School Grant Rapid Assessment 2009
UNDP-DAG would like to invite potential consultancy firms to undertake school grant rapid assessment 2009 as per the below detailed TOR.
RFP/034/2009
School Grant Rapid Assessment 2009
Ministry of Education (moe)
General Education Quality Improvement Program (GEQIP)
1. OVERVIEW
1.1 The Government of Ethiopia launched a major nationwide reform program to improve the quality of general education (Grades 1-12). The objectives of the reform are to increase results for boys and girls with respect to measured learning outcomes, primary completion rates, and secondary entrance rates. The program will be implemented over the next eight years in the form of a two-phased General Education Quality Improvement Program (GEQIP). To help finance the program, the government has received financing in the amount of USD 332.8 million equivalent from the International Development Association (IDA), the Fast Track Initiative Catalytic Fund (FTI CF) and other development partners (the Netherlands, DFID (UK), Italian Development Cooperation and Finland).
1.2 GEQIP is comprehensive, covering most of the critical components of quality improvement, including: (a) revision and upgrading of the national curriculum; (b) development and provision of new textbooks across all grades and subjects (in local and national languages) based on the new curriculum; (c) improved pre-service teacher education; (d) strengthened continuing professional development for serving teachers; (e) capacity development for head teachers to improve school leadership and management; (f) training for PTAs and school boards in school improvement planning; (g) provision of school grants; (h) training for regional and federal ministry officials to improve their planning and budgeting skills; and (i) development of national assessment, in particular at post-primary levels.
1.3 GEQIP's design is based on findings from school effectiveness research.[1] The school effectiveness approach is particularly suitable for GEQIP given the politically and fiscally decentralized structure of the Ethiopian education system. As a result quality improvement will depend on the capacity of school leadership to work with teachers, parents, and students to diagnose constraints and implement changes to improve results. One of the most important challenges of GEQIP is how well schools – that is, school-level agents – are able to integrate all the various components of the program, and align them on the key performance indicators of the program, namely, increased learning outcomes, completion rates, and secondary entrance.
1.4 The government has been rolling out tools for school improvement planning for the last three years, and has recently secured funding to begin a School Grants program. In the light of increased financing and responsibility for schools, the government proposes to review and strengthen the school improvement planning process and related tools, and to assess how increased financing is being planned and monitored at the school level.
2. OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT
2.1. The main objectives of this assignment are to (a) provide an understanding of the implementation status of the school grant program consistent with the School Grant Guidelines; underlying difficulties/constraints in its implementation, (b) provide baseline data on school grant disbursement; (c) assess the extent to which the first school grant allocation has been received by schools and utilised in their school improvement planning process; and (d) provide recommendations for improving the flow of school grants to schools and ABE Centres in the future.
2.2. A key element of the assignment is to review and analyze how different stakeholders in the country feel about the implementation of the school grant program and the reform process, and then incorporating stakeholder feedback to improve the implementation of the school grant program before the next tranche in January 2010.
2.3. With respect to the above objectives, the specific objectives of the assignment are to collect and analyse information on the implementation of the school grant program, including (but not limited to):
At the school/ABE level:
§ Has appropriate school grant training been received at the school level in the use of the School Grant Guidelines?
§ Does each school/ABE Centre have a copy of the school grant guidelines?
§ Does each school/ABE Centre have a Bank account for school grants?
§ Have school grants been distributed? Has each school or
§ How much time was taken for the School Grants to be disbursed/received at each level: MOFED, BOFED, WOFED and the schools?
§ How often do officials from the WEO visit the school?
§ Is the school principal or ABE representative the focal person for receiving funds or is another person the designated focal person? Does this person keep records of funds received?
§ Does the school (or ABE Centre) have a school improvement plan? If so, when was it prepared? Does it estimate the resource requirement for the 2009/10 school year? If so, how much is the estimated funding requirement?
§ Towards which activities/items detailed in the School Improvement Plan have the school grants been allocated?
§ Have the school grants been utilised or allocated for activities/items not included in the School Improvement Plan? What types/categories of activities/items were they? How much did/do the plans indicate they would cost?
§ Were any of the funds not utilised? Do schools have additional funds from other sources? If so, how much is it? Are they combined with the school grant?
At regional/woreda levels:
§ Do the REB and Woreda Education Offices have a school grant coordinator?
§ Have the REB/Woreda school grant coordinators received appropriate training in the use of the school grant guidelines?
§ How often do the WEO officials visit schools/ABE Centres? What do school/ABE Centre visits involve?
§ Have the woreda officials met with community members on planning and managing finances?
§ Describe collaboration between the BOFED, the REB, the WOFED and WEO and identify if there are any coordination issues in the implementation of the school grant program among the respective levels.
§ Identification of bottlenecks, if necessary.
3. Main task and responsibilities
3.1. With respect to the above objectives, under the direction of the GEQIP Coordinator, a consultant firm, consisting of a lead consultant and six research assistants, will have the following main tasks and responsibilities.
The Lead Consultant, working closely with the MoE, will be responsible for:
§ Reviewing and familiarizing him/herself with the GEQIP SIP, including the school grant program.
§ Designing and preparing data collection instruments/surveys.
§ Discussing and agreeing with the School Grants Coordinator and other relevant MoE stakeholders the questionnaire for the survey of school grant utilization.
§ Preparing and delivering a half-day training session to the research assistants to standardise the team’s understanding of the survey instrument.
§ Coordinating a team of national research assistants in designing and carrying out an assessment of the school grant component implementation at the regional, woreda and school levels.
§ Preparing a report that summarises the main findings of the survey, provides a framework for tracking changes in school grant utilization over time, including an excel spreadsheet that contains all the key data from the survey work and provides recommendations for improving the flow of school grants to schools and ABE Centres and their impact.
