National Consultancy for monitoring, evaluation and reporting of the Out-of-School Programme

Contract

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TERMS OF REFERENCE

Purpose of Activity/Assignment

Monitoring, evaluation and reporting of the Out-of-School Programme at national level and in target counties.

Background

The current school age population (3-17 years old) in Kenya is approximately 18.3 million according to the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census (KPHC). The school-age population grew by almost 13 percent between 2013 and 2018. This has an implication on the provision of education in the country. The net enrolment rate (NER) in primary increased from 88.2% in 2014 to 92.4% in 2018. The growth in enrolment may have been facilitated by expansion in capacity, with the numbers of primary schools growing from 31,333 in 2015 to 32,344 in 2020. The great success in terms of increasing access to education, reflects governments commitment to free primary and day secondary education as envisioned in the Big 4 Agenda. Despite the overall progress in access, there are still issues of inequity among marginalized groups. The 2019 KPHC estimated at more than 1 million the number of children age from 6 to 13 years old who have never been in school or have dropped out of school. This number represents 10 percent of 6-13-year olds and more boys (52 percent) than girls (48 percent) are out of school. 90 percent of the Out of School Children (OOSC) are in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) where crises and conflicts are recurrent. In addition, ASAL areas are the most deprived and poorest regions of the country. Two of the 23 ASAL counties also host over 400,000 refugees who have fled from conflict in neighbouring countries to Kenya for asylum mostly South Sudan and Somalia. In support of the Ministry of Education (MoE) effort to address the issue of OOSC , UNICEF and Education Above All/Educate A Child proposed the expansion of “Operation Come-to-School, Kenya” project that seeks to increase the number of children enrolled in the education system and enhance their retention across the sixteen counties where the number of OOSC is the highest (Baringo, Garissa, Isiolo, Kajiado, Kilifi, Kwale, Mandera, Marsabit, Narok, Samburu, Tanariver, Turkana, Wajir, West Pokot, Bungoma and urban informal settlements in Nairobi). UNICEF Kenya uses the dimensions of OOSC defined by Educate A Child (EAC) and also the Five Dimensions of Exclusion as defined in the Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children, an operational manual developed by UNICEF and UNESCO-UIS. Below are the categories of out of school children who will be targeted in the Operation Come to School: (i) Children who do not have access to a school. These children will never attend unless they gain access, and this might be due to lack of schools in the catchment areas; (ii) Children who have access to school but who are not enrolled. These children either never enter school or will enter school late because of poverty causing the inability to afford the school levies and the opportunity cost associated with school enrolment of the child, cultural norms that are associated with gender stereotypes that prefer girls to stay at home and do the house chores, stigmatization and discrimination of children with disabilities, and boys engaged in socio-economic activities. (iii) Children who have access and have enrolled in school but who do not attend. This situation may be caused by the guardians’ inability to afford the school levies, preference of other religious forms of education (e.g. the madrassa and duksi), lack of teachers and other learning resources in the schools causing parents not to send their children to schools; (iv) Children who have dropped out of the education system. There are quite a number of reasons for this group of OOSC including poverty leading to child labour and preference for employment over education by both parents and learners, early pregnancies, drugs and substance abuse, orphan hood and street life, and cultural practices like child marriages.

Justification The three-year out-of-school programme funded by Education Above All (EAA) Foundation through Educate A Child (EAC) Programme has a huge component of monitoring and evaluation with a number of indicators to be monitored regularly. The donor requirements for reporting both technical and financial are demanding. A total of seven semi-annual technical, financial and communication reports are to be provided during the implementation of the programme. The following documents will be used for the reports and require coherence between them: Technical report and guidelines, M&E online reporting tool and guidelines, Financial report template and guidelines, Communications guidelines, EAC key terms and definitions; and Operationalization of EAC definitions. The M&E consultant will play a key role in ensuring that the reports are written on time and in compliance with EAC requirements and guidelines. The consultant will work closely with the Education Specialist who coordinates the out-of-school programme, as well as with other Education colleagues in Nairobi office and the three zonal offices involved in the implementation of the programme. The consultant will also provide support to the National Council of Nomadic Education in Kenya (NACONEK) and the Ministry of Education (MoE) and will contribute to strengthening their capacity in the area of monitoring and evaluation. The consultant will finally work closely with the institutional contractors who will handle the digital attendance application. The consultant will collect data from various sources within UNICEF’s different programmes (WASH, Child Protection, Social Protection, Social and Behavioural Change and Communication), NACONEK, County Directorate of Education and NGO Implementing Partners.

Scope of Work Under the overall supervision by the Education Specialist (Access and Inclusion), the consultant will support the monitoring and implementation of the quality assurance activities that is aligned to the UNICEF HACT guidelines and the EAC monitoring plan that will ensure data collection, analysis, and preparation of the semi-annual report for the OOSC programme during the three years. The consultant will also build the capacity of the implementing partners (County Directorates of Education, Sub-County Directorates of Education and NGO Implementing Partners).

