Technology Principal, Enable Program

Pratham Education FoundationJob Opportunities, Program Roles

**About Pratham**:
Pratham was founded in 1995, to provide pre-school education to children in Mumbai slums. Over the last 27 years, Pratham has grown to be one of the largest non-profit organizations working to provide quality education to children and youth in over 20 states and union territories across the country, through a range of interventions.

**About the ENABLE Program**
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 emphasizes the fundamental importance of universal foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN). But, children, especially those with special needs and disabilities, face significant barriers hindering their acquisition of foundational skills. In India, an estimated 7.8 million children and young individuals had disabilities in 2019. Alarmingly, a large proportion of them do not attend educational institutions, and 45% struggle to attain foundational literacy. ENABLE' or 'Equity in Accessing Numeracy And Basic Literacy Education', is a multi-pronged intervention to strengthen the quality of education for 3-9 year olds with disabilities. The 3 key objective of this program is to:
1. Strengthen Government's mainstream service delivery mechanism to ensure foundational learning outcomes for learners with disabilities (LwD)
2. Identify, address and overcome attitudinal barriers and stereotypes towards learners with disabilities in families and communitie
3. Facilitate partnership between relevant government departments, civil society, private sector and communities in support for learners with disabilities

**Position Summary**:
We are looking to hire a Technology Principal for ENABLE, with the primary responsibility of conceptualising and implementing innovative solutions and delivering public goods on technology. Pratham has been a pioneer in recognizing the importance of integrating technology into the education system for the betterment of all learners. To advance our ongoing efforts, the Technology Principal will formulate a technology strategy, lead a software team, and foster innovation in project initiatives. This position offers a compelling chance to incorporate accessible and affordable technology into the daily learning experiences of children with disabilities

**Key responsibilities**:
++++ means day to day high frequency tasks which may usually be process oriented
+++ means weekly tasks/milestones that may require a bit of cognitive load
++ means the task have to be accomplished once a month
+ means the task needs attention once per quarter that may require creativity, cognition etc.

**1) Leadership and Guidance**
- Develop a comprehensive strategy for integrating technology into the project's educational initiatives, considering the specific needs and capabilities of children with disabilities.(+)
- Provide technical expertise and guidance to project teams, educators, and partners on the implementation and maintenance of technology-based solutions.(++)
- Review existing ‘public goods’ available from the government and other non-governmental organisation and consolidate into custom solutions (+) [These include systemic strengthening tech stacks, educational delivery softwares, monitoring and evaluation systems]

**2) Knowledge Development and Implementation**
- Ability to research and discover new/upcoming open source technologies and its usage in the field of education and understanding of relevant technological architecture(+++)
- Identify and select appropriate educational technologies, software, and hardware that can enhance inclusive learning experiences for children with disabilities.(+++)
- Assess the individual needs of children with disabilities and recommend or customise assistive technologies that cater to their unique learning requirements.(++++)
- Conceptualise software architecture to Integrate multimedia elements such as videos, interactive simulations, and audio materials to cater to diverse learning styles.(+++)
- Ensure that digital content, including e-learning materials and resources, is designed with accessibility features to accommodate a wide range of disabilities. (++++)
- Guide and lead the software development team for development of softwares (++++)
- Drafting Policy notes on technological public goods including
- software documentation,code documentation, concept notes, user manuals, cost-benefit analyses, systems transitioning processes etc.(+++)

**3) Promoting innovation for inclusive education**
- Promote innovation within project activities through regular events such as hackathons, workshops, seminars, etc. (++)
- Guide teachers in integrating appropriate assistive technologies to support children with disabilities in their learning journey. (++)

**E. Required Skills and Knowledge**:
**Skills**
- Advanced levels of proficiency in developing and implementing technology-integrated solutions, which are accessible and affordable
- Ability to develop proof of concept for new technology sol