Position Description

Position Title / WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Health Trainer
Project / Basic Education Quality and Access in Laos (BEQUAL)
Reports to / Infrastructure Specialist
Duration of Assignment / Full time contract until 30 November 2018
Location / Based in Vientiane with training and monitoring at schools in any of the following five Provinces: Phongsaly; Luangnamtha; Khammouane; Savannakhet; Saravan.
Program Overview
BEQUAL directly supports education priorities of the Laos government described in the Education Sector Development Plan prepared by the Ministry of Education and Sports and is consistent with the strategic directions set out in Australia’s Education Delivery Strategy 2013-2018.BEQUAL is designed to be rolled out over 10 years, in three phases. The first phase, from 2015-2019 will work in up to 66 of the most educationally disadvantaged districts, to increase participation of disadvantaged children, improve learning environments and teacher quality. To achieve these outcomes, BEQUAL has been divided into five inter-related Key Results Areas (KRAs). KRA5, the School Infrastructure component, includes the repair or rehabilitation of classrooms and WASH facilities at around 930 schools, capacity building of ECDM staff and training of community members on the Community Based Contracting (CBC) model. In 2018 around 200 schools will be improved including WASH facilities.
Position Summary
The WASH Health Trainer will work with the (BEQUAL) Infrastructure Team (BIT)and Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) Central Office (DPPE Hygiene Focal Point), Provincial and District staff to build capacity in hygiene education and practice at the District and school level.
The training materials and approach will be developed in consultation with DPPE, the Ministry of Health (including Nam Saat), BEQUAL NGO Consortium, UNICEF and other practitioners working in the sector. Delivery of the training will be coordinated with the MoES and MOH at the Province and District levels.
Provision of support to the WASH Infrastructure Technical Specialist (WITS), and other members of the infrastructure team in the successful planning, design and delivery of the program of infrastructure activities, with special emphasis on WASH health promotion and training at schools with the construction of the water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities to ensure that best practice is followed by users and in the management of the facilities.
Training and field support to ITS, PESS, DESB and VEDC personnel and school teachers and students on best practice WASH health education relevant to the successful delivery of the program’s infrastructure activities.
Be a resource person for WASH hygiene education to support KRA4 curriculum lesson writers and the KRA3 team with the development of pre-service and in-service teacher training modules related to WASH and ensure consistency of content of hygiene education in the curriculum, teacher training and delivery at the school level.
Placement Outputs
  • Development with the WASH ITS of appropriate training materials for WASH education for use by trainers and teachers at the targeted schools and by lecturers at Teacher Training Colleges (TTC).
  • Development with the KRA3 and KRA4 writers of appropriate WASH messages to be incorporated in the relevant primary school curricula and pre-service and in-service teacher training modules.
  • Management of the implementation of hygiene education at the schools.
  • Input to the preparation of fit-for-purpose and sustainable WASH designs for BEQUAL Cohort 1 and 2 schools incorporating current best practice in Lao.
  • Training, supervision and technical field support to ITS, PESS, DESB and VEDC personnel, MOH District staff (where available),school teachers and students on WASH activities.
Community Level Change:
  • Improved water quality and sanitation practices within school communities of the targeted districts
  • Improved access to information regarding the importance of WASH in local communities
  • Improved health and reduced incidence of illness for students as a result of improved water quality and sanitation practices.
  • This will result in improved health outcomes for the targeted school communities resulting in the improved attendance of students, particularly girls, and thereby supporting the educational objectives of the BEQUAL program.

