PASGR – PedaL

African universities have been faced with challenges of insufficient funding, which have been jeopardising critical programmes, especially in research and innovation.

The spread of COVID-19 and its economic impacts have worsened the situation, leading to massive budget cuts from governments and international donors.

For instance, the announcement by UK Research and Innovation to cut budgets for international development by almost half has left hundreds of research projects, mostly involving universities in the Global South, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, in limbo.

Similarly, Kenya’s Commission for University Education last year reallocated approximately US$2.5 million to COVID-19 response initiatives while the Nigerian government proposed a cut of approximately US$130 million from the education sector to aid its COVID-19 response, according to a survey by the World Bank.

“Even the funds allocated to education in response to the impact of COVID-19 went to the primary [education] level leaving universities and tertiary institutions with so little,” Dr Beatrice Muganda, the acting executive director for higher education of the Nairobi-based Partnership for African Social and Governance Research (PASGR) told University World News in an interview.

According to an analysis of the World Bank published in December last year, Sub-Saharan countries spend 27% and 43% of their government education expenditure on secondary and primary schools respectively, while institutions of higher education receive 21%.

Muganda said the small allocation of funds available to universities primarily targets research programmes.

“Despite the pandemic forcing universities to move online, funding for such [online] programmes in higher education has been highly neglected across Africa,” she added.

Empowering lecturers

Despite the funding cuts and inadequate resources, universities had to move online as institutionalising blended teaching pedagogies for high-quality learning has become critical.

“What is encouraging is that African universities are now raising funds internally to build [the] capacity of educators to move their academic programmes online for now and the future,” said Muganda.

One of the booming programmes being institutionalised by African universities is the pedagogical leadership online training techniques for lecturers to design courses, teach and even assess online under the Partnership for Pedagogical Leadership in Africa (PedaL).

The programme, funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education Innovation and Reforms (SPHEIR), began online training for lecturers in July 2020 and has since trained more than 1,100 lecturers from 80 African universities with 40% of trained lecturers being female.

Aimed at catalysing systematic change in teaching and learning in African universities, PedaL is implemented by PASGR in partnership with the UK’s Institute of Development Studies, the University of Sussex, the African Research Universities Alliance, Egerton University in Kenya, the University of Ghana, Nigeria’s Ibadan University, Tanzania’s University of Dar es Salaam and Uganda Martyrs University.

Ubuntu

Driven by the African and PedaL spirit of ubuntu, trained lecturers have volunteered to, in turn, train their colleagues in their various faculties.

“In PedaL, we are a family. We work as a team holding each other to the end,” said Betty Kiema, a lecturer at the Tangaza University College in Kenya.

Kiema, who is also the disability inclusion officer at the college, has, so far, mentored seven colleagues and is still carrying on.

She’s grateful that the programme has transformed her teaching and learning. “I never used to put my learners at the centre of teaching. I would just lecture and do most of the talking,” Kiema said.

But, after the PedaL training, she changed her teaching methods and introduced pedagogies such as case studies and discussion forums and introduced innovative assessment that runs throughout the course period.

“You can confidently tell as a facilitator that, indeed, learning is taking place,” she added.

According to Muganda, PedaL partner universities have been training lecturers continuously with support from SPHEIR.

“Those trained are now training others within and even beyond their universities,” she said, adding that the bulk of the funds used for this training are generated internally with SPHEIR support.

“They are promoting education for social responsibility by donating personal resources such as time, data bundles and fuelling generators in cases of intermittent supply of electric power to support the training of others.”

This generosity and collegiality, Muganda said, is helping African universities to immensely close funding gaps in their efforts to fully embrace blended teaching and learning.

Social responsibility

The academics believe that, through education for social responsibility, they are reclaiming African values of selflessness, togetherness and solidarity that have been under siege by foreign models that are imbued with materialism and greed.

To catalyse the institutionalisation of PedaL, some universities have established centres of excellence such as the Centre for Pedagogy and Andragogy at the University of Nairobi, where peer-to-peer training of lecturers is taking place.

At this centre, the university’s PedaL alumni are already training a team of 144 lecturers. Besides this, the university began a three-week PedaL training for 200 lecturers in May.

