Terms of Reference for Review of EMIS procedures and development of training curriculum for MOEs staff on tracking attendance and retention at Federal level

Projects Names:

Educate Your Children II (Waxbar Carrurtaada II) Project

and Girls Education Empowerment Project in Somalia (GEEPS)

Location(s) of the action:

Puntland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle, Banaadir, Jubaland and South-West States of Somalia

Organization:

CARE International, Somalia

Duration

15 days

Start date

September 2022

Project Background

CARE is a humanitarian non-governmental organization committed to working with poor women, men, boys, girls, communities, and institutions to have a significant impact on the underlying causes of poverty. CARE seeks to contribute to economic and social transformation, unleashing the power of the most vulnerable women and girls. CARE has been providing emergency relief and lifesaving assistance to the Somali people since 1981. The main program activities since then have included projects in water and sanitation, sustainable pastoralist activities, civil society and media development, small-scale enterprise development, primary school education, teacher training, adult literacy and vocational training. CARE works in partnership with Somali and international aid agencies, civil society leaders and local authorities. CARE Somalia is currently operational in the northern regions of Puntland and Somaliland and south and central regions of Galmudug, Hirshabelle, South West and Jubaland the strategy is: adopt a program approach to demonstrate impact and promote organizational learning; reduce the impact of emergencies on vulnerable communities, particularly women and children; improve governance and access to services and resources.

Educate Your Children II (Waxbar Carrurtaada II) Project

With generous funding from Educate A Child, a program of Education Above All Foundation, CARE in a consortium with WARDI and GREDO is implementing Waxbar Carurtaada II (Educate your Children II/ EYC II) project which aims to address obstacles to educational access for out of school children affected by instability, displacement, social exclusion, and poverty in Somalia. The project targets to enrol 80,600[1] out of school children from across six regions/ states (Galmudug, Hirshabelle, Jubaland, South West, Puntland and Banaadir) of Somalia. Waxbar Carurtaada II Project will strengthen local governance structures and community support around school safety and inclusive and gender-sensitive education, increasing enrolment rates among marginalized groups, including girls and the extremely poor. Through ABE, the project will provide viable options for learners unable to access education or to attend regularly because of seasonal and out-migration, domestic demands, and income-generating activities. The project will work closely with Federal member states MOEs across the six region/states and other education stakeholders to achieve its objective.

The overall project goal/objective is to ensure that 80,600 out-of-school children affected by instability, displacement, social exclusion, and poverty in Somalia have increased opportunities to enroll and complete a quality primary education. The project aims to achieve this goal/objective through the following strategies and interventions:

1. Outcome 1: 70,600 vulnerable OOSC in Banaadir, Puntland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle, Jubaland and South-West states of Somalia are enrolled and retained in formal primary education
2. Outcome 2: 10,000 overaged OOSC children in Banaadir, Puntland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle, Jubaland and South-West states of Somalia are enrolled and retained in alternative basic education
3. Outcome 3: Enhanced quality of education for grade-appropriate learning outcomes
4. Outcome 4: Community Education Committees and MOE staff are strengthened in capacity to improve the management of schools and ABE Centers

Girls Education Empowerment Project in Somalia (GEEPS)

Beneficiary Group

Total

Jubaland

Puntland

Somaliland

Schools (primary)

70

30

20

20

Girls

27,077

16,416

4,730

5,931

Boys (in school only)

24,070

14,479

4,060

5,531

Parents

13,539

8,208

2,365

2,966

CARE’s Global Affairs Canada-funded Girls Empowerment and Education Project in Somalia (GEEPS), a three year initiative (2020-2023) which aims to improve learning outcomes for girls, adolescent girls, and young women, in Jubaland, Puntland and Somaliland States of Somalia. GEEPS will contribute to address one of the major barriers to development in Somalia – the gender gap in education – at its most critical point, when girls reach adolescence. The project responds to this persistent need at a time when the COVID-19 crisis threatens to further worsen education outcomes for the most marginalized girls and wipe out years of development gains. GEEPS’s design builds upon robust evidence of what works to provide a holistic intervention that will improve equity in access, learning and retention in a sustainable manner through the combination of social norm change, girl-led action, improved school practices and strengthened system capacity to address gender and inclusion issues. The project uses a multi-layered intersectional approach that considers the intersections between gender, disability, ethnicity, clan identities and climate change, acknowledging the diverse needs and conditions of different population subgroups in Somalia. GEEPS’ design builds upon three existing models with demonstrated impact in the Somali context: SOMGEP-T’s gender-focused teacher training, Girls’ Empowerment Forums and gender training for CECs. GEEPS leverages CARE’s existing interventions, research capacity and relationships for increased efficiency in the use of resources; responsiveness to a dynamic environment; increased reach among the most marginalized girls; and inclusive dialogue to support implementation processes.

