National Consultant

JOB DETAILS

Type of contract : Consultant Contract

Level : Level 2 - Middle

Hiring Unit :

Education

• Sector (ED)

• Duty Station : Islamabad

• Work location : On site

• Duration of contract : 6 months

• Hiring open to : External candidates

• Application deadline (Midnight UTC+5 Time) : 09/11/2026

• UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

OVERVIEW

The National Consultant will provide technical leadership and expertise to support the School

Education

• Department (SED) of Balochistan and Elementary and Secondary

Education

• Department (E&SED), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in strengthening the integration of climate change, environmental sustainability and disaster risk reduction (DRR) into provincial learning assessment frameworks. The consultant will undertake technical reviews and mapping, identify priority competencies and learning outcomes, develop evidence-based recommendations and assessment approaches, and facilitate stakeholder consultation, co-creation, capacity development and validation processes. The assignment will be undertaken in close coordination with UNESCO, the respective

Education

• Departments, relevant provincial institutions and the international expert team supporting CSESI. While working closely with the provincial

Education

• Departments for the assignment, the consultant will be contracted, supervised, and managed by UNESCO and will report directly to UNESCO.

• Long Description

• B. BACKGROUND

• Funded by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), CSESI seeks to enhance countries’ capacities to mainstream climate change adaptation and environmental sustainability into education sector plans, budgets and strategies as well as to enhance education ministry capacity for cross-sectoral coordination on climate and environment-related policy and programming. The CSESI initiative in Pakistan will be structured around 7 component areas outlined further in this work program which has been developed by CSESI partners (Save the Children, UNESCO-ESD and UNESCO-IIEP) based on consultations with the School

Education

• Departments and partners held in Islamabad in July 2025.

• The UNESCO Section of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) supports ministries of education specifically with integrating learning of climate change and environmental sustainability into formal and non-formal education. This entails reviewing and, where required, adjusting and revising national curricula and syllabi for pre-primary, primary and secondary schools as well as teaching and learning materials (TLMs) based on each country’s needs and opportunities.

• UNESCO uses a holistic learning approach of ESD to address climate change from economic, social and environmental perspectives, and supports the acquisition of knowledge, values and attitudes to underpin practical actions by learners to contribute to climate mitigation, adaptation, resilience and sustainable development. In addition to the resources available in the countries, UNESCO will use a set of global reference documents including the Greening Curriculum Guidance (UNESCO, 2024) and ESD for Sustainable Development Goals: Learning Objectives (UNESCO, 2017) as well as other guidance on curriculum alignment produced by UNESCO International Bureau of Education (IBE).

• Led by UNESCO in close collaboration with SED, Government of Balochistan and E&SED, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, one of the objectives of CSESI in Pakistan is to support the integration of Sustainable Development themes into education, with an emphasis on climate change. It will involve reviewing the current learning assessment framework to identify gaps and opportunities for integration of climate/ environment/ DRR-related content. The review will inform the identification of priority topics and learning outcomes, drawing on the Greening Curriculum Guidance and applying a gender-sensitive lens. Based on this review, a set of recommendations will be developed for the integration of these priority topics and learning outcomes into the provincial learning assessment framework.

• To this end, the UNESCO seeks to engage an expert individual as a consultant to support the integration of climate and environment into learning assessments in Balochistan and KP.

ASSIGNMENTS

C. OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the assignment is to strengthen the capacity of the education systems in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to assess learners’ knowledge, competencies, attitudes and behaviours related to climate change, environmental sustainability and DRR. Specifically, the assignment will review existing learning assessment frameworks, identify gaps and priority learning outcomes, and develop contextually relevant, gender-responsive and evidence-based recommendations for their integration into provincial assessment systems, aligned with UNESCO’s Greening Curriculum Guidance and ongoing national and provincial curriculum reforms.

SCOPE: The assignment will cover Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and will encompass the review and mapping of existing learning assessment frameworks, curricula, policies, teaching and learning materials and other relevant education documents against climate change, environmental sustainability and DRR competencies and learning outcomes. It will include identification of priority topics and learning outcomes; development of competency-based, gender-responsive and inclusive assessment approaches; formulation of recommendations for revising and strengthening provincial learning assessment frameworks; and preparation of an implementation and scaling strategy. The consultant will also facilitate provincial consultations, co-creation and validation workshops, undertake capacity development of relevant stakeholders, and ensure alignment with ongoing national curriculum reforms and relevant provincial policies and priorities.

ACTIVITIES: Under the overall authority of the Head of UNESCO Islamabad Office in Pakistan and the direct supervision of the Head of the Education, the national consultant will perform the following duties:

The consultant will be responsible for supporting the integration of climate and environment into learning assessment by reviewing the status, identifying priorities and developing recommendations for the integration of these priority topics and learning outcomes into the learning assessment framework.

Based on the global reference documents produced by UNESCO ESD Section, including the Greening Curriculum Guidance and other national or regional resources to be identified in consultation with the SED, and in concertation with the CSESI project team and the international experts, the consultant will deliver the following tasks:

Long Description

1.Conduct a review of the current learning assessment frameworks and learning objectives for climate/ environment/ DRR-related content in Balochistan and KP to identify gaps and opportunities for integration. a. Review and map the existing learning assessment frameworks and other relevant curriculum and policy documents of Balochistan and KP against climate change, environmental sustainability, and DRR competencies and learning outcomes outlined in UNESCO's Greening Curriculum Guidance, considering the environmental, socio-economic, and cultural context of Balochistan. Learning assessment framework documents reviewed may include relevant policy and curriculum materials, including the Provincial

Education

• Policy, Education Sector Plan, curriculum documents (including textbooks, syllabi, and lesson plans), as well as relevant provincial environmental protection policies.

• b. Identify a set of contextually relevant priority topics and learning outcomes to be incorporated into the learning assessment framework.

• c. Integrate local knowledge and ensure policy alignment by incorporating evidence from provincial stakeholder consultations and indigenous knowledge, while ensuring that the proposed learning outcomes and assessment priorities are aligned with the curriculum reform process led by the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (MoFE&PT) and can inform broader national curriculum reforms.

• d. Apply a gender-responsive approach to assess the extent to which existing learning objectives and assessment practices address the differentiated needs, experiences, and vulnerabilities of girls and boys, and recommend gender-responsive learning outcomes and assessment approaches that promote equality, inclusion, and resilience.

• Long Description

• 2. Provide recommendations for the integration of these priority topics and learning outcomes into the learning assessment framework by incorporating priority themes, competencies, and learning outcomes identified through the review process and UNESCO's Greening Curriculum Guidance.

• a. Develop evidence-based recommendations for strengthening the integration of climate change, environmental sustainability, and DRR into the provincial le