Job Opportunity for Program Associate, Schools Program at Quest Alliance in Bengaluru

At Quest Alliance we transform learning ecosystems through education technology, capacity building, and collaboration to build 21st-century skills for learners and facilitators

We are a not-for-profit trust that focuses on research-led innovation and advocacy in the field of teaching and learning. We engage with educators, civil society, government institutions and corporate organizations to demonstrate and enable scalable and replicable solutions in school education and vocational training

At Quest you will get the opportunity to apply your skills and contribute to addressing issues around quality education and skills training. The organization gives you the space to learn and grow in a fun and engaging environment.  We have an eclectic group of people working at Quest drawn from diverse disciplines including Education, Technology, Design, Youth Development and Business.

About the Role

Quest Alliance has been working in the secondary schools for the past few years. In 2019, we rolled out a program to build 21st century skills and STEM mindsets among adolescent girls (grade 8 and 10) from government schools in 25 districts in Karnataka.

Currently as part of the program, we are working in 7 schools located in Bangalore.                        A Program Associate will be expected for timely delivery of tasks , on ground implementation of the program and handholding fellows/facilitators throughout their implementation journey . 

Key Deliverables and Responsibilities: 

Programme Implementation and Planning

• Responsible for effective program delivery by the fellows/facilitators in direct implementation schools in Bangalore
• Design, plan and execute innovation and experimentation within schools including STEM clubs, District campaigns, etc
• Maintain the database and dashboard, ensure that it is error-free and up to date. Ensure M&E adherence and quality
• Continuous review of school implementation, monitoring the implementation within the agreed parameters
• Ensure all feedback from student webinars and events is collected and collated at one place and shared with relevant team members for analysis
• Ensure share-out events , ideathon ,hackathon and other events are planned and conducted
• Ensure volunteer engagement opportunities are created and encouraged through events such as  Role Model Interactions , 1-1 mentoring etc.

Focused implementation on Tech, Training and Indepth Intervention Students 

• Infra Setup : Ensure IT lab audit is carried out and report shared with the respective team . Ensure installation of digital content and softwares in schools where functional labs are available
• Chatbot Backend: The candidate will drive discussions on course content, clarify questions and share reflections with the fellows to track the learner’s progress and encourage them
• Advanced Coding : Ensure timely capacity building of fellows on the topics is organized . Ensure advanced coding bootcamps are planned and conducted at schools
• Ideathon and Hackathon : Plan and ensure the smooth coordination of ideathon , hackathon process at school . Ensure documentation of the process with student artifacts and reflections
• Support fellows/facilitators and technology team in organizing and implementing  the process effectively with all the students
• 200 In-depth Intervention Students :
  • As part of the program , 200 learners will be mapped to the Program Associate to ensure program activities are carried out and handled .
  • Ensure QuestApp student facing content is transacted to students facilitated by the Program Associate
  • Periodic school visits to track the progress of In-depth intervention students
  • Documenting and maintaining indepth intervention student data
  • Supporting in exploring opportunities to engage students
  • Tracking student’s educational progress post graduation
  • Plan and conduct parent engagement with the 200 learner’s parents
  • Ensure installation of digital content and softwares in tabs distributed to students 

Training, Content, Capacity Building and Documentation

• Contribute in designing sessions of Training of Trainers
• Ensure curriculum completion in school . Give timely feedback on content to facilitators/fellows
• Participate in Trainings organized and support the training team in conducting the trainings
• Ensure the documentation including case studies, photographs, videos of the implementation schools is collected and reaches relevant team members.

Relationship Management – Stakeholders 

• Build relationships with the District government officials, principals and teachers to facilitate smooth implementation of the Program, including liasioning conducting orientations, review meetings, monitoring visits etc.
• Be part of the planning process for the team to ensure an effective plan and budget is in place and it is adhered to.
• Anchoring team meetings and catch ups with facilitators/fellows to handhold them throughout the implementation journey
• Understand the overall school culture and environment and identify spaces, processes and opportunities to align the project approach into the school to transfer ownership of the project approach to school stakeholders
• Ensuring monthly and quarterly reports are prepared and submitted to the district level and block level government officials
• Students well being: Knowledge about adolescents developmental issues, ability to talk/support with teachers, parents on emotional wellbeing of adolescents.

Reporting

• Document and share the best practices in the schools for publication in quarterly newsletters, social media and other channels.
• Provide regular written and verbal reports tracking progress against the work plan and implementation schedules
• Generate Whatsapp Bot , digital content app backend report and prepare analysis report on timely basis
• Documenting and designing plans for following up with selected learners for in depth intervention to encourage them transition into higher education
• Use the appropriate M&E tools and the Dashboard to make sure that program implementation is data entered is being captured, represented and that project implementation is on track. Ensuring error free data backend
• Support the central team with case story writing and sharing stories from ground
• Ensuring periodic monitoring visits to school to provide feedback and ensure quality of implementation at school level . Ensuring data is filled in kobo.

Requirements

Required skills and Experience:

• Minimum 1-2 years of work experience in facilitation of training, workshop or preferably in education development sector
• Willingness to learn and influence prevalent practices in the education ecosystem
• Excellent interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills in English and Kannada(mandatory)
• Excellent IT skills
• Willingness to travel within and outside of the State
• Ability to train, build capacity of, and manage relationships with new people
• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively with other teams
• Ability to use technology and various virtual platforms like Google Hangout Meet, Zoom, WhatsApp, Google Classroom, and other google suite applications.
• Excited about working with children on life skills and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)