Job Opportunity for Assessment Associate – Assessment Unit, ASER Centre at Pratham

A. About Pratham and ASER Centre: Pratham was founded in 1995, to provide pre-school education to children in Mumbai slums. Over the last 20 years, Pratham has grown to be India’s largest NGO working to provide quality education to underprivileged youth and children in over 21 states and union territories across the country, with a range of interventions. ASER Centre is the independent research wing of Pratham Education Foundation and seeks to use simple yet rigorous methods to generate evidence, on the scale, on social sector programs. The aim of the organisation is to strengthen the link between evidence and action by building the capacity of individuals and institutions to design, conduct, and understand assessments that focus on key outcome indicators. One of ASER Centre’s main activities is the design and facilitation of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), one of the largest household surveys of children’s basic learning levels in reading and arithmetic.

B. About Assessment Unit at ASER Centre: The Assessment Unit has been an integral part of several of the key functions of ASER Centre. The work of the Assessment Unit feeds into the ASER survey, into a variety of research studies, and also into the measurement and evaluation activities for Pratham programs. The Assessment Unit also conducts several exercises for other organizations that needed support for assessments. We primarily design assessment for Early Childhood Education (ECE), primary, upper-primary, secondary age-groups, and measuring teacher’s effectiveness. We strongly encourage candidates to visit our website for more information about ASER Centre studies, please click on this link.

C. About the position and who are we looking for?

Assessment Associates work closely with various units at ASER Centre and Pratham to primarily design educational assessments for ASER Centre projects, Pratham programmes, and other external assessment projects.

The non-negotiables:

• A self-starter, self-learner with an analytical and rational outlook
• Can deal with absolute ambiguity while envisioning solutions to educational assessments
• Strong language skills (verbal and written), articulation (clear communication)
• Be comfortable with travelling extensively to rural locations across the country, sometimes at short notice
• Pay close attention to details
• Willing to deliver well beyond tasks assigned to them under tight deadlines
• Be comfortable working with (and lead) a wide variety of people (state team associates, partner organizations in states, government officials, NGOs, personnel from International NGOs, academicians)
• Proficiency in M.S. Office (Excel, PowerPoint and Word) is mandatory

Educational qualifications: Minimum graduate, preferably in education, psychology or other related fields.

Work experience: Prior experience in designing learning assessments would be an added advantage. Experience in teaching in a classroom setting is desirable.

D. Remuneration: Remuneration for this position will be in the range of Rs. 28000-32000 per month. The following factors will be considered while making the final offer to the selected candidate:
a)Academic qualifications
b) professional experience
c) skills possessed d) performance in the interview.

Travel, food, and accommodation for work-related travels outside base location shall be separately borne or reimbursed on actuals by ASER Centre.

E. Application process:

Interested candidates should submit their applications by filling up the Google Form below.

Please attach the following documents within this form:

• CV (Not exceeding 2 pages)
• Cover Letter (500 words) covering the following questions:
• Based on your skill and knowledge level, how do you plan to learn, overcome hurdles and work in AU and how does it align with your future career goals? Write your 2-year plan.

You can also send your completed applications along with the documents mentioned above to Vikram Guria at recruitmentsasercentre@gmail.com with the following subject line: ‘Application for the position of Assessment Associate’ in the subject line. Selected candidates will be invited for an interview followed by a short assignment to ascertain skills and aptitude. Candidates invited for the second round of interviews will be expected to provide professional references prior to the same.

Please note that due to the high volume of applicants, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.