UNDAF output covered UNDAF: SRA Human Capital Development, Outcome 2: Improved Early Learning and Basic Education: By 2022, an increased proportion of children aged 0 to 18, especially girls from most disadvantaged counties, informal settlements and those affected by humanitarian crisis, access quality gender sensitive early child development and primary education services, with increased transition into secondary education. Output 2.1: By 2022, Parents, teachers, communities and other partners have increased capacity and accountability to increase the enrolment and retention of girls and boys in pre-primary and primary education, particularly in the ASALs and informal settlements.

Main Responsibilities and Specific Tasks The Consultant is expected to undertake the following tasks: a) Draft a work plan for the duration of the consultancy b) Analyze the findings of the baseline survey report and follow up the implementation of the recommendations c) Review the implementation plan, the Performance Monitoring Plan, the result framework, and the indicators and ensure alignment of the implementation d) Review the programme targets and track progress on implementation e) Draft the technical semi-annual reports every six months f) Complete the EAC M&E online reporting tool every six months g) Provide inputs to EAC feedback on the semi-annual reports (technical and M&E online tools) h) Build the capacity of the County Directorate of Education (CDEs) officials, the Sub-County Directorate of Education (SCDE) officials, NACONEK staffs, NGO Implementing partner namely, Save the Children, Finn Church Aid, Special Olympics Kenya, Life Skills Promoters, Women Education Research of Kenya and Qatar Charity on data collection using the available tools (enrolment drives committees tools, school level enrolment tool, Sub-County Directorate of Education tools, CDEs tool, NGOs tool, Digital Attendance Application) i) Ensure regular clean-up of the enrolment and retention data j) Monthly data collection of the achievement with the implementing partners (CDE and the NGOs) k) Follow up the regular update of the online dashboard, the Digital Attendance Application (DAA), the offline tools for registration of enrolment and retention of OOSC and the achievement against the indicators l) Monitor the adherence of the implementing partners on the tools and the definition, counting and tracking of OOSC m) Work closely with the institutional contractor in charge of the Digital Attendance Application to ensure availability of data on enrolment and attendance of out of school children n) Support organization of the quarterly and bi-annual coordination meeting with implementing partners o) Support the coordination of the national bi-annual joint monitoring visits p) Prepare monthly progress reports on the key deliverables as per specific tasks mentioned above q) Drat the end-line evaluation ToR. r) Share the final report of the consultancy with key recommendations

Work relationships This consultancy is a full-time commitment. The consultant is expected to be available during the entire duration of the assignment. He/she will work under the leadership of the Education Specialist who oversees the coordination of the OOSC programme. Since the tasks of the consultant is to lead the implementation of the comprehensive M&E plan for the out-of-school program which is a multi-sectoral approach, he/she will be expected to have a working arrangements with different sections (Education, WASH, Child Protection, Social Protection, Social and Behavioral Change and Communication ) within UNICEF as well as NACONEK, CDEs and Save the Children, Finn Church Aid, Special Olympics Kenya, Life Skills Promoters, Women Education Research of Kenya and Qatar Charity to collect data and information useful for the M&E plan. The consultant will have access to the required documents to complete the assignment. The consultant should develop tools for training and data collection. The consultant will have the opportunity to conduct field visits jointly with field colleagues at County and Sub county levels, where the out-of-school programme is implemented. The plan for these travel arrangements will be incorporated in the work plan and the travel costs will be reimbursed by UNICEF during the implementation phase.

Minimum Qualifications and Competencies

A minimum of master’s degree in social science preferably in Education, development planning, economics, or related areas

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

Core Competencies:

• Good knowledge in education development planning process and development plans. • Excellent Knowledge and experience in designing M&E systems and conducting evaluations. • Drive for results

Technical Competencies:

• Excellent writing and analytical skill in drafting concept notes and reports. • Understanding and knowledge of basic computer applications such as MS Words, Excel and data base management; and Social sector statistical packages such as SPSS. • Proven skills in database development, data analysis, data cleaning and production of high-quality monitoring reports. • Data visualization skills an added advantage

Experience:

• At least five (5) years’ experience in research management; and data analysis in social sciences • Experience working within Development agencies preferably in government systems • Experience working within Education sector and Ministries of Education specifically on issues related to access to Education barriers

• A working experience in Education Management Information Systems is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

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How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply online using the button below. As part of their application, candidates should provide: 1. A cover letter that specifies how you meet the desired competencies, technical background and experience (no more than 2 pages) 2. A short CV (no more than 4 pages) 3. Interested candidates to indicate availability and monthly rate expressed in KSH to undertake the terms of reference. Applications submitted without a fee/ rate will not be considered. 4. Three (3) Referees.