Responsibilities
The WASH Health Trainer shall undertake the following tasks in close cooperation with WASH Infrastructure Technical Supervisor (WITS) and the school health task force at DPPE, under the overall supervision of the Infrastructure Specialist (IS) and the Head of ECDM in the Department of Finance of the Ministry of Education and Sport (MoES):
  • Be a resource person for WASH hygiene education to support KRA4 curriculum lesson writers and the KRA3 team with the development of pre-service and in-service teacher training modules related to WASH.
  • Bring skills in hygiene education and WASH to the BEQUAL program in Lao to help reduce the incidence of illness in students resulting from poor water quality and sanitation.
  • Work closely with DPPE and MOH and the BEQUAL KRA 4 team to develop and implement hygiene education materials to be included in the Primary School curriculum as well as with the BEQUAL KRA 3 team related to pre-service and in-service training materials for training teachers to deliver hygiene education at the school level.
  • Work closely with MoES and BEQUAL Lao staff in Vientiane on a day to day basis as well as participating in visits to schools to undertake training in 150 schools of the 29 Districts in the five targeted Provinces of Phongsaly, Luangnamtha, Khammouane, Savannakhet and Saravan.
  • Increase the BEQUAL Infrastructure Team and the Education Construction and Design and Management team’s skills, knowledge and confidence in hygiene education appropriate to delivery at the primary school level.
  • Review and consult current techniques and methods used in hygiene education (HE) by donors/practitioners such as UNICEF, Ministry of Health and other NGO’s with operational programs to distil best practice in HE in Lao
  • Work with MoES and BEQUAL staff to develop a program of HE which can be implemented across the BEQUAL schools
  • Assist key MoES and BEQUAL staff to identify, develop, record and collate examples of best practice in HE.
Improve the standard of training, monitoring and reporting of water, sanitation and hygiene education issues
  • Support MoES and BEQUAL staff to implement improved information management systems and processes
  • Define standards for the collection of relevant data for use at national and international levels
  • Mentor MoES and BEQUAL staff to increase organisational capacity in the preparation of training materials and reports
  • In consultation with DPPE and MOH develop a best practice manual to be used for training in hygiene education
Improve effectiveness in management of hygiene education activities
  • Collaborate with MoES and BEQUAL staff to identify and develop best practice within the organisation’s key activity including the delivery of hygiene education and training the trainers of the program
Enhance staff and trainer capacity in hygiene education strategies and implementation
  • Evaluate current strategies and identify gaps in skills and outputs
  • Work with staff to train the trainers who will be delivering the program at the school level
  • Assist the Ministry with the development of strategies with particular relevance to hygiene education in primary schools
  • Work with BEQUAL and MoES staff to design an action plan for implementation
  • After implementation, visit schools where training has taken place and evaluate its effectiveness in behaviour change by observation and/or surveys and provide practical suggestions for improvements.

Operations
  • Work the WITS and the KRA 5 team to ensure timely and cost-effective roll-out of the WASH activities including the planning, design, monitoring and evaluation of the activities including data analysis and progress reporting.
  • Work with KRA3 and KRA4 staff and the regional teams to ensure hygiene education are integrated in their activities.
  • Liaise as required with all GoL Departments, the BEQUAL NGO Consortium, International organisations and NGOs involved in the delivery of WASH facilities in Lao with view to determining current local best practice in WASH applicable to the BEQUAL program.
  • Ensure the implementation of WASH facilities and education consider all relevant MoES, DFAT and EU policies including those on gender, accessibility, inclusive education, sustainability and the environment.
  • Work closely with PESS, DESB and MOH (where available) staff to provide training to the VEDC members and school teachers, as required, on the management and use of the WASH facilities provided by BEQUAL.
  • Assist in site layout of School buildings and WASH facilities if required.
  • Dissemination of information on the program, including WASH, to target communities.
  • Assist DESB in preparing and supervision of training workshops for VEDC and school teachers including WASH.
  • Assistance with the preparation and submission of Monthly Expenditure planning related to WASH.
  • Other duties mutually agreed with the WITS and or Infrastructure Specialist.
Monitoringand Quality Assurance
  • Assist in the preparation and updating of the water, sanitation and hygiene guidelines and maintenance plans and or manuals for rehabilitated or new buildings and WASH facilities as required.
  • Conduct monitoring visits to TTC and School construction sites as required.
  • Contribute to the Reporting to the Ministry of Education and Sports and donor partners as required on progress of the WASH activities within the rehabilitation program.
  • Participate in the subsequent inspection and evaluation of works as required by the program (ECDM/SITS/IM/IS).
  • Provide recommendations for corrective actions of any constraints identified in the implementation process and support the WASH Infrastructure Technical Supervisor.
  • Provide advice to the WITS if necessary to instruct the builders/foremen/communities to improve the standard of construction of the WASH facilities.
Reporting
  • Provide input as required to the WASH Infrastructure Technical Supervisor’s monthly progress report about all WASH facilities under his/her supervision.

Selection Criteria
Qualifications
  • Tertiary qualifications in Public Health, Environmental Management, or related field relevant to hygiene education.
Experience
  • Three years of experience in hygiene education in mixed gender and age environments is essential
  • Experience training staff and or students in hygiene education techniques and methodologies is essential
  • Experience as a member of multi-disciplinary implementation teams is essential
  • Experience working with WASH in schools is desirable
  • Experience working in water and sanitation and or healthcare in Lao is desirable
  • Experience working on donor funded projects is desirable
  • Experience working with Ethnic groups in rural Lao is desirable
Knowledge
  • Knowledge of gender and disability needs related to school WASH construction.

Skills/Abilities
  • Experience in the use of the internet, email, GPS and Microsoft Office suite of programs (Word, Excel).
  • Good skills writing and speaking English, desirable
  • Lao language skills, desirable
  • Ability to handle multiple tasks with high attention to detail

Child Protection
Coffey is committed to protecting the rights of children. We reserve the right to conduct police checks and other screening procedures to ensure a child-safe environment.
About Coffey
Coffey has a 40 year history in successfully delivering international development projects on behalf of donors right around the world, including Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, USAID and the UK’s Department for International Development. Our people work side by side with local partners to support stability, economic growth and good governance, positively changing people’s lives.

Position Description