The university has already lined up another online training programme for June that is already fully booked, targeting 200 educators.

Maseno University and Tangaza University College, both in Kenya, have joined the University of Nairobi in launching PedaL online training sessions.

Currently, PedaL online training is taking place in 80 universities spread over 10 African countries, including Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, and Nigeria, with PedaL alumni leading the training.

“Quality in teaching and learning will be sustained cost-effectively and efficiently at the University of Nairobi as we march towards excellence in upscaling online teaching and learning,” said Professor Julius Ogeng’o, the deputy vice-chancellor of academic affairs at the University of Nairobi.

He added that the university strives to institutionalise PedaL teaching and learning strategies that are innovative and help to enhance the quality of teaching.

The University of Ghana’s Centre for Teaching Innovation and the University of Ibadan’s Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning are facilitating the institutionalisation of PedaL strategies such as innovative assessment, course design and course facilitation.

PedaL alumni are spearheading activities at these centres and are helping to train their colleagues in enhancing sound pedagogy in online delivery.

Other partner universities also championing PedaL training through centres of excellence include Uganda Martyrs University’s Centre for Continuous Learning and the Centre for Continuing Education at the University of Dar es Salaam.

While addressing participants of Maseno University’s online PedaL training launch meeting in May, the institution’s Deputy Vice-chancellor of Academic and Student Affairs, Professor Mary Kipsat, said that the training is a timely intervention as universities transition to online and blended teaching and learning.

Kipsat encouraged more than 160 lecturers from the university attending the five weeks’ training to complete the course as it would equip them with the relevant skills to enhance quality teaching.

This has been reposted from https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20210607161245419

The Board of PASGR is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Anthony Mveyange as the Executive Director.

Dr Mveyange is a passionate Tanzanian development economist whose research and policy interests include (but not limited to) inequality, poverty, education and health, natural resources, international trade, trade policy, economic growth, and development in Africa.

He has 15 years of experience designing and evaluating projects and programs, policy advisory, and overseeing thematic research-related programs in Africa.

Anthony is joining PASGR from Trademark East Africa (TMEA), where he is a Regional Research and Learning Director overseeing an impactful research and learning portfolio across ten Eastern African countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Malawi, Somaliland and Eastern DRC.

As an independent advisor, Anthony supports Porticus Africa in evaluating early childhood development programs in selected slums in Nairobi, Kenya. He also advises on child protection projects in Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Before joining TMEA, Anthony was a research economist in the World Bank Development Research Group in Washington DC, the USA. At the Bank, he was a technical team member that produced the World Bank 2017 Global report on Water and the Economy. Anthony was also a technical advisor to Kenya’s Ministry of Health and the National Center for Population Development (NCPD). He also advised Tanzania’s Ministry of Land and Human Settlement on a DFID funded Rural Land Certification Program.

Dr Mveyange is an East Africa Social Science Translation Collaborative (EASST) fellow and a founding member of the Network of Impact Evaluation Researchers in Africa (NIERA) at the United States International University in Nairobi.

He was recently nominated by the World Manufacturing Foundation as among 12 global experts to produce a White Paper on restoring Global Value Chains in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. He is also a contributor to Africa in Focus at Brookings Institute in the United States.

Dr Mveyange brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in research and evaluation across countries in Africa. He recently concluded a rigorous impact evaluation of AMREF Health Africa’s 10-year Alternative Rite of Passage Programme to curb Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting practices in Kajiado County in Kenya.

Dr Mveyange was also a research cluster lead for a six-country research initiative funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the African Research Consortium (AERC) on the COVID-19 pandemic effects across East African countries. He oversaw a team of senior researchers from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and Burundi.

In the past, Anthony also consulted for the World Bank Group, Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund of the World Bank, and the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER). He also contributed to the 2015 African Economic Outlook report produced by OECD, AfDB and UNDP.

