Re-Advert: Terms of Reference Baseline Survey Services for the Girls’ Education Accelerator (GEA) Program

Job Description

Re-Advertisement Terms of Reference

Baseline Survey Services for the Girls’ Education Accelerator (GEA) Program

Job title: Baseline Survey Consultant

Location: All Federal States and Banadir Region

Reporting to: Program Quality, Development and Learning Coordinator who in turn will work closely with the Chief of Party, Programme Manager, CARE USA’s Director of Education, MOECHE’s GPE program coordinator, Director of Research and Head of Gender and Inclusion Unit at MOECHE.

Period: TBA

Time input: 60 Days

1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

1.1. About CARE

CARE opened offices in Somalia in 1981, providing life-saving emergency assistance to people affected by conflict and crisis. It expanded its work to tackle the underlying causes of poverty and vulnerability of rural girls and women and urban youth in the country and building their resilience to recurrent shocks and stresses. Today, CARE is amongst the largest International Non-Governmental-Organizations, making significant contributions to respond to the substantial humanitarian needs while leading on recovery and development efforts. This includes helping to strengthen the capacity of government to ensure adequate policy frameworks and the delivery of gender-responsive social services and their governance. These services are implemented through three mutually supportive pillars that are designed along the humanitarian-development nexus: Education and Gender Equity, Climate Justice and Food, Water and Nutrition and Humanitarian Assistance. This program falls within the Education and Gender Equity pillar.

1.2. About Girls’ Education Accelerator (GEA) Program

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is a multi-stakeholder partnership and funding platform that galvanizes global and national support for education in developing countries, focusing on the poorest and most vulnerable children and youth. The partnership aims to accelerate access, learning outcomes and gender equality through equitable, inclusive, and resilient education systems fit for the 21st century.

The Girls’ Education Accelerator (GEA) is a three-year partnership between the Federal MOECHE and GPE, which intends to enhance equitable access to quality and inclusive education in rural and urban areas by addressing supply and demand barriers, particularly those related to gender and social inclusion. The GEA’s design is aligned with the Somalia Partnership Compact, which is in turn informed by the 2022 Education Sector Analysis and 2022 Enabling Factors Analysis. The GEA is designed to address the barriers hindering girls’ education outcomes, which were identified by prior research conducted in country. It also seeks to scale up practices boosting girls’ access, learning, and retention, which were previously identified as effective by rigorous studies conducted in Somalia.

Under the leadership of the Ministry of Education Culture and Higher Education (MOECHE), this program will contribute to reducing the gender gap in primary education by improving girls’ education outcomes, with a specific focus on those facing multiple barriers to succeed: displacement, conflict, disability, and social vulnerability. To accomplish that, the GEA will strengthen institutional capacity and mechanisms – policies, supervision, reporting, monitoring – incorporating gender transformative and socially inclusive practices in education management in Somalia. The program will be implemented across all Federal States and Banaadir Region Administration (BRA).

1.2.1. Program Objective/Components

The overall objective of the program is to enhance equitable access to quality and inclusive education in rural and urban areas. This will be achieved through three outcomes:

a. Outcome 1: Equitably increased primary gross enrolment rate.

b. Outcome 2: Equitably improved literacy and numeracy and completion rates.

c. Outcome 3: Strong regulatory and financing framework.

1.3. Program Participants

The program will support six Gender and Inclusion Units at Federal and State levels to strengthen the implementation of the Gender in Education Policy. The program direct beneficiaries include: 15,600 female students enrolled through capitation grants; 10,000 vulnerable female students and 1,200 children living with disabilities receiving special grants; 10,000 girls provided with dignity kits per year; 270 female teachers recruited; 55 Federal Member State (FMS) MOEs coaches trained on the new guidelines and tools for gender transformative and inclusive teaching practices. The program will support 100 public schools with capitation grants for girls’ enrolment; construct 20 public schools for girls in areas with a high concentration of out-of-school girls; and construct 296 gender-responsive WASH facilities.

