Based in Arusha (Tanzania), the Technical Assistant in Education Policies (TAEP) will be in charge of providing technical assistance on a permanent basis to the EAC in the implementation of the PEERS project. More specifically, the TAEP will have the primary responsibility of supporting the EAC in implementing the activities under the three specific objectives of the Description of the Action (DOA) (more details below). 

The TAEP will report to the Team Leader and will be part of a technical team which is comprised of another TAEP in ECOWAS region (based in Abuja, Nigeria), complemented with short-term expertise in the three policy focus areas of the project: i) equitable quality, gender-responsive, and inclusive education, ii) green education and iii) digital education policies; as well as technical expertise that might be identified on a needs basis during project implementation. The TAEP will also work in close collaboration with a project coordinator and a project assistant, both resident within the EAC. 

In the implementation of the activities, the resident team (TAEP, regional coordinator and project assistant) will receive operational support from and collaborate with the Project Management Unit (PMU), comprised of 4 staff in charge of providing financial, administrative and cross-cutting support to the project. This staff is comprised of the Administrative and Finance Manager (AFM), a Project Assistant, a MEAL Coordinator (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning) and an Advocacy and Communication Officer. 

Key responsibilities: 

Overall key responsibilities

• Technical dialogue. Act as the main technical expert in support of the EAC REC in the project implementation, promotion of ownership at institutional level, and the identification and implementation of capacity strengthening plans and actions.  
• Planning
  
  • Contribute and provide technical inputs to the annual planning process at different levels: i) at projet-level within the PEERS team, ii) at the EAC level within the framework of their annual planning, iii) as well as within the thematic working groups in the development of their annual workplans.  
  • Contribute to the integration of the three focus areas—equitable, gender-responsive, inclusive education; green education; and digital education—in the strategic programming of each level of the project implementation.
• Coordination and stakeholder engagement
  
  • Define and implement actions that contribute to consolidate EAC REC’s ownership of the project and build internal capacity to lead the activities
  • Upon request, support the PEERS team lead in the regular dialogue and coordination of the main project’s stakeholders, including the EU Delegation in Dar es Salaam and EAC Secretariat in Arusha.  
  • Upon request, support the PEERS team lead through technical inputs and contributions, in the organization and facilitation of the annual Project Steering Committee (PSC) and biannual Regional Steering Committee (RSC).
  • Collaborate closely with the TAEP in the ECOWAS REC to promote synergies between the working groups’ activities in the EAC and ECOWAS regions.
  • Collaborate closely with other team staff such as the technical advisor from ADEA.
  • Contribute to addressing stakeholders’ feedback and integrating into the project’s general approach.
• Capacity strengthening 
  
  • Contribute to the development of the EAC REC's capacity strengthening plan, and lead its updating, implementation and monitoring.
  • As part of the capacity strengthening plan, lead design and implement capacity strengthening activities, such as training, coaching, tool creation (for example to monitor the work plans), etc; and lead the mobilization of specific external expertise to support the delivery of the capacity strengthening plan.
  • Strengthen the EAC REC's capacity to participate in existing global and continental mechanisms and bodies (including the SDG framework and the AU/CESA).
• Project implementation
  
  • Contribute to the technical alignment of the project’s activities with EU policies, the AU/CESA, SDGs, and other relevant frameworks for education policy development in Africa.
  • Upon request from the EAC team, provide relevant technical inputs on topics that are related to the project implementation
  • Support the EAC team and directly contribute to i) drafting the TORs of the outputs and activities identified in the annual work plans of the EAC REC and working groups, ii) the technical dialogue with the short-term expertise that will be mobilized under the project, iii) the monitoring and quality assurance of the short-term expertise (including the quality assurance of the experts’ deliverables).
  • Provide a general technical lead and overarching technical coordination of the thematic experts team that will be mobilized to support the working groups in their respective areas of expertise
  • Provide technical inputs to the definition, and directly contribute to the implementation of the phase-out and sustainability strategy of the project, in alignment with the strategic vision of the two RECs and the EU.
• Reporting and communication
  
  • Contribute and provide technical inputs to the annual reports at the three implementation levels specified above in the planning section.
  • Produce individual annual reports detailing the capacity-strengthening  activities that have been undertaken throughout the year.
  • Upon request, provide technical inputs and collaborate with the project team to support the project’s communication efforts.
• Evaluation. Provide technical inputs in the different rounds of the project evaluation, including the baseline work, the mid-term evaluation, as well as the final evaluation 

As part of his/her missions, the TAEP will more specifically provide: 

Contributions to the Specific Objective #1: 

• Contribute to drafting the working groups TORs and support the creation, operation and development of the working groups.
• Assist the EAC Secretariat and provide individual coaching to its staff in the overall coordination and facilitation of the operation of the working groups.
• Propose and produce tools for improved regional dialogue coordination and monitoring by EAC Secretariat.
• Support the EAC Secretariat in the identification of synergies between the different thematic working groups, as well as the implementation of the corresponding synergetic activities.
• In collaboration with the thematic experts, support the EAC Secretariat and contribute to drafting the TORs for short-term complementary expertise, to the technical dialogue and implementation, monitoring and quality assurance of their work for the: i) situation analysis in the three focus areas, ii) needs assessment covering both institutional and individual capacity strengthening  needs, and iii) initial capacity strengthening plan
• In collaboration with the thematic experts, support the EAC Secretariat in the organization and implementation of the activities listed in the workplans of each working group
• Support the EAC Secretariat in the organization and definition of the technical content of the annual high-level event that will convene the policymakers of the sub-region

Contributions to the Specific Objective #2: 

In collaboration with the Coordinator of practices and policy exchanges at EDUFI (responsible for SO2 implementation):

• Provide technical inputs to the analysis of the European Education Area (EEA) experiences, practices and tools for coordination and its contextualisation in relation to the EAC REC's needs and strategic planning 
• Support the EAC Secretariat and working groups in the identification of relevant study visits for the observation of EEA experiences, practices and coordination tools, and support the organisation of the study visits
• Provide technical inputs and support for the organisation of webinars showcasing EEA experiences, practices and coordination tools 
• Support the EAC  Secretariat and working groups in their participation and contribution to webinars organised between African and European peers at technical level to exchange ideas and experiences on equitable quality, gender-responsive, inclusive, green, and digital education
• Support the EAC Secretariat and working groups in their participation and contribution to side-events to the high-level events within the AU-EU partnership framework.

Contributions to the Specific Objective #3: 

• In collaboration with the knowledge management expert at ADEA (responsible for SO3 implementation):
• Provide technical inputs to the diagnosis reports of current knowledge management practices and to the concept note detailing the proposed updates to knowledge management practices  within the scope of the project
• Support the working groups in the identification of the data and evidence needed for their technical dialogue, and support the formulation of their requests 
• Propose the work habits, processes, and tools that enable the working groups to produce evidence-based policy recommendations 
• Support the EAC Secretariat and working groups in the dissemination of evidence-based policy recommendations and advocacy efforts at the level of EAC political bodies, at the level of policymakers during high-level events, as well as research stakeholders and portals