learner to be deemed ready to re-enter formal education.
2. Delivery and Facilitation Management
   • Support WUSC to establish and equip Learning Hubs (utilising community structures or existing learning spaces).
   • Support WUSC to recruit and train community-based facilitators to effectively deliver the learning model, including any specific methodology (e.g. blended learning, active pedagogy, or remedial instruction).
   • Support WUSC and its relevant partners to design and conduct community engagement activities to a) identify and mobilise learners to participate in the pilot, and b) generate support for the learning and reintegration model.
   • Provide ongoing coaching and quality assurance support to ensure instructional fidelity.
3. Assessment and Transition Tracking
   • Develop tools and approaches to conduct pre-entry diagnostic assessments to determine individual learner levels.
   • Implement formative and summative assessments to track progress.
   • Produce individual competency profiles that provide clear evidence of a learner’s grade-readiness, which will form the basis of re-entry discussions with school head teachers.
4. Evidence and Learning Generation
   • Design and execute a monitoring and research agenda to evaluate the pilot’s effectiveness related to learning gains and transition outcomes.
   • Document and package evidence and learning into agreed learning products summarising impact, optimal facilitation requirements, lessons learned, and recommendations for scale-up.

Expected Deliverables

• Inception Report: Detailed implementation plan, including the proposed pedagogical model, assessment tools, community engagement strategy, and learning agenda.
• Facilitator Training Manual and Training of Trainers: Documentation of the training provided to local staff.
• Community Engagement Strategy: A documented plan for mobilisation, caregiver sensitisation, and local leadership buy-in, including risk mitigation plan for gender-based barriers.
• Learner Progress Dashboard/Report: Monthly data on attendance, competency gains, and participation.
• Final Transition Report: Data on the 240 learners, including their Competency Profiles and confirmed grade placements in formal schools.
• Evidence and Scalability Learning Product/s: Documenting evidence of success and scalability of the learning and reintegration model.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Proven experience designing and implementing effective accelerated education, non-formal education, or second chance learning in fragile or conflict-affected settings, preferably in South Sudan, with demonstrable results;
• Strong knowledge of the education sector in South Sudan, including national education priorities and Alternative Education Program (AEP) policies and practice;
• Technical expertise in gender-transformative education, inclusive education, curriculum design, teacher training and/or youth programming;
• Optional but preferred: Experience with EdTech or low-resource technology solutions for education.
• Strong analytical, research, design, and documentation skills;
• Demonstrated ability to deliver high-quality outputs within tight deadlines;
• Excellent interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills;
• Full professional fluency in English. Knowledge of Juba Arabic or local languages is an asset.

• Provide or adapt an existing instructional framework (digital or otherwise) aligned with the South Sudan National Curriculum or relevant curriculum standards.
• Ensure materials are gender-responsive and inclusive of the lived experiences of SCALE’s target project participants, including adolescent girls who may be young mothers or refugee returnees.
• Integrate content that directly responds to the needs of target learners (to be identified through a needs assessment being completed by WUSC).
• Define the minimum package of competencies required for a learner to be deemed ready to re-enter formal education.
• Support WUSC to establish and equip Learning Hubs (utilising community structures or existing learning spaces).
• Support WUSC to recruit and train community-based facilitators to effectively deliver the learning model, including any specific methodology (e.g. blended learning, active pedagogy, or remedial instruction).
• Support WUSC and its relevant partners to design and conduct community engagement activities to a) identify and mobilise learners to participate in the pilot, and b) generate support for the learning and reintegration model.
• Provide ongoing coaching and quality assurance support to ensure instructional fidelity.
• Develop tools and approaches to conduct pre-entry diagnostic assessments to determine individual learner levels.
• Implement formative and summative assessments to track progress.
• Produce individual competency profiles that provide clear evidence of a learner’s grade-readiness, which will form the basis of re-entry discussions with school head teachers.
• Design and execute a monitoring and research agenda to evaluate the pilot’s effectiveness related to learning gains and transition outcomes.
• Document and package evidence and learning into agreed learning products summarising impact, optimal facilitation requirements, lessons learned, and recommendations for scale-up.

• Proven experience designing and implementing effective accelerated education, non-formal education, or second chance learning in fragile or conflict-affected settings, preferably in South Sudan, with demonstrable results;
• Strong knowledge of the education sector in South Sudan, including national education priorities and Alternative Education Program (AEP) policies and practice;
• Technical expertise in gender-transformative education, inclusive education, curriculum design, teacher training and/or youth programming;
• Experience with EdTech or low-resource technology solutions for education (preferred);
• Strong analytical, research, design, and documentation skills;
• Demonstrated ability to deliver high-quality outputs within tight deadlines;
• Excellent interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills;
• Full professional fluency in English. Knowledge of Juba Arabic or local languages is an asset.

• Proven experience designing and implementing effective accelerated education, non-formal education, or second chance learning in fragile or conflict-affected settings, preferably in South Sudan, with demonstrable results;
• Strong knowledge of the education sector in South Sudan, including national education priorities and Alternative Education Program (AEP) policies and practice;
• Technical expertise in gender-transformative education, inclusive education, curriculum design, teacher training and/or youth programming;
• Experience with EdTech or low-resource technology solutions for education (preferred);
• Strong analytical, research, design, and documentation skills;
• Demonstrated ability to deliver high-quality outputs within tight deadlines;
• Excellent interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills;
• Full professional fluency in English. Knowledge of Juba Arabic or local languages is an asset.