Research Coordinator - Social Sciences

Job description

Human development is a major theme in the work of the University. It was established as the first concrete initiative in this field in 2003. The Human Development Programme (HDP) aims to support human development through a multidisciplinary and research-based approach. Its initial focus is early childhood, a period of life that lays the foundation for all future learning, development and well-being. Applying an integrated approach to education, health, nutrition and stimulation in early years, HDP aims to provide the support needed to promote holistic child development by enhancing physical, cognitive, social and emotional abilities of children to help them become healthy and competent individuals; participating productively and effectively in their communities.

HDP is determined to promote better development of future generations. HDP educational and community-based programmes aim to build capacity of professionals, parents and communities who have the responsibility of providing a strong foundation and learning opportunities for ensuring a good start in life to every child.

Responsibilities

You will be responsible for providing assistance to the Senior Programme Manager in the overall implementation of the project and in undertaking child assessment activities, collecting and reviewing qualitative and quantitative data and assisting in the analysis of data and report writing. You will also be responsible for providing assistance in preparing training manuals, presentations, training schedules, conducting training of teachers and conducting follow-ups.

Specific responsibilities include:

• providing assistance in conducting literature review for the development of training material on early childhood development and early learning and child assessment which will be used for training of teachers, head teachers and government officials
• assisting in identifying and inducting children for assessment and making records of each child's assessment
• collecting data on already developed tools from selected public and private schools of Karachi
• assisting in conducting focus group discussions and interviews with teachers
• data editing of the collected information and assisting in data entry and cleaning
• transcribing and assisting with the analysis of data and report writing
• arrangement of logistics for field activities and conducting regular field visits for data collection
• ensuring safety of children during assessments, showing research integrity and following ethical protocols during research activity
• conducting meetings with school officials, teachers and parents to share updates
• providing assistance in Urdu/Sindhi translations and finalizing of assessment tools and protocols.

Requirements

You should have:

• a Bachelor's degree, preferably Masters in Social Sciences/Education/Psychology
• at least two to three years' experience of working with young children in a school or any other similar setting
• experience of child developmental and learning assessment
• minimum two to three years' experience of qualitative research
• effective communication skills, both verbal and written, with pre-school age children, their teachers and parents.
• proficiency in MS Office, report writing and Urdu translation
• good interpersonal, teamwork and planning and coordination skills
• attributes of care and compassion along with honesty, integrity and a positive attitude
• the ability to travel independently to field as per the requirement of the project.

This is a short term contractual position for the period of 7 months.

Application process

Interested candidates should send their detailed CVs by email to human.resources@aku.edu and mark the position applied for in the subject line.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Applications should be submitted latest by March 26, 2019