Dr Mveyange holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics from the University of Southern Denmark; a double Master of Arts in Economics from Colorado State University, United States and University of Dar-es-Salam, Tanzania; a Post-Graduate Diploma in Poverty Analysis for Socioeconomic Security from the Institute of Social Studies at Erasmus Rotterdam University, Netherlands; and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from Mzumbe University, Tanzania. Dr Mveyange is currently pursuing a third Master’s degree in Management – Agribusiness at Strathmore Business School, Kenya.

Dr Mveyange’s appointment is effective August 1, 2021.

This consultancy is being commissioned by the African Research Universities Alliance
(ARUA), with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, to engage two consultants
to review and advise on how best to achieve ARUA goals and objectives with globally
competitive collaborative PhD programs. One consultant will be engaged for the (1) Natural
Sciences, and the other for the (2) Humanities and Social Science disciplines.

View the Terms of Reference here

Responses are to be sent to arua@ug.edu.gh no later than 24th May 2021.

Mainstreaming gender in higher education research remains low, posing a risk to the realisation of gender equity in education and development goals, experts say.

The experts – drawn from universities, research institutions, government, and the private sector – said that researchers and policymakers need to work in partnership to conduct research that will generate the knowledge needed for decision-making to ensure gender equity in the education sector.

They were speaking during a virtual meeting in March 2021 to mark the launch of the Gendering Education Research Project in Africa. During the meeting, participants discussed pertinent issues of gender in education research in Africa.

The project is aimed at catalysing a community of education researchers and policy actors with innovative and gendered research methods to produce and consume rigorous and credible research evidence for inclusive policy formulation and intervention in education reforms across Africa.

Research capacity

The project, funded by the US-based Spencer Foundation, will be implemented by the Nairobi-based Partnership for African Social and Governance Research (PASGR). In June this year, the project will roll out a three-week online training programme to strengthen participants’ research capacity.

“What is required are critical researchers who approach a gendered education policy research nexus from a critical perspective in terms of their knowledge base and trajectory,” said Professor Kuzvinetsa Dzvimbo, the chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe Council of Higher Education.

Dzvimbo urged policymakers and education researchers to reflect on a gendered and engaged education policy research agenda and discourse practice on the African continent to ensure it is not gender-biased.

“Reflexivity in our work as education policy researchers is critical so that we do not reproduce policy-oriented research that continues to perpetuate the inequalities in our societies, especially those based on gender,” Dzvimbo added.

Additionally, he urged education researchers to be sensitive to critical issues such as power, gender, race and class that largely form the basis of a gendered education research policy nexus that marginalises certain groups in society, especially girls and women.

Shaping inclusive policies

Beatrice Muganda, PASGR acting executive director, said that the project will enable educators to explore and engage with innovative and gendered research methods.

“We shall be able to create and sustain a community of education researchers and policy actors who generate and draw on credible research evidence to shape inclusive public policies across Africa,” she said.

Muganda said that the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education programmes slowed research and knowledge production while aggravating inequalities.

She called for a commitment to the calls by key global development blueprints such as the AU’s Agenda 2063 and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals that call for leaving no one behind.

“It is, therefore, our sacred responsibility to respond effectively to this call. We need decisive evidence, informed policies and programmatic interventions to redress this situation and increase educational outcomes for all groups,” said Muganda.

She added that drawing the attention of researchers and policymakers to the right gendered research questions and working together to generate a body of evidence is the way to go to achieve inclusive policies.

Counter hegemony

Eunice Kamaara, a professor of religion from Moi University in Kenya, said that mainstreaming gender in education research is a process that starts from research conception and runs through the entire research process.

“Addressing gender issues in education is not merely looking at disaggregated data but addressing all aspects of gender during the entire research process,” she said.

Dzvimbo called for the development of gendered education research policies that reverse stereotypes of girls and women as inferior to boys and men.

“This is one of the best ways to develop a counter-hegemonic discourse to a gendered education policy research agenda on the continent which continues to reproduce inequalities based on gender,” he said.

Dzvimbo said that social science policy-oriented research has the potential to provide lasting solutions to issues of gender discrimination that emerge in the context of Africa’s transformation quest but only if “approached from a perspective that is transformative”.