1.4. Implementation Arrangements

The GEA will be implemented by MOECHE in partnership with the FMS MOEs, with CARE serving as the Grant Agent.

i. Role of MOECHE: The MOECHE will have ownership and co-responsibility for the design and implementation of activities.

ii. Role of FMS MOEs: The FMS MOEs will be responsible for the implementation of the grant in their respective states based on an approved implementation plan developed by the MOECHE.

iii. The Role of Grant Agent (GA) Country Office Management: Has the overall responsibility for technical quality, financial management, compliance, security, and risk management of the grant. The team will supervise the PMU and other program staff related to GEA and ensure timely delivery of the program activities.

iv. The Role of CARE HQ: CARE HQ’s Education and Adolescent Empowerment Unit will provide technical and financial management support to PMU activities and will be responsible for the general oversight of compliance and technical quality requirements.

v. Role of Program Management Unit (PMU): GA management unit embedded in the MOECHE office, including a Chief of Party, a Gender and Inclusion Advisor, a Program Manager, a Senior M&E Officer, an Education Officer, and a Gender and Inclusion Lead (MOECHE -Coordinator). The unit will be responsible for technical oversight and support to the MOECHE and FMS MOEs; financial and administrative management of the GEA and System Capacity Grant (to boost complementarity of efforts and cost-efficiency); monitoring of program activities; and reporting to GPE.

The GEA program will be implemented in all FMS and BRA. The selection of schools for high intensity support (capitation grants, WASH and menstrual hygiene support) will be conducted in collaboration with MOECHE, based on an assessment of the schools’ capacity to absorb additional students and agreement with the community. The identification of areas for the construction of public schools for girls will be informed by the findings from an initial needs assessment conducted jointly by the MOECHE, FMS MOEs, and the GEA/ System Transformation Grant.

2. BASELINE PURPOSE AND DESIGN

2.1. The Rationale for the Evaluation

Rationale: The baseline study will generate baseline data to enable the program to assess its impact vis a vis indicator targets (where applicable) at the midterm and final evaluation. The baseline will also assess the validity of the program’s Theory of Change (ToC); generate evidence to refine the design of the proposed activities and respond to emerging trends; and identify gaps for revisions in the proposed outputs, activities, and modalities of implementation. The midterm and final evaluation studies will build upon baseline data to generate data to assess the GEA’s effectiveness, value for money, efficiency, and equity in implementation. The results will also contribute to the GEA’s / Compact learning agenda, informing the implementation of ongoing and future gender and inclusion-focused education initiatives in Somalia.

2.2. Baseline Objective

The program is seeking to procure the services of a consultant to conduct a gender-responsive baseline study which will include:

a. National analysis of barriers to girls’ education and inclusion of children living with disabilities in education, as well as a baseline assessment of the conditions prior to implementation.

b. Analysing existing policies and guidelines for teacher training/ coaching; monitoring; school health and hygiene; and safeguarding (where existing) to determine gender and inclusion needs.

c. Assess technical and operational capacity of Gender and Inclusion Units to inform system strengthening efforts.

d. Determining baseline values for applicable indicators; and

e. Identifying key opportunities and challenges which may affect the implementation of the proposed activities. This will enable subsequent midterm and endline evaluations to assess and establish the results of the project at outcome, intermediate outcome, and impact levels.

3. TECHNICAL APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY

3.1. Baseline Design

The GEA will use a pre-post evaluation design. The baseline evaluation will use a mixed-methods, complexity-aware, gender-responsive and inclusive approach. The baseline will collect primary quantitative and qualitative data from schools, teachers/head teachers, CECs, school communities, MOECHE and FMS MOEs staff, and ESC /EDG/ cluster partners, seeking to obtain a comprehensive picture of the GEA’s contribution vis a vis its expected outcomes (triangulating primary quantitative data from representative samples of school communities with qualitative data gathered from MOECHE/FMS MOEs staff and secondary data from MOECHE/EMIS sources). The study will also use secondary data from the EMIS and other sources and incorporate a comprehensive analysis of contextual factors influencing the GEA’s anticipated outcomes.

