Job Opportunity for Senior Associate-Infrastructure at Shantilal Muttha Foundation in Pune

SMF is a non-profit organization established with an aim to strengthen the public education system and support schools to enrich their capacities for fostering the holistic development of children with emphasis on values-based learning environments and life-skills education. 

SMF interventions, which have been carried out in partnership with the state governments of Chattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Meghalaya, have benefitted over 44,00,000 students, 200,000 teachers and over 70,000 schools across the country so far.  SMF has been creating and implementing meaningful, impact-centric interventions and state-wide platforms for school systems. Various state governments have deeply engaged with us in the domains of School Assessment and Accreditation, Values-based Education and Life Skills, Civic Engagement, Early Childhood Education using the MLE approach and Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment. 

Currently, SMF has been entrusted by the Government of Maharashtra to partner for  improving the quality of education in the Adarsh Shala programme  in all 67,000 govt. schools in Maharashtra, with focussed approach in 488 schools in the first phase, aiming at transforming them into ‘Model Schools’. The Programme stages are visualized as below: 

• Model School visioning,   planning, design and development  and  governance (2021-22)
• Practice and Demonstration for 488 schools (2021-24)
• Scale-up plan and action for 5000 schools (2023- 25)
• Scale-up to all 67,000 government schools with sustainability plan and action (2026-30).

SMF will support the GoM by shouldering the responsibility of co-creating and anchoring the functioning of the Model School Transformation Cell (MSTC). MSTC will be formed within the SCERT by the GoM along with SMF officials with expertise in varied domains. Further, Model School District Quality Forums will be set up in each district which will serve as important arms of the MSTC to sustain and replicate the learnings of the Model School Programme.

Job Overview

The Senior Associate for Infrastructure will work closely with the School Transformation Head, state government and district officials, Regional and District level functionaries, and school stakeholders for ensuring smooth, timely and efficient development of school infrastructure within the overall framework of the programme. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Understanding infrastructural amenity needs and priorities among schools within purview of the programme.
• Identify infrastructure related gaps and offering appropriate solutions.
• Provide input to School Transformation Head and SMF H. O. on infrastructure related improvement.
• Facilitate planning, prioritization and tracking of implementation.
• Work with Dist. Forum and govt. departments concerned on school infrastructure.
• Manage and facilitate the technical functionality of CSR portal for model schools.
• Make occasional field visits in programme area across all districts of Maharashtra.

Qualifications and Experience 

• Master’s Degree in Education/Social Sciences/Public Policy/Development or equivalent.
• 10-15 years of experience of working in the development sector, especially working with govt. school system in Maharashtra.
• Experience and understanding of infrastructure from educational perspective.
• Experience of working with govt. education departments, government schools teachers, and officials at district and block level.

Skills, Knowledge and Abilities

• Ability to offer innovative and creative solutions related to development and use of school infrastructure.
• Good stakeholder management skills with the ability to build strong relationships with a wide range of individuals in public, private and non-profit sectors.
• An appreciation for education overall, and specific areas of expertise in education would be preferable.
• Strong interpersonal, written, and oral communications skills.
• Must be well-versed in Marathi/Hindi and English.