This has been reposted from https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20210407090336570

Summary

This study identifies eight attributes of female leadership that has contributed to the success of the Pedagogical Leadership in Africa (PedaL) partnership, one of three SPHEIR projects addressing pedagogical reform. PedaL is a partnership between higher education institutes in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the UK. Academics from these partner institutions have trained and established a network of teachers in African universities to transform graduate education by embedding innovative pedagogy within graduate social science programmes. The partnership is led by Dr Beatrice Muganda of Partnership for African Social and Governance Research (PASGR) in Nairobi, Kenya. The PedaL approach represents a systemic shift from dominant traditional teaching models to more participatory, student-centred approaches. It is gender-sensitive and subject content integrates an analytical lens on power and inequality. Dr Muganda’s leadership approach reframes what it takes to be a successful leader, to manoeuvre skillfully and to bring power on side, so as to expand opportunities for students to contribute to inclusive social and economic development.

The Partnership for African Social and Governance Research (PASGR) is an independent, non-partisan Pan-African not-for-profit organisation established in 2011 and located in Nairobi, Kenya. PASGR’s vision is a ‘vibrant African social science community addressing the continent’s public policy issues. PASGR seeks excellence in social science research for public policy. In partnership with individual academics and researchers, higher education institutions, research think tanks, civil society organisations, business and policy communities both in the region and internationally. PASGR supports the production and dissemination of policy-relevant research; designs and delivers suites of short professional development courses for researchers and policy actors, and facilitates the development of collaborative higher education programmes. To learn more about PASGR please click here.

Background

PASGR with financial support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York seeks to explore means of strengthening equitable access to quality higher education (HE) in a pandemic environment in Kenya. This will be achieved through a sequence of activities that entail synthesizing emerging evidence, conducting supplementary small scale studies and examining policies in response to the wide-scale disruption on HE. A broad spectrum of higher education stakeholders will be convened to deliberate on the evidence and supported to use it in their policy and programme interventions. PASGR will leverage its Utafiti Sera model (Swahili phrase for research-policy) to build strategic alliances with various HE interest groups, public and private sector, communities, and policy actors with a genuine interest to shape public policy and influence the design of appropriate interventions and programmes that respond to disruptions of learning during pandemics such as COVID-19. Utafiti Sera is expressed in the form of “policy-communities” houses, which are spaces, places and processes for evidence-informed and guided policy engagement. Utafiti Sera houses set relevant agendas, generate debates and awareness, and provide comparative evidence for formulating and debating programme design, policies, or administrative and other forms of civic action. The approach intentionally creates safe spaces where researchers, policymakers and citizens obtain a better understanding of policy processes, are more aware and involved in the conceptualization, the conduct of research, and thus constitute a co-construction of the evidence. This is consistent with PASGR’s r research agenda that is embedded in African governance as well as changing policy priorities consistent with the 18 “social policy issues” described under the African Union’s (AU) Social Policy Framework.

Education is a critical social policy issue that is attracting global attention since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic which led to the closure of universities, thus, disrupting education programmes. The adverse consequences on students, lecturers and university administrators, as well as on the achievement of specific university outputs such as graduation rates as well as research and knowledge production require further investigation. This project will therefore support the generation, synthesis, engagement and use of evidence on three thematic areas: (i) resourcing for access, equity and quality education during and post-COVID-19; (ii) opportunities for Public-Private Partnerships in strengthening access to Higher education; and, (iii) impact of the pandemic on postgraduate training and research and the future of emerging academics. The evidence generated will be used to engage key stakeholders and policy actors to influence policy that promotes equitable access to quality higher education in a pandemic environment. There are limited studies on what the universities could do to prepare for a recovery phase and to address the quality as well as the impact of online learning on excluded groups. This project seeks to address these gaps through a structured evidence generation and synthesis process and by stimulating the use of the evidence to inform and guide policy and programme options for strengthening access to higher education during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. The project will be based in Kenya with a focus on Kenya’s higher education system and will run for two years. A cross-continental audience will be invited to participate in the policy forums to share their experiences and debate the research evidence. It is expected that project outcomes, that is, policy and programmatic interventions that strengthen equitable access to quality higher education during and post-COVID will be replicable in higher education systems across the continent and inspire stakeholders to re-imagine higher education in a post-pandemic era.

