- 联合国儿童基金会暑期实习项目
- 2011-03-27
JOB DESCRIPTION
INTERNS FOR EDUCATION
Post Title: Summer program —interns
Organization Unit: Education Section
Duty Station: Beijing
Duration of internship: 7 weeks (June 13th — July 29th , 2011)
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The internship programme is part of the larger knowledge exchange programme of UNICEF —MOE cooperation.
Supporting the knowledge exchange programme is in line with UNICEF’s larger goal of becoming an effective ‘information partner’ and the ‘first port of call’ for all information on education for children. The knowledge exchange programme cuts across various UNICEF programmes and includes interventions such as conducting and participating in seminars, conferences and exchange visits; support to creation of technical papers; and knowledge dissemination through newsletters and websites.
The knowledge exchange programme contains several components. A key component of this is the establishment of a knowledge exchange website. The website is a central part of the knowledge management programme, where important information, technical notes, conceptual papers and best practices from across the world and China are identified and posted with an easy retrieval system. The website allows policy makers, educational administrators, the teaching community, researchers, university faculty and students to have easy access to the latest information in their field.
The knowledge website is based on the recognition that with its rapid progress on EFA, China is looking to the rest of the world for current ideas, resources and best practices in education. However, in spite of its high level of access to IT resources, the language barrier prevents the large majority of professionals (teachers, researchers and administrators) from taking advantage of conventional websites to access relevant information. It is expected that a website that will bring the latest technical information in a readily accessible and user-friendly way in the working language will support administrators, technical experts, academics and the teaching community.
China is keen to showcase its experiences in achievement of the EFA goals and contribute valuable lessons for other developing countries. However, most technical materials, policies, and research are in Chinese and cannot be easily accessed by interested countries. Translating and posting them on the website will make them readily accessible.
The bilingual website is expected to serve two important purposes:
1. It will make available to China the latest in research, conceptual thinking, global experience and best practices in education theory and practice.
2. It will showcase China’s experiences, success stories, and technical papers to the world.
The implementing strategies include:
1. Synopses of important technical papers and best practice, both global and Chinese, are identified, translated and posted on the website. The creation of a situational analysis documents including maps and graphs showing global, regional and interregional imbalances and trends of key educational indicators
2. The summer internship programme established for graduate students as well as junior undergraduates and above from universities in China and abroad. Interns will be required to read the papers and prepare synopses with key words for the retrieval system. The synopses will be vetted by an editor before posting on the website. The basic data to be mapped and discussed will be agreed by UNICEF and MOE and the actual mapping will be done by the interns who will be supported to design and produce the document with the help of an editor.
Internship programme 2009
The internship programme was introduced in 2009 and lasted 7 weeks from 15 June to 31 July with 6 interns who were selected from among a competitive group of young people from universities in China and abroad. Interns were chosen based on their comprehension skills, ability to critically assess and understand written documents, skills in communicative writing and analytical thinking.
During their stay, the interns contributed to the following work:
· Preparation of synopsis as detailed above.
· Preparation of the Atlas of Children in China, which includes a situation analysis on progress and challenges for children and women in China. Interns designed as many as 241 graphs, maps and tables on population, social policy, water and sanitation, HIV/AIDS, and education after training on EFA info.
· Creation of “Progress of Provinces,” a publication that shows the education status in each province in China.
Internship programme 2010
Based on the success of the internship programme for 2009, the scope of the internship was enlarged to include 11 interns selected from a highly competitive group of young applicants from China and abroad. The scope of their work had also been enlarged to include documentation of research, best practices, data analysis as well as writing of a technical paper on selected topics. In the 7 week period from June 14 to July 30, they made the following substantial contribution to the contents of the website:
· Composed executive summaries as detailed above.
· Documented and evaluated UNICEF’s pilot projects based on criteria developed by a global UNICEF audit of pilot projects.
· Assisted in updating Education Provincial Profiles, a publication on the status of education in each province in China. In addition, they contributed to creating Distribution of Children in China, a brochure that shows the regional and provincial distribution of different groups of children, such as migrant children, boarding school children and ethnic minority children and EFA Goals: Comparing China with Selected Countries, a brochure that captures the status and progress of China and other countries on the Education for All (EFA) goals.