Intermediate Outcome 1:

Increased equitable access to safe, secure quality inclusive education and learning by girls, including those with disabilities and affected by displacement, in conflict and disaster-affected areas of Somalia

Intermediate outcome 2:

Improved equitable and coordinated provision of innovative, safe, quality, gender-responsive and evidence-based formal and non-formal education to the end of secondary school for girls, including those with disabilities and affected by displacement, in conflict and disaster-affected areas of Somalia

Immediate outcome 1:

Increased knowledge and skills of stakeholders (government, non-government and community) to promote girls’ access to inclusive, quality education in Somalia

Immediate outcome 1:

Enhanced capacity of education stakeholders (local governments and low-cost private schools) to integrate adolescent girls, including GwDs and girls from highly marginalized groups, into education systems to the end of secondary school or its non-formal equivalent.

Immediate outcome 2:

Increased capacity of schools and vulnerable households to reduce social, cultural and physical barriers for adolescent girls, including girls with disabilities (GwDs), to participate in education

Immediate outcome 2:

Enhanced capacity of schools and respective Community Education Committees (CECs) to provide quality gender-sensitive and innovative teacher training, quality teaching and learning materials and safe, inclusive working spaces

Immediate outcome 3:

Increased capacity of girls, adolescent girls and women in conflict-affected areas to claim their right to education and make their voices heard in decision making processes that affect them

Immediate outcome 3:

Improved capacity of education ministries to collect and use data to monitor the barriers and progress in marginalized girls’ learning, participation and completion

Rationale for the assignment

In the context of Somalia, the gross primary enrolment rate is estimated to be as low as 24% at Federal level (2021 JRES). Furthermore, the central Education Management Information System (EMIS) data does not fully capture the actual numbers of out-of-school children or wastage of system resources due to dropout. The existing systems do not sufficiently report disaggregated data of marginalized, disabled children. The current EMIS collects data on enrolment. Within-grade dropout is not tracked; neither is transition from one grade to another or between levels. The system is also not tracking what happens to those that leave school (nor flag the ones who are at risk of dropping out).

The EYC II project targets 57,600 among the hardest to reach OOSC in 24 districts across Puntland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle, Jubaland, Banadir and South-West states of Somalia. An additional 23,000 OOSC will be reached through the Global Partnership for Education-funded Education Sector Program Implementation Grant (ESPIG). The EYC II project, in consultation with the FMS MoEs, representatives of the communities and school heads, has developed a set of criteria for the identification of the target beneficiaries from which over 25,000 out of school children were identified and enrolled in Accelerated Basic Education (ABE) and formal education in 2021, as part of its first cohort.

The ultimate goal of GEEPS is improved learning outcomes for girls, adolescent girls, and young women, including those with disability in fragile and conflict situations in Jubaland, Puntland and Somaliland States of Somalia. GEEPS will implement an integrated and innovative package of interventions that intend to: 1) Increase equitable access to safe, secure, quality, inclusive education and learning by adolescent girls, including girls with disabilities (GwDs) and girls from traditionally marginalized groups and those heavily affected by conflict and displacement; and 2) Enhance quality, gender responsiveness and inclusiveness of the Somali education system at all levels addressing the needs of marginalized girls, including those with disabilities, in service provision. The project will directly reach and improve the learning outcomes among 27,077 new girls; as well as directly impact 6,600 out-of-school girls, 12,310 girls with mental health and non-mental health disability, and 13,539 parents in Puntland, Jubaland, and Somaliland.

The projects will leverage the work done by GPE-funded ESPIG and the FCDO-funded AGES and SOMGEP-T projects on the EMIS and will aim to further improve the system without duplication and replacement of the existing processes already in place.

Overall Objective of the assignment

The main objective of this assignment is:

1. Review the existing EMIS procedures for tracking attendance and retention, including disaggregation by gender and marginalization (IDP status, clan, disability, language, etc.)
2. Review the existing Strategic Plan indicators to track progress on marginalized girls’ outcomes
3. Train gender focal persons and MOEs officials on data collation, analysis and
4. To develop a common understanding on the definition of OOSC and outline existing gaps in recordkeeping at school level, informing system-level actions to improve OOSC tracking. This should include disaggregation by gender and marginalization (IDP status, clan, disability, language, etc.).