About Utafiti Sera

Utafiti Sera, supports, contributes to building and enhances a community of researchers and policy actors working together to ensure that appropriate and negotiated policy actions and uptake occur either through programmes, legislations, policies or administrative and other forms of civic actions around issues for which research has provided evidence or for which a synthesis of available evidence has been made. Utafiti Sera is a combination of many things that ensure and enhance policy outcomes. It is a ‘process’, place’, ‘forum’, ‘platform’, or a ‘vehicle’ for transforming research evidence-based knowledge for policy uptake. As a ‘process’ Utafiti Sera involves sequences of activities that enable the building of a community of interests and practice from where existing and new ideas and evidence flow from members of the community resulting in collective action and interventions to improve policy design and implementation. As a ‘place’, Utafiti Sera provides a space for key stakeholders with interest, power, capacity and motivation to act in diverse ways to ensure that research evidence becomes available and is used to make informed policy decisions and practices. As a ‘forum’, it provides a non-partisan platform for knowledge engagement, ‘outreach’ and ‘in-reach’ by different members of the community irrespective of theoretical and ideological differences, in order to build bridges and work together to establish common ground for the pursuit of agreed-upon goals. And as a ‘vehicle’, Utafiti Sera constitutes motor and pathways, transmission belts or/and channels for shared knowledge (common areas on which there are agreements and consensus), and experiences to enhance policy uptake. In short, Utafiti Sera is a phenomenon whose form is determined by the specific conjuncture or/and context in which it is expressed or put in place. It has no permanent form except that of community formation or action of a collective of researchers and policy actors in the pursuit of policy uptake. Utafiti Sera at national, local and regional levels is an innovative mechanism to inform and positively advocate, proffer and contribute to appropriate and relevant policies and programmes that address inclusive development and the wellbeing of citizens through research evidence for policy. To learn more on Utafiti Sera please click here .

PASGR invites Expressions of Interest from interested organizations to host the Utafiti Sera on Strengthening Equitable Access to Quality Higher Education in the Pandemic Environment in Kenya

Activities the Host Organisation will deliver

The host organisation, in close collaboration with PASGR, will undertake a series of activities to inform and influence policies that address challenges facing higher education provision and its consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya. Apart from the activities stated below, the host organisation will demonstrate, encourage and facilitate the ownership of the research-policy community along with other Kenyan stakeholders and institutions active in the field. The activities envisaged to be implemented in the 2021 –2022 period includes:

Mapping of key stakeholders in Higher Education in Kenya.
Synthesis of Existing Studies on the three thematic areas selected for the study in Kenya.
Organising stakeholder forums, high-level meetings and a final conference in Kenya involving all the HE stakeholders engaged in the project;
Facilitating and enabling an active community of practice around Kenya’s Higher Education issues;
Identifying and involving potential champions of Higher Education as part of the Utafiti Sera house;
Communication, reporting and media engagement of research evidence and materials developed.

Eligibility Criteria:

Research institutions, Civil Society Organisations (CSO’s) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) with a strong focus on Higher education, and domiciled in Kenya. This may include institutions and organisations which finance or conduct research, or synthesize research and ensure policy uptake and use of research-based knowledge to promote public policy or/ and advocate for public policy e.g. research institutes, think tanks, civil society advocacy organisations with County-wide and /or national reach, research councils and research consortia. The applicant must be legally registered. Commercial actors and individuals cannot apply.
The applicant will have experience in developing technical research products such as writing working papers, literature synthesis, stakeholder mapping, policy briefs, infographics, video documentaries, and also write reports. PASGR does not encourage ‘copy and paste’ – we are deliberate about simple but potent language to fit donor requirements and the policy audience.
The applicant must demonstrate a capacity for (i) education research (ii) financial management of this work (iii) convening of stakeholders in the field of Education.
The applicant must have experience in convening a broad array of stakeholders including government agencies and ministries, civil society, academia, development partners, the private sector, and other stakeholders relevant to the thematic areas.
The applicant must be conversant with developing content to engage the media, including the newspaper, radio, television as well as social media engagement and blogs.

