National Consultant - Integration of Climate Change into Curriculum, Sindh

  • Organisation: UNESCO
  • Location: Islamabad, Pakistan
  • Deadline: 9 November 2026

JOB DETAILS

Type of contract : Consultant Contract

Level :   Level 2 - Middle

Hiring Unit :   Education Sector (ED)

Duty Station : Islamabad

Work location : On site

Duration of contract : 6 months

Hiring open to : External candidates

Application deadline (Midnight UTC+5 Time) : 09/11/2026

UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

OVERVIEW

• OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST

The National Consultant will provide specialized technical expertise to support the School Education and Literacy Department (SE&LD), Government of Sindh, in systematically integrating climate change, environmental sustainability and disaster risk reduction (DRR) into the provincial curriculum. The consultant will review subject-level curricula and a sample of non-formal education programmes at selected grades; identify gaps, opportunities, priority topics and learning outcomes with reference to UNESCO’s Greening Curriculum Guidance; facilitate participatory multi-stakeholder consultations to ensure that the proposed content reflects Sindh’s environmental and disaster-risk context; and provide hands-on technical support to embed the agreed priorities into the curriculum through the ongoing curriculum review process. Attention will be given to age appropriateness, progression across grades, local relevance, gender equality and inclusion, and priority risks affecting Sindh, including drought, coastal erosion, urban flooding and heat waves. While working closely with SE&LD and other relevant provincial stakeholders, the consultant will be contracted, supervised and managed by UNESCO and will report directly to UNESCO.

Long Description

B. BACKGROUND

Funded by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), CSESI seeks to enhance countries’ capacities to mainstream climate change adaptation and environmental sustainability into education sector plans, budgets and strategies as well as to enhance education ministry capacity for cross-sectoral coordination on climate and environment-related policy and programming. The CSESI initiative in Pakistan will be structured around 7 component areas outlined further in this work program which has been developed by CSESI partners (Save the Children, UNESCO-ESD and UNESCO-IIEP) based on consultations with the School Education Departments and partners held in Islamabad in July 2025.

The UNESCO Section of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) supports ministries of education specifically with integrating learning of climate change and environmental sustainability into formal and non-formal education. This entails reviewing and, where required, adjusting and revising national curricula and syllabi for pre-primary, primary and secondary schools as well as teaching and learning materials (TLMs) based on each country’s needs and opportunities.

UNESCO uses a holistic learning approach of ESD to address climate change from economic, social and environmental perspectives, and supports the acquisition of knowledge, values and attitudes to underpin practical actions by learners to contribute to climate mitigation, adaptation, resilience and sustainable development. In addition to the resources available in the countries, UNESCO will use a set of global reference documents including the Greening Curriculum Guidance (UNESCO, 2024) and ESD for Sustainable Development Goals: Learning Objectives (UNESCO, 2017) as well as other guidance on curriculum alignment produced by UNESCO International Bureau of Education (IBE).

In Sindh, the School Education and Literacy Department has prioritized the integration of climate and environmental education into the curriculum. Curriculum integration is foundational because teacher professional development, classroom practice, learning resources and assessment are guided by the approved curriculum framework. Strengthening the curriculum first will therefore support systemic alignment, sustainability and province-wide consistency, while providing a clear basis for subsequent work on teaching and learning practices.

To this end, UNESCO seeks to engage a National Consultant to provide technical support for the review and revision of the provincial curriculum to comprehensively integrate climate change, environmental sustainability and DRR.

ASSIGNMENTS

C. OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

OBJECTIVE:  T he main objective of the consultancy is to support Sindh in systematically integrating climate change, environmental sustainability and DRR into the provincial curriculum. The assignment will generate an evidence-based review of existing subject-level curricula and sampled non-formal education programmes at selected grades, identify contextually relevant priority topics and learning outcomes, and support SE&LD to embed these priorities into the curriculum through the ongoing curriculum review process. The revised curriculum should provide a coherent, age-appropriate and locally relevant progression of climate and environmental learning that can subsequently guide teaching practices, teacher professional development, learning materials and assessment.

The National Consultant will work closely with UNESCO Islamabad, the SE&LD, and other relevant provincial institutions. The consultant will also collaborate, as appropriate, with the wider CSESI team, including UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Section, UNESCO-IIEP, international experts engaged by UNESCO, Save the Children, academia, local government, communities and relevant climate, environment and disaster-management stakeholders.

SCOPE: Based on UNESCO global reference documents, particularly the Greening Curriculum Guidance, and relevant national and provincial curriculum frameworks, the consultant will undertake a structured curriculum review and curriculum-integration process. The work will cover selected subject-level curricula and sampled non-formal education programmes at agreed grades and will be closely aligned with the ongoing curriculum review led by SE&LD. The consultant will ensure vertical and horizontal coherence of proposed learning outcomes, avoid unnecessary duplication across subjects and grades, and contextualize the curriculum to Sindh’s social, environmental and disaster-risk profile.

Long Description

ACTIVITIES: Under the overall authority of the Head of UNESCO Islamabad Office in Pakistan and the direct supervision of the Head of Education, and in close technical coordination with SE&LD and the CSESI team, the National Consultant will perform the following duties:

• Review subject-level curricula and sampled non-formal education programmes

• Conduct a desk review of agreed subject-level curricula and sampled non-formal education programmes at selected grades in Sindh to determine the extent, depth and progression of existing climate change, environmental sustainability and DRR-related content, competencies and learning outcomes.

• Map existing curriculum content and learning outcomes against UNESCO’s Greening Curriculum Guidance and other relevant national and provincial frameworks. Identify strengths, gaps, overlaps and opportunities for stronger integration across subjects and grades, including opportunities for interdisciplinary and action-oriented learning.

• Analyse the findings through a Sindh-specific lens, taking account of priority climate and disaster risks such as drought, coastal erosion, sea-level and coastal impacts, urban and riverine flooding, extreme heat and heat waves, water stress and other locally relevant environmental challenges. The analysis should also consider gender equality, inclusion, local and indigenous knowledge, and the needs of learners in diverse formal and non-formal education settings.

Long Description

2. Identify and validate priority topics and learning outcomes through stakeholder consultation

• Based on the curriculum review, develop a proposed set of contextually relevant priority topics, competencies and learning outcomes for climate change, environment and DRR, with clear recommendations on where these should be integrated across relevant subjects and selected grades.

• Plan and facilitate participatory multi-stakeholder consultation workshops with SE&LD and representatives of relevant provincial departments, local government, academia, teachers and education practitioners, communities, civil society, development partners and climate/DRR institutions. The consultations should capture local knowledge, validate the review findings and prioritize the climate and DRR issues most pertinent to Sindh.

These workshops will be critical for collecting meaningful inputs and feedback from key provincial stakeholders on the curriculum review, as well as for securing consensus of identified priorities and validation of findings and recommendations. The Key highlights of the workshops are as follows:

• Workshop 1: Consultation workshop to review the findings from the curriculum review, identify priority learning outcomes, agree on the approach for revising the curriculum framework and provide a technical review of the draft recommendations for further inputs.

• Workshop 2: Co-creation workshop to further refine curriculum framework recommendations.

• Workshop 3: Validation and endorsement of the final recommendations and revised curriculum framework, including presentation of the final outputs to key provincial stakeholders.

• Consolidate stakeholder inputs and refine the proposed priority topics and learning outcomes, ensuring age appropriateness, logical progression across grades, curriculum coherence, feasibility of classroom implementation and alignment with the ongoing provincial curriculum review.

Long Description

3. Embed climate change, environment and DRR into the revised curriculum