Background

CARE is an international humanitarian organization fighting global poverty and providing lifesaving assistance in emergencies. CARE and its partners work with vulnerable communities to address the underlying causes of poverty and promote peace and development, as well as mitigating suffering caused by drought, conflict, and displacement. CARE and MOEHE (under ECW project) therefore seeks to engage a national qualified and experienced consultant(s) with a strong background to develop Alternative Basic Education (ABE) program implementation guideline for the Ministry of education and higher education of Puntland.

1.1 Education Cannot Wait (ECW) project

CARE and its partners SCI and SIDRA are implementing the ECW project. The overall aim of this project is to improve school access and safety, and educational attainment for Somali girls and boys affected by the crisis, contributing to resilience building within an increasingly peaceful, secure and democratic environment. The main specific objective of the project is: I) Schools and learning spaces are safe and inclusive environments that promote the protection and well-being of learners, improve their resilience and ensure their ability to learn and develop their full potential and II) Children and youth have adequate equitable access to inclusive quality accredited education from the onset of an emergency through recovery leading to increased school attendance and improved learning outcomes. To reach this the project has six outcomes: –

Outcome 1: Increased equitable access to education for all crisis-affected children and youth, including children and youth with disabilities.

Outcome 2: Learning outcomes for crisis-affected children and youth are improved.

Outcome 3: Safe and protective learning environments are provided for crisis-affected children.

Outcome 4: Increased continuity of education is ensured for crisis-affected children and youth.

Outcome 5: Education management systems are strengthened.

Outcome 6: Improved gender equity and equality in education access and attainment by taking affirmative actions and increasing girls’ enrolment. **

Alternative Basic Education (ABE) is an innovative, flexible, cost-effective and community-managed program of education, complementary to the formal education system, organized for out of school children. It generally seeks to target those with limited access to traditional education to provide a relatively alternative pathway for primary education.

ABE is intended to benefit children whose circumstances do not allow participation in formal education such as nomadic/pastoralists children, IDPs, and isolated rural communities. It also enables out of school children to complete basic primary education and continue their education in formal schools. ABE program targets 9-16 years old children (9-12 years old for lower primary and 13-16 for upper primary) who have totally missed out education or dropped out due to various reasons.

1. Purpose and the objectives of the consultancy:

2.1 Overall Objective:

The overall objective of this consultancy is to review the current ABE strategy/guideline for the Puntland ministry of education and higher education, identify gaps and enrich it to make a rational strategy for achieving improved quality education for the children in alternative basic education.

2.2 Specific Objectives:

· Conduct an extensive literature review and study existing documents related to the Alternative Basic Education (Pastoralist education) curriculum in all existing levels.

· Work closely with the Non-Formal Education department, policy and Quality Assurance and CARE international.

· Review the existing ABE strategy, identify the gaps and develop a comprehensive guideline for the implementation of the ABE curriculum.

· Develop a comprehensive narrative report on the guideline review with concrete suggestions on the implementation of the existing ABE curriculum. Incorporate comments from the task force and stakeholders.

· Present the finalized draft for the ABE guideline for validation and approvals

1. Scope of work

The Consultant shall ensure the completion of the review and the development of the ABE program implementation guideline in accordance with the terms and conditions of this consultancy contract. The consultant will work closely with CARE and the MOEHE in all aspects of the consultancy- including planning, consultation and writing the guidelines for the purpose of meeting the required minimum quality standards.

4. Duties and Responsibilities of the consultant

The duties and responsibilities of the consultant will include the following:

· To assess and study the current situation of the Alternative Basic Education program of Puntland

· Collect Data from ABE centers, MOEHE officials, INGOs, LNGOs and documents through interviews, FGDs, Observations, and contextual analysis.

· Submit the draft version of the guideline to CARE and the MOEHE within the stipulated timeframe.

· Progress discussions through validation one-day validation workshop to collect feedback from stakeholders including the Education Sector Committee for consideration into the final document.

· Submit the final version of the ABE guideline to CARE Puntland and Puntland MOEHE at the ESC meeting

5. Deliverable/outputs:

The deliverables/outputs of this assignment are:

· An inception report on the guideline development process.

· Finalized drafts for reviews, gap findings, and recommendations for the ABE guideline development.

· A narrative report detailing the process, experiences and challenges encountered while carrying out the assignment and way forward.

· Final version of the Developed ABE guideline submitted to CARE and the MOEHE Puntland.

6. Expected Timeframe for the Consultancy Assignment **

The duration of the assignment will be 25 days effective from the date of signing the contract. The consultant(s) will present a technical proposal specifying the relevant actions to be performed. This will then be moderated with the selected consultants.

The consultant will submit a final report and a complete ABE guideline within the course of the assignment.

1. Qualifications and Experiences of the Consultant

The consultant for the assignment must have the following mandatory professional experience and knowledge:

· Advanced university degree in Education particularly policy development.

· At least ten (5) years of experience in education, development, assessment, and evaluation of curriculum Understanding of the key issues involved in ABE in the region, or specifically in Puntland.

· Strong professional background in policy development. Show evidence of having successfully completed at least one similar assignments.

· Outstanding communication and analytical skills, with excellent command of spoken and written English Computer literate.

· Interested individuals must submit their applications by email referenced under the title, ABE guideline development.

8. Terms of Payments

The Consultant will develop ABE implementation guidelines for Puntland MOEHE within a period of 25 days. The consultant’s professional fees are milestone-based and shall be structured in the following manner:

a. First Installment: Upon submission of the first draft version of the guidelines to CARE and the MOEHE

b. Second installment: Upon the delivery of a satisfactory final document to CARE and MOEHE Puntland.