Submission of EOI

Interested organisations are required to submit their EOI no later than 10/03/2021, 0000hrs Nairobi time by e-mail ONLY to info@pasgr.org Please indicate in the e-mail subject field: – EOI/2021/PDT/US/1 – Name of the Organisation.

The EOI should provide the following information:

Organisational status and profile.
Evidence of experience that demonstrates capacity and competence in hosting and organising similar programmes.
Links to research or reports on the broad thematic area of Higher Education.
In a separate one-pager, describe in some detail, the unique and innovative approach(es) the organisation would use to deliver the ‘Utafiti Sera’ in the stated area, including how to achieve sustainability for this particular house.
3-page CVs of the head of the organization or association and two members of the management team should be provided. Gender and inclusivity in the team would be an added advantage.
Any other information that can help PASGR judge the organisation’s suitability for hosting the programme.

*Please note that PASGR will invite a potential host organisation for discussions before making the final decision.

Job Title: Senior Finance Officer

Reporting to: Head Finance and Core Administration

Application: Wednesday, March 3, 2021

The Senior Finance Officer (SFO) will support the Head of Finance and Administration to ensure delivery of the PASGR financial and administrative mandate. S/he will serve PASGR as the vital link between programmes, donors, Sub grantees and operations. In doing so, s/he will provide financial management, facilitate the flow of funds, support contracting, and apply operational expertise for the effective coordination of programmes, projects and cost centres. The SFO will also enforce financial control measures that ensure PASGR financial integrity and accountability to all stakeholders.

Key Roles and responsibilities

1. Budgeting and Budgetary Controls:

Prepare timely and accurate project budgets in conformance with the organisation and donor requirements/formats.
Undertake rigorous budget management and monitoring over the period of project implementation by ensuring proper tracking of expenditures against approved budgets.

2. Financial Reporting

Ensure all project cost expenditures are supported by adequate documentation in line with statutory, organisational and donor requirements;
Ensure real-time posting of all cost budgets and financial transactions into the financial system for the purposes of generating accurate budget versus actual reports for use in decision-making;
Ensures timely and accurate preparation and submission of financial reports related to programmes/projects to management and donors based on the contractual expectations;
Manage any specific donor reporting requirements such as match-funding/co-financing in order to meet the donor expectations without adverse effect to the organisation;
Support in audit preparations and ensure the complete implementation of audit recommendations;
Ensures timely and accurate preparation of reconciliations relating to bank accounts, partners’ accounts or other accounts as assigned.

3. Procurement, Sub-granting and Payments

Ensures efficient preparation and management of outgoing grants and contracts, including review of sub-grantee financial reports and timely posting into the financial system;
Undertakes assessments of existing and potential partnerships to identify and determine the mitigating measures that should be put in place;
Jointly with the supervisor, develops capacity enhancement plans to address noted areas of concern in the sub-grantee control environment;
Closely monitor the performance of sub-grantees and provides training as and when required. Undertakes field monitoring visits to sub-grant offices for training or a physical review of documents vis-à-vis reports
Compile and verify requests for direct payment and/or advance relating to programme activities;

4. Other Skills and Requirements

Be a self-starter with strong organizational skills
Good leader, team player with people management skills
Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively at all levels (written and verbal).
Have an affinity with the vision, mission of PASGR and adhere to PASGR values.

Minimum qualifications and experience

Bachelor’s degree in a Business field such as accounting, finance, strategic management, business, economics with CPA (K) / ACCA and a member of a professional body in good standing. Those with masters degree are highly encouraged to apply.
Minimum of 7 years of experience in programme/projects finance and accounting & reporting, within an international not for profit organization with complex donor requirements.
Knowledge of accounting software preferable Serenic Navision.
Effective skills and experience in sub-grant management will be an added advantage.

Application Process

Applications must be submitted electronically via email to PASGR (recruitment@pasgr.org) by Wednesday, March 3, 2021 at 1700hrs. All applications must contain Curriculum Vitae and 3 references.

