Save the children will cover travel, accommodation & Food outside Hargeisa.

The applicant must have the following profiles.

• Should have proven record/prior work of evlauations with similar emergency response education programs in similar context.
• Must have knowledge/qualification on basic (primary and secondary) education and educational statistics.
• The applicant must have at least 5 years working experience in conducting assessments, evaluations and monitoring projects in a fragile environment.
• The applicant must have deep understanding and knowledge on Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, Learning and Research.
• The applicant must have basic knowledge and experience in assessing the quality of the education service and the learning environment.
• The consultant company must have legal valid registration proving its existence and presence.

• Relevancy of the technical proposal to the ToR
• Understanding to the assignment by the applicant.
• Reasonability of the costs presented in the financial proposal.
• Prior experience for the applicants in doing similar assignments.
• Qualifications and experience of the applicants.
• Avialability and flexibility of the consultant during completing this assignment.
• Knolwdge of Somali context or similar locations in the region.
• Meet with legal requirement and texations.

a)      Technical proposal – including but not limited to :

·       Consultants understanding of the assignment and context

·       Approach to the assignment

·       Methodology

·       Tools

·       Deliverables

·       Workplan

·       Key staff biodata

b)     Financial proposal – providing a breakdown of all charges related to the assignment.

Applicants should also indicate the date they are available to start working on the consultancy

All applications MUST be submitted on or before the closing date below to be considered for the assignment.

Please be informed that only shortlisted candidates will be communicated and requested for an interview.

• Purpose of the consultancy,
• Introduction of the project,
• Background of the consultancy,
• Objectives of the consultancy,
• Proposed methodology and approach,
• Scope of work,
• Key deliverables / outputs
• Activity timelines

Annex 1.

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE TERMINAL EVALUATION OF GPE/COVID-19 RESPONSE ACCELERATED FUNDING PROJECT IN SOMALILAND.

CALL FOR CONSULTANCY

1.     Background

Save the children area office in Somaliland have been implementing an emergency project addressing the education gaps and challenges imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The titled of the project is commonly known as “Somaliland Covid-19 response accelerated funding”. It started on 1^st July 2020 and ends on 31^st August 2021.

The COVID-19 Response program is designed to contribute to the implementation of the basic education response strategy plan developed by the Somaliland MoES, the existing GPE-funded ESPIG and other on-going education programs supported by the education sector coordination members. The program’s immediate interventions mitigate and respond to the effects of school closure by ensuring learning continuity. It also supports education systems to fully recover and ensure continued quality learning and sustained interventions with long-term potential. The coverage area for the project is all the six administrative regions for Somaliland namely Marodi-jeh, Awdal, Sahil, Togdheer, Sool and Sanaag. The main partner for the project is the Ministry of Education and Higher Studies for Somaliland. There are also two other local partners who are in charge of implementing certain school level interventions in the regions in close coordination with the regional education offices for the Ministry of Education and Science.

The overall objective of the program is “is to support and ensure continued learning and well-being of children during and after school closures and strengthen education system recovery and resilience”.

The program has three main outcomes with clear targets shown below table which contribute to the realization for the overall objective of the project.

In a bid to assess the results for the program, Save the Children area office in Hargeisa is looking for a qualified consultant with appropriate technical capacity and experience to conduct a final evaluation of the COVID-19 Response education program.

2.     Purpose of the terminal evaluation

The purpose of this evaluation is to assess performance of the GPE/Covid-19 program by focusing on the extent to which the activities are suited to the priorities and polices of the target group (relevance); achievement of purpose and planned results (effectiveness); sound management and value for money (efficiency); likely continuation of achieved results (sustainability), mutual reinforcements (coherence). The terminal evaluation process should also highlight key challenges encountered during the project implementation: document key lessons learnt; and make practical recommendations for future action in the next GPE accelerated programs in Somaliland.