The baseline study will conduct quantitative assessments in a representative sample of 145 schools, including a school survey, learning assessments (adapted versions of EGRA and EGMA administered to a sample of children enrolled in schools receiving capitation and special grants), head teacher interview, headcounts, structured classroom observations, and interviews with teachers. The baseline study will also conduct interviews with Gender and Inclusion Focal Points, Regional Education Officers (REO), District Education Officers (DEO), and Quality Assurance Officers (QAO).

The evaluation questions will include but not limited to:

· What are the key factors influencing access to education for girls? To what extent do the proposed activities and outputs under Outcome 1 contribute to address those?

· What are the key factors influencing girls’ learning outcomes? To what extent do the proposed activities and outputs under Outcome 2 contribute to address those?

· To what extent are FMS MOEs able to address gender and inclusion gaps through ongoing school supervision practices?

· To what extent are FMS MOEs able to address gender and inclusion gaps through ongoing teacher training and coaching practices?

· To what extent have the Gender Policy and the Special Education Needs, Disability, and Inclusive Education (SEND and IE) policy been implemented? What were the key barriers for their implementation?

· To what extent are the GEA’s Theory of Change and proposed activities accurately reflecting system capacity needs? Which revisions could contribute to increased effectiveness?

· What could be the critical bottlenecks for efficient implementation of the GEA’s proposed activities by the relevant stakeholders? What are the key recommendations to address those?

3.2. Ethical Protocols

The baseline approach must consider the safety and well-being of participants and especially children at all stages of the process. The bidder will need to demonstrate how they have considered the protection of children and vulnerable individuals through the different data collection stages, including recruitment and training of research staff, data collection, data analysis and storage, and report writing.

Bidders are required to set out their approach to ensuring complete compliance with CARE’s Safeguarding Policy. The evaluator will be responsible for designing and enforcing measures to ensure compliance with the above-mentioned policies and international good practice with regards to research ethics and protocols particularly with regards to safeguarding children, vulnerable groups (including people living with disabilities) and those in fragile and conflict-affected states. Consideration should be given to:

· Administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect the confidentiality of those participating in research, including but not limited to a complete ban on photography and video records of respondents and anonymisation of data records/ reports.

· Physical safeguards for those conducting research.

· Data protection and secure maintenance procedures for personal information obtained from the beneficiaries.

· Parental consent concerning data collection from children and assent from minor respondents. Where applicable, consent may be obtained from the teacher but still requiring assent from children.

· A do-no-harm approach for collecting data from women, girls, people living with disabilities, and vulnerable individuals in general.

· Age and ability appropriate assent processes based on reasonable assumptions about comprehension based on age and disability status, and data collection tools responsive to age ranges and disability needs.

· Approaches that ensure equal participation from individuals including abilities, and adequate representation of women.

3.3. Risk and Risk Management

Risk management plan: The successful bidder must take all reasonable measures to mitigate any potential risk to the delivery of the required outputs for this baseline. Therefore, bidders should submit a comprehensive risk management plan covering:

· The assumptions underpinning the successful completion of the proposals submitted and the anticipated challenges that might be faced.

· Estimates of the level of risk for each risk identified.

· Proposed contingency plans that the bidder will put in place to mitigate against any occurrence of each of the identified risk.

· Specific child protection risks and mitigating strategies, including reference to the child protection policy and procedures that will be in place; and

· Health and safety issues that may require a significant duty of care precautions.

3.4. Data Quality Assurance

Quality assurance plan: bidders are required to submit a quality assurance plan that sets out the systems and processes for quality assuring the research process and deliverables from start to finish of the project. This plan should include the proposed approaches to:

· Piloting of all baseline study tools (with the exception of learning assessment tools).

· Training of enumerators in conducting the mixed-methods primary research, including in research ethics; adherence to sampling guidelines; consistency and completeness of tools; and qualitative probing.