PASGR is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Job Title: Programme Officer — Research

Reporting to: Programme Head — Research & Policy

Duration: 2 years, renewable

Application: Friday, February 12, 2021

The right candidate for this programme officer position, within PASGR’s Research and Policy Unit, will be able to take initiative in connecting, informing and fostering exchange among relevant research, policy practice and advocacy constituencies working on selected issues of governance in Africa; in identifying and engaging funding and partnership opportunities for the research unit, coordinating routine communication and arrangements for the research unit operation in the region. The candidate will develop and grow work along five key areas of responsibilities:

Project coordination;
Substantive knowledge of public policy, development and governance theories and practices;
Technical support;
Capacity building;
Research and Documentation;
Monitoring and evaluation;

S/he will be comfortable with tight deadlines, and adept in setting relevant priorities and working in a self-directed and proactive manner, while knowing when and where to support where needed.

Key Responsibilities

Support the development and implementation of PASGR’s flagship research uptake and use programme – Utafiti Sera – initiatives at regional and national levels;

Support the overall institutional and research programme plans, including resource mobilization for programme sustainability;

Participate in the development of plans and mobilization of resources for further policy strengthening initiatives at regional or national levels;

Establish a comprehensive database of institutions and individuals actively engaged in research, research uptake, advocacy, and practice in Africa;

Coordinate and support the management of PASGR Research Unit’s internal and external communication with relevant actors, stakeholders and the public;

Provide managerial and technical support to the head of research and policy;

Participate in strengthening existing M&E systems at all levels of the programme including supporting research programme grant recipients and Sub-recipients to meet programme deadlines and deliverables;

Participate in documentation and dissemination of new lessons and experiences and in the implementation of research projects/studies;

Participate in relevant PASGR activities, as needed.

Requirements

Master’s degree in the social sciences, development, governance or related fields. However, candidates who are either completing PhD or those who have obtained a PhD within the past two years are encouraged. Working knowledge of French will be an added advantage;

At least three (3) years of post-qualification work experience in the field of social science including engagement with policy, practice and government constituencies;

Experience of managing projects, events and stakeholder engagement including budgets and budget tools;

Excellent writing and oral communication skills;

Familiarity with the development of concepts for research or other projects and with the search for- and engagement of funding opportunities;

Evidence of willingness to work as part of a team;

Proven ability to multitask and work in a self-directed and self-driven proactive manner without supervision;

Proven ability to actively reach out to and forge strategic connections and partnerships with a spectrum of stakeholders.

Salary

This position attracts a competitive package that includes: basic salary, dependent education, pension plan and medical insurance.

Application Process

Applications must be submitted electronically via email to PASGR (recruitment@pasgr.org) by Friday, February 12, 2021 at 1700hrs. All applications must contain Curriculum Vitae and 3 references. Provision of any one of the reports cited in the CV will be beneficial.

PASGR is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Hundreds of academics at 28 universities across the African continent are facing online teaching and learning in 2021 head-on, thanks to a training initiative preparing them for the challenges of the year ahead.

When COVID-19 hit the world in 2020, higher education in many African universities was in chaos. Some institutions closed, and others were not adequately prepared to shift the delivery of their programmes to the virtual space.

Besides infrastructural challenges, many university teaching staff lacked digital competencies to facilitate teaching and learning online.

This was exacerbated by a predominantly poor attitude towards online programmes which are perceived as inferior to face-to-face programmes.

To combat the problem and prepare teachers for the ‘new normal’, the Partnership for African Social Governance Research (PASGR) in Nairobi, through its Partnership for Pedagogical Leadership in Africa (PedaL) programme, organised an online training programme to prepare African academics for online teaching.

PedaL is one of nine partnerships of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education Innovation and Reforms, implemented by PASGR in partnership with African Research Universities Alliance, the UK’s Institute of Development Studies, the University of Sussex, Nigeria’s University of Ibadan, the University of Ghana, Uganda Martyrs University, Tanzania’s University of Dar es Salaam and Egerton University in Kenya.

The pilot programme was launched in June 2020.

Effective use of educational technology

PedaL’s training programme is designed to help educators better understand how to design their courses to make better use of educational technology – in both blended and fully online modes.