3.     Objectives of the terminal evaluation  

The specific objectives of this terminal evaluation are to:

• Asses the relevance, coherence and effectiveness of the implementation approach and give recommendations for future programming.
• Ascertain the level to which the project employs the implementation modalities and approach as per the agreement with the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).
• Establish the extent to which the project interventions contributed towards the stated program results and outcomes in the approved proposal.
• Derive lessons learned and establish best practices from the ended grant for improving the quality of program implementation and explain how they can be applied in the next accelerated programs for education.
• Based on the findings of the evaluation make specific and reasonable recommendations for the different stakeholders in improving implementation of similar Covid-19 accelerated program in Somaliland.

4.     Terminal Evaluation Questions

The selected consult should develop detailed terminal evaluation questions and the data collection tools during the inception report. The tools should be able to assess all the expected results and indicators for the program.

5.     Scope of the terminal evaluation

The program coverage is the all six administrative regions of Somaliland (Awdal, Marodi-jeh, Sahil, Togdher, Sool and Sanaag) and currently targets 100 primary schools. The schools are also disbursed in the rural and urban locations across the regions. The evaluation process should draw a representative sample from the target considering proportionality for the target groups.

An external consultant under the guidance of the SCI education team and the Ministry of Education will lead the whole process of this terminal evaluation. The consultant will develop the data collection tools, train the data collection team, coordinate the field data collection process, interpret the data and produce a comprehensive terminal evaluation report.

6.       Methodology of the terminal evaluation

The methodology to be adopted by the evaluation shall generate both quantitative and qualitative information, that specific methodology to employ should be participatory, and to enable triangulating data from the key stakeholders including children. Quantitatively, it should include well developed study tools or questionnaires with proper random selection of participants where appropriate. Qualitatively, it should mainly comprise of desk review, use of primary and secondary data and field consultations with the different stakeholders (children’s & teachers benefiting from the project, CECs, REOs/DEOs office and MOES departments. Case studies are expected to be used to document changes brought about by the project on specific cases, lessons learnt and good practices that can be replicated next time. The lead researcher (consultant) will be responsible for further development of the methodology and the evaluation tools to show how data for each evaluation objective will be captured.

7.     Expected Tasks and Deliverables

The consultant is expected to carry out the tasks and provide the deliverables listed in the table below.

8.     Duration of the Assignment

The terminal evaluation will be conducted from August – November 2021. The consultant shall develop detailed work plan in his technical proposal and will be reviewed and approved by the SC education management team.

9.     Roles and responsibilities

 a)  The Consultant:

• Referring the relevant terms of reference, the consultant will develop a technical proposal with a clear methodological approach, a work plan, budget and tools that will be approved by the SCI education management team.
• Train all data collection team (enumerators) members on the use of the tools and the agreed methodology.
• Conduct terminal project evaluation – field work for data collection on all outcome, output and result indicators in line with approved methodology, data analysis and interpretation in favor of the objectives of the evaluation.
• Draft terminal evaluation report and shared it with the SCI education team and the MoE&S for inputs/feedback in a validation meeting.
• Submit final comprehensive terminal evaluation report in and electronic copy to the education department for Save the Children.

b)   Save the Children:

• Approve the design, methodology and the data collection tools for the terminal evaluation.
• Recruit and remunerate the data collection team/enumerators.
• Schedule and manage appointments for the data collection process.
• Provide logistic support for the assignment.
• Ensure that key staff from the education program are available for interviews when needed.
• Provide project documents (proposal, log frame, baseline information, reports, etc.).
• Provide feedback and comments on the draft evaluation report prior to the completion of the final report.

10.  Reporting Arrangements

The consultant will report directly to Save the Children office in Hargeisa. The Education MEAL Manager will be the focal person who will lead this exercise in coordination with the MOE&S at all levels. The consultant will submit the follow key reports.

a)     Inception report including terminal evaluation matrix, work plan and data collection tools for the terminal evaluation within a week after the contract is signed.

b)    First draft report for the terminal evaluation including all the findings, recommendations and action points to be submitted within the last week of October 2021.

c)     Final terminal evaluation report incorporated with all the comments and suggests from the key stakeholders on 1^st December 2021.