§ Preparing an executive summary, summary report and a PowerPoint presentation for the ESDP III (GEQIP) Annual Review Mission in December 2009.
Research assistants will:
§ Familiarize him/herself with the GEQIP SIP programme and the School Grant Guidelines in order to understand the context of their task.
§ Participate in a half-day training session in order to standardise the team’s understanding of the survey instrument.
§ Assist in gathering and analysing the data.
4. Contribute to the preparation of a field report including excel spreadsheets.Recipient
4.1. The recipient of these consultancy services is the Ministry of Education, Government of Ethiopia.
5. Methodology
5.1. This consultancy will require the services of a team of seven nationals who can carry out survey and questionnaire work at the regional, woreda and school level. The team will work closely with the Ministry of Education to carry out the assignment.
5.2. The consultants will familiarize themselves with the GEQIP SIP programme, the School Grant Guidelines, and the Government’s Bluebook.
5.3. In order to commence the work, the consultants will discuss with the School Grants Sub-Process Owner and other relevant MoE stakeholders and agree on the questionnaire for the survey of school grant utilization.
5.4. All consultants will participate in a half-day training session to standardise their understanding of the survey instrument.
5.5. To gather data on which to base conclusions, the consultants will visit all regions over a period of two weeks, visiting at least four woredas (districts) in each region (two urban and two rural), and a sufficient number of schools and ABE Centres in each woreda.
5.6. Main findings and conclusions will be summarized and then shared with focal persons at the MoE and regional and woreda representatives and Development Partners. It may be possible to do this during the Annual Review Meeting (ARM). Data collection will combine a range of methods, both qualitative and quantitative, including surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, in-depth case studies, and documentary analysis. More specifically, the following methods should be considered for the rapid assessment:
§ Desk survey. This will include a review of project documentation and any regional documentation related to the implementation of the school grant.
§ A survey of around 300 schools (including ABE Centres) in rural and urban areas. The study will be take place in 9 regions and the
§ Key informant interviews. The consultants will meet with the principal/head teacher (or ABE facilitator) and the PTA chair (or ABE committee member) in each school in order to complete the questionnaire.
§ Focus groups among different stakeholders in the education sector. The groups will consist of 8-10 people, with focus group guides providing structure for the qualitative information to be gathered. Key stakeholders may include:
o Local school principals/head teachers and other staff who have received training
o ABE facilitators
o School Improvement Committee Members
o School community stakeholders, including but not limited to, teachers, students, parents, and other community representatives
o ABE committee members
o REB and BoFED regional officials
o Woreda officials and Woreda SIP/SG trainers
6. Reporting
6.1. The following are general requirements and should be considered the minimum deliverables of the assignment for the lead consultant, based on the inputs from other team members. All written materials and reports are to be delivered in English.
(a) Inception Report. Within the first week after the signing of the contract, the Consultant should present a work plan and time schedule for the duration of the assignment/contract, in consultation with the GEQIP Coordinator, the WB Task Team Leader and DFID Education Advisor. The report should consist of:
· Work plan for the assignment, including data collection instruments/surveys;
· Report on the major activities completed; and
· Any issues arising from the TOR or activities undertaken.
(b) Draft Report. This draft report is a comprehensive report, which will include a description of work done and the final draft paper.
(c) Final Report. This is the final report that will include the overall effort of the assignment, and all achievements, findings and recommendations. The report should provide: (a) a framework for tracking changes in school grant utilization over time, including an excel spreadsheet that contains all the key data from the survey work; and (ii) recommendations for improving the flow of school grants to schools and ABE Centres and their impact. The final report should be submitted within 30 days of completion of the assignment.
6.2. The Consultant will prepare a, executive summary, a summary report and a PowerPoint presentation for the ESDP III (GEQIP) Annual Review Mission in December 2009.
6.3. Timeframe
6.4. The consultancy should begin in the second week of October 2009.
6.5. The duration of the assignment is estimated for 6 weeks, including a week to review documents and prepare the questionnaires prior to beginning the field visits and five days to prepare the final report as outlined under Section 6 above.
6.6. First drafts of the outputs should be prepared and discussed at the end of the mission with focal persons at the MoE.
6.7. The MoE will ensure that the World Bank Task Team Leader receives final drafts within two weeks of the end of the mission.
7. CONSULTANT MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
7.1. Lead Consultant.
§ Advanced degree in Education, Educational Planning/Management, Education Monitoring and Evaluation, or other relevant field.
§ 6-8 years experience in Education Planning/Administration, preferably with broad international experience or exposure to different education systems.
§ Strong background in school improvement or education quality improvement.
§ Experience with the Ethiopian Education Sector and familiarity with the current GEQIP, and particularly SIP, will be a significant asset.
§ Fluent in English with excellent report writing skills in English.
§ Proven strong analytical skills through previous research experience.
7.2. Research Assistants (Team Members)
§ Advanced degree in educational measurement and evaluation, economics, sociology, business administration/accounting or related fields.
§ 6 years of experience in conducting and/or managing surveys and evaluations, data analysis and data management.
§ Good knowledge of Ethiopian Education Sector Development Programme, and experience of working in the Education sector in
§ Fluent in English and Amharic (and/or appropriate languages for assigned regions).
§ Excellent report writing skills.
§ Excellent analytical skills.
§ Detail-oriented with excellent organizational skills.
§ Ability to travel extensively within the country.
8. Submissions
Interested Bidders should submit their technical and financial proposal in a separate sealed envelope to the below address no later than 27th October 2009:-
UNDP
Procurement Specialist
RFP/034/2009
Fax: 251 11 5514599 / 5515147
Tele: +251 11 515177