The trainees cover fundamental concepts and are immersed in the practical application of a variety of toolsets, digital resources and strategies for course planning and design as well as creative facilitation and innovative assessment.

Dr Beatrice Muganda, the director of higher education at PASGR, said the design of the course captured the African values of ubuntu and working together to utilise the available limited resources to prepare academics for online teaching.

“The pairing of trainees with peer educators helped us achieve a high completion rate of 72%,” said Muganda, adding that it was not common to achieve a higher completion rate than 50% for online courses.

In an interview with University World News, Muganda said that the programme design helped ground academics in the art and science of online teaching and learning by focusing on three interlinked aspects of online teaching and learning: planning and design of online and blended courses; creative facilitation; and innovative assessment of learning outcomes.

“A few months [have passed] and PedaL online is counting a number of big wins. The programme is helping to focus academics on adapting rather than feeling helpless in the midst of a ravaging pandemic,” Muganda added.

Online training soaring

Professor Stephen Kiama, the vice-chancellor of the University of Nairobi, Kenya, said that PedaL’s interventions “capture the essence of what learning and adapting new ways is all about”.

Muganda agrees. “At a time when we are talking of reimagining Africa’s higher education, PedaL comes in handy because the future is blended teaching and learning for our universities.”

According to Muganda, the demand for PedaL online training is soaring. To date, 547 academics (237 female and 310 male) from 28 universities in six African countries have completed the training.

Several trainees said the programme had helped them rethink their digital facilitation strategies despite the challenges they face at their institutions.

“My thinking of online was to post PowerPoints and notes until PedaL happened. Bloom taxonomy was a cliché, but now I can relate,” said Dr Bessy Kathambi from the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies at the University of Nairobi.

“My turning point was that I should always go to the class with learning outcomes.”

Dr Aderonke Akinpelu from the department of physiotherapy at Ibadan University, Nigeria, said the training has helped her to discover that her teaching and assessment strategies needed an update.

PedaL’s online engagement rose from 16,450 hits in September 2019 to more than 110,000 hits in December 2020.

“This further demonstrates a renewed interest in online programmes and the use of educational technologies for e-learning; previously perceived as less valuable and difficult to use respectively,” Muganda said.

To meet the growing demand for PedaL training, Muganda said PedaL’s partners are exploring partnerships with individual universities. A collaborative agreement has been set up with the University of Nairobi to offer the training through its Centre for Pedagogy and Andragogy.

This has been reposted from https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20210111125339374

Deadline: Midnight EAT, Sunday 29th November, 2020

Please submit your CV and 1-side cover letter to apply, and/or share this with colleagues who may be interested.

Who can apply to the programme?

We are looking for mid-career leaders in the water security or WASH sector – whether working for part of the government, an NGO, private sector, research institute or other. Focus country are Tanzania, Ethiopia and Kenya, but applications from elsewhere in Africa are also welcome.

The training will entail 2 hours online seminars between 11am and 1pm EAT once per week for 9 weeks, plus 1-2 hours additional materials to be completed at any other time each week.

The training is free but space is limited – participants will be selected based on applications that show strong motivation to work on accountability, relevant skills and experience, and potential to proceed to the Professional Research Fellowship programme.

The masterclass will build knowledge and understanding of accountability in the water sector, and research methods. Completion will be recognised by a certificate of attainment.

The learning will be structured to support the preparation of a research proposal to submit for the Professional Research Fellow (PRF) grant, so if you think you might want to submit a proposal for this programme you are strongly encouraged to apply for the training. The PRF research grant is for your employer to support you to complete research (supported by the programme with training, mentoring and research costs) within your scope of work, during your normal hours of employment. (Approximately 90 days over 18 months). It will therefore be important that you will be supported by your employer to proceed with the PRF part of the programme. Find out more about the programme here: www.accountabilityforwater.org

1-side cover letters should include a very brief summary of:

Your current role and how it relates to accountability in water
Whether you have discussed the opportunity within your organisation and have support to engage during the working day / develop a research proposal
What research question or area (related to accountability for water) you think is important and would be interested to investigate.