National Specialist: Teaching and Learning Policy

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FAO seeks gender, geographical and linguistic diversity in its staff and international consultants in order to best serve FAO Members in all regions.

• FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background and culture
• Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented Members and person with disabilities are encouraged to apply
• Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct, and to uphold FAO's values
• FAO, as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct that is incompatible with its status, objectives and mandate, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination　　
• All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks
• All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality
• FAO staff are subject to the authority of the Director-General, who may assign them to any of the activities or offices of the Organization.

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. FAO’s goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With 195 Members - 194 countries and the European Union, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.

The FAO-Country Office for Lesotho is responsible for developing, promoting, overseeing and implementing agreed-upon strategies and projects for transforming food, agriculture and rural development.(FAO) is supporting the Lesotho Agricultural College (LAC), under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition (MAFSN), to implement the project “Transforming Lesotho Agricultural College into a Centre of Excellence for Skills on Education, Innovation, Extension and Agribusiness Development” (TCP/LES/4101/C1). The project supports LAC to develop a five-year Strategic Plan (2026–2031), a Teaching and Learning Policy, and a Programme Design and Development and Quality Assurance Policy, positioning the College as a centre of excellence for agricultural education, innovation, extension and agribusiness development. Programme design and development is a central determinant of institutional quality and accreditation readiness. LAC currently lacks a codified Programme Design and Development Policy setting out the principles, procedures and governance arrangements that guide the development, validation, periodic review and discontinuation of the academic programmes it designs and delivers as their sole owner and provider. The absence of such a policy creates inconsistency in curriculum practice and constrains the College's ability to demonstrate compliance with the standards of the Council on Higher Education (CHE) — specifically Criterion 2.1.7(a), Programme Design and Development (Programme Review) — and with the requirements of the Lesotho Qualifications Framework (LQF).
To address this gap, LAC, with FAO's support, wishes to engage a national specialist to assist in the development of a comprehensive Programme Design and Development Policy that is aligned with national and international quality assurance standards and positions the College favourably for full accreditation.

The overall objective of the consultancy is to develop a robust, evidence-based Teaching and Learning Policy for LAC that defines standards, quality assurance mechanisms and pedagogical approaches for the delivery of consistent, high-quality education, in line with CHE Criterion 2.2.1 and international best practice.

Reporting Lines

The specialist shall work under the overall supervision of the FAO Country Representative in Lesotho, direct supervision of the Assistant FAO Representative for programme and in liaison with the relevant technical units in HQ and Sub-regional office. The incumbent will also report to the LAC Principal and work closely with a Ministry-designated Core Strategic Planning Team, the LAC Focal Point/Coordinator, LAC staff, and the FAO Project Task Force, including the Lead Technical Officer.

Technical Focus

Assist the management of LAC in undertaking the necessary analytical work, soliciting inputs from different role players and drafting the teaching and learning policy

Tasks and responsibilities

•    Conduct a detailed review of LAC's current teaching and learning practices, quality assurance processes, and existing policy documents related to pedagogy, assessment and curriculum delivery;
•    Benchmark LAC's teaching and learning practices against leading national and international higher education institutions to identify best global practices;
•    Facilitate consultative workshops with LAC leadership, academic staff, students, and relevant external stakeholders (including professional bodies) to define core pedagogical principles, values and quality standards;
•    Design monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for teaching quality, including student feedback systems, linked to a staff professional development strategy;
•    Design a system for tracking and supporting at-risk students to minimise dropout, and for ensuring fulfilment of academic obligations linked to examination eligibility;
•    Draft the complete Teaching and Learning Policy document, including sections on curriculum approval, assessment frameworks, academic integrity, Work Integrated Learning, e-learning/technology integration, and staff and student input mechanisms;
•    Develop Support the development of an accompanying Implementation Plan and Institutional Readiness Assessment to guide the rollout and internalisation of the policy across all academic departments;
•    Present the draft policy and implementation plan to the LAC Project Steering Committee (PSC) for review and validation;
•    Incorporate feedback from the PSC, LAC management and FAO, and finalize the policy document for formal institutional approval; and
•    Prepare a brief handover/completion report summarizing the process, key recommendations and outstanding follow-up actions for LAC.