Project Manager/ Senior Project Manager, School Governance Full Time

Organisation: Central Square Foundation

Team: School Governance

Location: Kohima, Nagaland

About Central Square Foundation:

Founded in 2012, Central Square Foundation (CSF) is a non-profit philanthropic foundation working to ensure quality school education for all children in India. We are driven by our mission to transform the school education system, focusing on improving children’s learning outcomes, especially in low-income communities.

(Learn more about CSF on our website)

About the Team:

The School Governance team at Central Square Foundation envisions a transformed school education delivery system that is principally accountable and transparent about its learning outcomes. It targets measuring and publicising the achievement of quality outcomes in public and private schools and establishing a State Schools Standards Authority to enable this reform.

The Problem

Despite extensive efforts to increase access to education, learning outcomes have remained alarmingly stagnant in the current educational landscape. Major government initiatives have focused on expanding access and providing input to schools, but their impact on improving educational outcomes has been tenuous, at best. An absence of outcomes-oriented and evidence-based governance is aggravated by a regulatory system where the government runs its own schools and regulates all schools, posing a conflict of interest due to the operator being the regulator. Further, there is no way to reliably measure the learning attainment of schools, making it difficult to hold them accountable for results.

The Solution

CSF’s Schools Governance team acknowledges the pressing need for a systemic reform in education, which can be solved with a two-fold approach. The states need to: –

• Establish a robust and reliable learning outcome indicator at the school level by assessing student competencies through a competency-based census assessment (CCA). This will involve public disclosure of school data, while keeping the student data anonymous, to transparently show every school’s quality and nudge them to make the necessary improvements.
• Create an independent school regulator, the State School Standards Authority (SSSA), which will operate outside the current Department of School Education. This body will focus on setting school standards and demand accountability from all schools, government or private.

Position Summary

CSF is currently seeking a Project Manager based out of Kohima, Nagaland, to support the implementation of the State School Standards Authority as advised in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in the state. The work will involve research of education policy and legislation, research of education Acts, engaging with stakeholders from the state educational bodies- Department of School Education, Directorate of School Education (DoSE), Samagra Shiksha Nagaland (SSA), State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), and the Nagaland Board of School Education (NBSE) to support the implementation of the State School Standards Authority (SSSA), the School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Framework (SQAAF) advised in the NEP 2020, and project manage the public disclosure of school quality information. It is a full-time role, and the Project Manager would report to the Associate Director of the School Governance team.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct in-depth research on national and state-level education policies, Acts, and frameworks for implementing the NEP 2020.
• Provide technical and strategic support for the creation and operationalisation of the State School Standards Authority.
• Coordinate meetings, workshops, and consultations with stakeholders to ensure active involvement and feedback from all relevant education sectors in the state.
• Draft policy briefs, reports, and presentations on key findings, recommendations, and progress related to the SSSA and NEP implementation.
• Document key findings, recommendations, and action plans resulting from research,
• Work with expert teams at CSF on the assigned work streams to contextualise the same for the state.
• Knowledge management and documentation of the implementation of work in the state.
• Set up project management processes and guidelines, to ensure all activities drive towards the defined goals.
• Conduct capacity-building sessions of implementation partners on effective data analysis of large-scale assessment data
• Develop and manage strong working relationships with government stakeholders at the state and district levels.

Required Qualifications, Skills, And Abilities

• Bachelor’s degree from a reputed university; a Master’s degree preferred (in education, development studies, public policy, and social sciences) .
• 2 to 6 years of work experience, demonstrating knowledge of research methodology, and experience engaging with government stakeholders.
• First-hand understanding of the beliefs and mindsets of parents sending their children to government schools will be an added advantage.
• Fluent in English with excellent reading and writing skills. Preference will be given to candidates who know the local language (Nagamese) well.
• Skilled in handling large data and analysis (using R / Power BI / Tableau) is preferred.
• Past experience working with state and district-level governance and institutional structures is preferred.
• Knowledge and experience working on project management, large-scale program implementation with multiple delivery tracks, and researching and monitoring, among others.
• Strong stakeholder management, problem-solving, and analytical skills.
• Familiarity with the education landscape in Nagaland and regional educational challenges would be beneficial.