· Use of electronic data collection tools whenever possible, allowing for overnight checks of data quality and timely resolution of issues.

· Logistical and management planning.

· Fieldwork protocols and data verification including back-checking and quality control by supervisors.

· Verification of data validity (considering the limited accessibility of locations).

· Data cleaning.

CARE and MOECHE have a zero-tolerance policy for fraud, including but not limited to data fraud. The consultant is responsible for putting in place effective measures to curb data fraud and ensuring remote and in-person oversight of enumerator practices. MOECHE and CARE will require the consultant to share interim datasets during data collection for validation and verification and will conduct spot-checks to verify enumerator conduct.

3.5. Data Analysis

An in-depth approach to data analysis is required. The statistical analysis of the quantitative component is expected to identify factors influencing project outcomes, thus establishing relationships between different variables and the outcomes of interest, as well as validating or challenging assumptions about the current status of access and school structures in the federal states. It is expected that qualitative data will be analysed using emerging codes, thus allowing for identification of unanticipated factors/ patterns. Extensive triangulation of qualitative and quantitative data will be required for validation of results and in-depth understanding of the effects observed. Findings should be disaggregated at multiple levels, including but not limited to gender, disability, location/regional states, type of school, IDP/non-IDP condition and where relevant, most prevalent community livelihood (such as pastoralism, agro-pastoralism, agriculture).

Skills and Qualifications
1. BASELINE SCOPE OF WORK

1.1. Professional Skills and Qualifications

Qualifications: Bidders are required to identify and provide CVs for all proposed team members, clearly stating their roles and responsibilities for this baseline study.

The proposed evaluation team should include the technical expertise and practical experience required to deliver the scope of work and baseline deliverables with regards to:

· Data collection management: The team should include skills and expertise required to design, plan, and conduct mixed-methods data collection, including, whenever possible, the use of electronic data collection. Enumerators should be able to collect data across the five targeted States and Banaadir. Enumerator teams should include (i) male and female enumerators and (ii) individuals with adequate linguistic abilities to conduct interviews in the mother tongue of respondents.

· Relevant subject matter knowledge and experience: Knowledge and experience required on mixed methods data collection and analysis, including advanced statistical skills; education policy analysis and capacity strengthening of education institutions; and gender and inclusion to ensure that the data collection methods are applied in a relevant and meaningful manner, given the aims and objectives of the project and the context in which it is being delivered.

· Primary research: Gender-responsive and inclusive management and implementation of primary quantitative and qualitative research in potentially challenging project environments, such as fragile and conflict-affected states. This includes the design of adapted versions of EGRA /EGMA tests, in-depth interviews, focus groups etc.

· Country experience: The team must have appropriate country knowledge /experience including Somali language (written and spoken), culture and socio-economic dynamics.

· Information management: Extensive experience in data quality control and database management (including collating multiple large datasets for analysis).

· Ability to manage English to Somali and Somali to English translation with high quality and accuracy, including for transcription and translation of large volumes of qualitative data.

· Safety considerations: Ensuring the whole baseline process adhere to best practices for research with children and incorporates safeguarding procedures fully compliant with CARE’s policies. Note that all bidders are expected to be able to show that they have a child protection

and safeguarding policy in place. All bidders are expected to comply with CARE’s Guidelines for Responsible Data Management as well.

The Program Quality, Development and Learning Coordinator will be responsible for the day–to–day management of the baseline survey. CARE HQ’s Director of Research will provide technical assistance to tool development, data quality control and data analysis; and provide technical feedback and quality assurance on all deliverables. The consultant will be accountable to CARE and the MOECHE for quality results and for timely delivery of those.

1.2. Expected Tasks

The consultant will be required to conduct the following tasks:

· Submit an inception report inclusive of the proposed tools, sampling approach, detailed analysis framework, quality control measures and work plan.

· Submit a detailed work plan as part of the inception report and updated data collection plan following training of enumerators. The work plan should include plans/framework for data collection, data entry, data cleaning, transcription, and translation.