· Co-produced technical papers on education based on independent research.
Internship programme 2011
Based on the success of the internship programme in the past two years, MOE suggested that the scope of the internship should be enlarged to 12 and the scope of the their work has been enlarged to include documentation of research, best practices, data analysis as well as writing of a technical paper on selected topics. Specific assignments for interns will include
1. Identification of latest technical documents and best practices and writing of synopsis of at least 60 documents (5 each) in an area of education policy (such as early child development, education equity, quality education, social emotional learning etc.)
2. Reviewing IEC (Information, Education and Communication) materials developed by UNICEF and other developmental agencies and writing up short summaries to describe each item with details of purpose, key messages and proposed targets. The material will be posted in the IEC Warehouse section of the web.
3. Learning to use the DEV INFO the official presentation of the UN and creating and updating the educational profiles to be posted on the website.
PURPOSE OF THE INTERNSHIP
Under the general supervision of the Section Chief and Knowledge Exchange manager, the internship aims to:
1) Offer a group of outstanding university students the opportunity to acquire exposure to UNICEF’s projects;
2) Enable bright young university students to learn about the latest innovative and upstream programming and policy work in the education sector;
3) Contribute to enriching the content of the knowledge exchange website and other publications of the UNICEF Education Section.
SUPERVISION
The 12 interns will perform 2 kinds of jobs —independent work and team work. Direct supervision by the Consultant of Knowledge Management follows in a way that:
During the first phase the internship the interns will work on selected research and project and IEC documents from China and global experiences documents and summarize them into synopses. For the independent assignment interns will not be required to work in the office. They will be given the task for the week with a clear deliverable on which they will report back to the Consultant of Knowledge Management on a regular basis.
During the second phase the interns will work together. They will receive Dev. Info training for three days. Then they will apply the skills learnt from the training to update the situational analysis and expand the education database.
QUALIFICATIONS
Interns are selected on a written test to judge their writing skills in English. (Interns applying from Mainland China will be given a test in Chinese.)
The following minimum qualifications are required:
1. Education: enrolment in 3rd year or above undergraduate studies or graduate programmes in social science, education, or development studies with familiarity of statistics.
2. Language: fluency in oral and written English; working knowledge of Mandarin Chinese.
3. Skills:
a. Good reading skills: Ability to read technical documents critically and identify useful information.
b. Good writing skills: ability to produce synopses out of a variety of documents in concise terms.
c. Good technical skills: familiarity with MS Office, esp. designing graphs and processing data.
d. Good communication skills: Ability to work independently and as a team member both within and outside the office; adaptability to a multicultural environment.
e. Good knowledge: Technical knowledge of education/ child development, social policy, economics, and an understanding of the educational/ social situation in China are assets.
INTERNSHIP CONDITIONS
The interns will work with the Education Section of UNICEF China, which is based in Beijing. The working environment is multicultural. The interns will work directly under a supervisor but will also get the chance to discuss their work with pertinent professionals in the Education Section.
UNICEF China does not pay for the internship or support the living expenses in Beijing. UNICEF China will be pleased, however, to issue a notification letter to selected interns in case they will apply for financial assistance in related institutes. The average monthly cost of staying in Beijing (moderate conditions for students) is about USD700 (RMB4300) including housing $400 (RMB 2500), food $250 (RMB 1500), and transportation $50 (RMB300).
Interns are required to bring their laptops and provide valid medical insurance.
Interns will be granted a working note on their contribution upon the completion of the internship (Undergraduates will get a certificate of volunteer experience).
UNICEF is a global non-partisan organization working in 150 countries and territories–we dedicate to making a difference for world children and value the blending of diverse peoples and ideas. We thank all applicants, however only those under consideration will be contacted.
Applicants are requested to submit a CV together with a cover letter before April 22th, 2011 to xzwang@.
Contact Information:
Ms. WANG Xiangzhen
Tel: 86-10-65323131-1709