Specific objectives of the assignment

The specific objectives of this assignment are:

• To identify school-level gaps in tracking attendance and retention and underlying causes of those
• To develop a training curriculum for MOE staff to track attendance and retention by gender and marginalization (IDP status, clan, disability, language, etc.). The curriculum will have a particular focus on ensuring that tracking processes capture data on re-enrolment, attendance, retention, transition and completion of complete cycles for marginalized children, such as former OOSC.
• To train FMS MoE staff, including Gender Focal Points, on the roll-out of the of the tracking system across all the states
• Review the recently gender responsive monitoring checklist developed under GEEPS for REOs, DEOs, GFPsand QAS to ensure methods of assessing educational delivery at the level of the teacher, the class, the school, and the region are standardized as well develop coaching guideline to use for the training of REOs, DEOs, GFPs on the use of monitoring checklist

CARE’s Role and Responsibility

The role of CARE with regard to this assignment will include but not be limited to**:**

• Review proposed methodologies, tools, plans, and reports produced by the consultant and advise where necessary.
• Coordinate meetings, discussions, or consultations with MOECHE regarding the assignment including the selection of the workshop participants and other support as may be appropriate.
• Make available relevant project documentation to support this assignment (e.g. EYC and GEEPS own oosc enrolment monitoring system/database).

Scope of Work

1. Review of school-level recordkeeping processes for attendance and retention, and identification of underlying causes of gaps in recordkeeping.
2. Review of the EMIS and Strategic Plan indicators – the consultant will conduct a review of the current EMIS procedures in tracking attendance, retention, and transition and identify gaps. This will pay particular attention to gender and marginalization (IDP status, clan, disability, language, etc.).
3. Revise the supervision checklist to include details of the new EMIS system to ensure all information on education service delivery is fully captured
4. Develop a training curriculum on the new system and train 25 MoE staff, including Gender Focal Points, from all FMS MoEs (5 from each of the FMS MoEs)

Deliverables

The main deliverables for this assignment are as follows:

• Inception report (EMIS Review/ School Recordkeeping Review report): providing details of the existing EMIS procedures for tracking attendance, retention, and transition, and the Strategic Plan indicators in these areas, as well as the levels of disaggregation available.
• Pilot of the data collection tools and use of the e-tools/ software
• Training curriculum for MOE staff on the new system
• Training of MoE staff who then cascade the training to selected system end users at school level.
• Presentations of deliverables as an integral part of the submission process.
• Revised gender sensitive monitoring checklist and coaching guideline
• The final report on the data collection and the training of MoEs

Duration of the Consultancy

The consultancy shall be executed within a maximum of 27 days, commencing after signing the contract. The proposal should include a detailed schedule. The following should be used as a guide.

S/n

Activities

No of Days

1

Review of the EMIS/ school-level recordkeeping systems/tools and Strategic Indicators and related literature

3

2

Presentation of the EMIS review findings

2

3

Curriculum development for the training of MoE staff on EMIS procedures

4

4

Training of MoE staff including Gender focal points

5

5

Reporting

1

Total number of days

15

Professional Skills and Qualifications

Qualifications:

1. Graduate degree in Education preferably in educational planning
2. Previous experience of setting up and/or reviewing EMIS systems and/or systems to track student attendance and retention in Somalia or similar contexts.
3. Experience in conducting education related training including skills in facilitating adult learning
4. Good understanding of gender responsive education programming
5. Excellent analytical and conceptual skills to think and plan strategically
6. Excellent report writing skills
7. Knowledge of the education system in the country and ongoing EMIS initiatives across the regions
8. Relevant experience related to the assignment including samples and references of most recent similar work done.

Language:

The consultant has the appropriate Federal Member States knowledge /experience and language proficiency in Somali and English languages required for this assignment.

Report requirements: all reports should be submitted in electronic form and should be submitted in English. The tools should be submitted in English and in Somali Application Procedure

The interested qualified candidates are requested to submit the following:

• • • Technical proposal showing how the consultant intends to carry out the assignment. – Financial proposal. – Qualifications – Relevant experience related to the assignment including samples and references of most recent similar work done.

Applications should be submitted to: som.consultant@care.org. not later than 25th August 2022

How to apply

All interest firms or individuals consultant should apply and send their Applications to: som.consultant@care.org. not later than 25th August 2022