· Submit a comprehensive risk management plan highlighting all reasonable measures to mitigate any potential risk to the delivery of the required outputs for this baseline.

· Submit a quality assurance plan that sets out the systems and processes for quality assuring the research process and deliverables from start to finish of the project.

· Translate data collection tools and training protocols from English to Somali. Note that back translation will be required for accuracy.

· Develop electronic versions of all relevant data collection tools. The consultant is responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the e-tools, including but not limited to correct skip patterns, translations, and response options matching the approved tools.

· Pilot the tools (except for learning assessment tool) in the respective target region/states, track changes and submit revised tools for approval.

· Take the lead in training research assistants, following guidelines and training plans outlined in the inception report, as well as quality control protocols and guidelines for researchers.

· Prepare all resources and related supplies for data collection, including mobile phones/ tablets with e-versions of the tools uploaded into a platform of choice.

· Undertake data collection in the field following the approach outlined in the approved inception report.

· Support in data collection related logistics, including but not limited to deployment of researchers to the target region/states, and supervisors; and where required coordination with CARE to access each area with approval from MOECHE and regional states.

· Upload datasets completed by the team daily for verification by CARE’s technical team.

· Conduct qualitative data entry and coding.

· Conduct all necessary data quality and ethical control measures.

· Analyse the data as per agreed upon data analysis framework.

· Provide a draft comprehensive technical report; a draft summary report; and a draft presentation of findings for review. Incorporate technical feedback received from CARE, MOECHE and relevant stakeholders and provide revised final versions of all three documents for final approval.

· Provide a complete set of physical and electronic data collection documents, filed, and organized as per guidelines provided by the CARE, upon completion of data collection and entry. This includes but is not limited to complete datasets (anonymized and non-anonymized versions), script and analysis files; datasets used for analysis; transcribed and translated versions of FGDs and KIIs; filled surveys, questionnaires, FGD/ interview notes, daily survey logs; voice files (for electronic qualitative data collection), pictures (noting that no pictures of respondents will be allowed under any circumstances, including during data collection or before/ after data collection), etc.

1.3. Deliverables

The main deliverables for this study are as follows:

· Inception report.

· Work plan outlining all tasks to be completed within the duration mentioned for this assignment, responsible persons, timeframe for completion of each task and resources required for each task.

· Detailed data collection and analysis plan, a comprehensive risk management plan and a quality assurance plan as part of the inception report (in line with the approved result framework provided by CARE).

· Translations of survey instruments from English into Somali, to be verified through back-translation (conducted by the evaluator) and secondary spot-checks conducted by CARE.

· Training plan (including summaries of training sessions and relevant presentations/ exercises).

· Complete list of enumerators/supervisors per location, including contact details.

· Training report on the data collection process with recommendations for future data collections. The report should catalogue and include, in annexes, the final survey and training tools used (with translations where available).

· Complete set of files, hard copies of surveys, audio/ image/ video files and daily data collection reports/ data collection logs signed by enumerators and field supervisors.

· Complete transcriptions of qualitative data both in Somali and English.

· Clean data sets, to be reviewed and approved by CARE (data quality verified and accepted by CARE). 100% of the planned data is included and the final version of the database should not include any typos, out of range responses for any variable and/or illogical responses.

· Analysis and script files.

· Final report, based on the agreed-upon analysis framework. The methodological section should include a discussion of data collection challenges and limitations, including a summary of data collection activities and the timeline of data collection, a number of total surveys collected and the number of refusals to participate for each location, as well as detailed data collection log per region/state.

· Final reader friendly summary report.

· PowerPoint presentation of findings.

How to apply
The technical and financial proposals shall be submitted at the same time. The proposals must be submitted electronically to SOM.procurement@care.org and copy to procurement@moe.gov.so latest by 11:59pm on 6th October 2024 with the Subject line “Consultancy for the Baseline Survey services for the Girls’ Education Accelerator (GEA) Program”.