National Consultant -- Gender and Inclusive Education Action Plan (10 months)

Contract

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Background

Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in primary education during the last two decades in attaining gender parity regarding enrolment, cycle completion and reducing dropout rate. The interventions related to Inclusive Education (IE) of PEDP2 and PEDP3 made significant contributions towards these achievements, yet, the concept of Inclusive Education (IE) was not consistently interpreted and implemented. As a result, whatever upstream work have been done have not successfully translated into accessible services and full participation of children with disabilities, ethnic minority children and children from poor marginalized communities in education and learning remains limited and restrictive to date.

With this backdrop, PEDP4 put highest emphasis to embedding the inclusiveness concept into the whole spectrum of primary education system, PEDP4 adopted a comprehensive framework, the Gender and Inclusive Education Action Plan (GIEAP). The PEDP4 Program Document clearly mentioned that all children at risk or with special needs should receive primary education at mainstreamed primary schools. Â Thus, it is intended to address the needs of children from ethnic minorities, children with disabilities, children excluded on the basis of language, geographic location, religion, and also promotes gender sensitivity. Inclusive Education is an approach to education which ensure all children are served effectively regardless of social and other barriers which could limit their learning achievement.

Purpose of Assignment

The overall objective of this consultancy is to support the PEDP4 implementing agencies, primarily DPE, NCTB and NAPE, in revising and operationalizing the GIEAP including contributing to the Multilingual Education (MLE) and Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) plans. This should result in a clear implementation pathway, strategies and milestones that will contribute to making the primary education system inclusive. In order to do so, the consultant will support the operationalization of the major activities agreed in the operational plan with the DPE, NCTB, and NAPE, using a developmental approach.

The consultant will provide technical guidance to IE Cell of DPE, NCTB, NAPE and other critical government agency supporting implementation of PEDP4 in incorporating GIEAP issues into the relevant components of PEDP4 which they support. The consultant will bring latest evidence and best practices of Gender and Inclusive Education (IE) issues to guide implementation and capacity development. The approach should ensure sustainability.

Tasks of the Consultancy:

Review the PEDP4 documentation, existing GIEAP planning documents and the results framework with a view to answering the following guiding questions:

What is the status of gender and inclusion in each component (quality, access and participation and management, governance and financing) of PEDP4?

What are the major challenges/issues/barriers to be addressed under each of the components?

What set of strategies and activities can be implemented to strengthen inclusion across the PEDP4 and its implementing agencies?

Develop an operational framework and implementation plan for Gender and Inclusive Education Action Plan (GIEAP), with strong emphasis on SEND, containing specific interventions, targets, cost, timeframe and provide implementation support for the plan focusing on the following critical areas.

Developing strategy for improving inclusion in the education system through an integrated approach that includes strengthen aspects of inclusion in the ongoing revision of national curriculum, DPE Curriculum and materials, teaching and learning materials, assessment system, and other aspects of the PEDP4 interventions.

Capacity development plan for targeted stakeholders including DPE, NAPE, and NCTB staff.

Integration of gender and inclusive education strategies into the continuous professional development (CPD) framework and plans and support their operationalization in manuals, materials, and training facilitation regarding IE and SEND.

Define clear strategies to ensure equitable access for all children including girls and children with special needs and disability (SEND) to school facilities such classrooms, sports and WASH facilities and other resources.

Facilitate intervention to support strengthening of the IE cell of DPE and establishing focused structures at NAPE and NCTB (IE resource center or cell and/or focal person or team) with long term institutional capacity building measures to produce IE related training manuals and multi-sensory (print, braille, audio-visual) textbook and supplementary teaching learning materials and ensuring their effective use at classroom level with reporting functions for organizational accountability. Formulate indicators for tracking progress on overall system inclusiveness and ensure the inclusion of these indicators in periodic/regular monitoring tools and EMIS, ASPR and APSC.

Review the existing C4D strategic plan and develop C4D interventions for communicating the concepts and sensitize stakeholders for social and behavior changes. This may be done separately or as part of the operational plan.

Review and revise existing materials [Gender Tool Kit, and IE Training Packages] to understand effectiveness of use and revise to make compatible with global practices and GIEAP framework.

Provide support to develop the implementation framework on MLE

Contribute to consultations and stocktaking processes which have relevance to improving Gender and IE issues in the PEDP4 implementation and review processes.

Work Assignment Overview:

Tasks/MilestonesDeliverables/OutputTimeframeEstimated Budget1. Inception report inclusive of the following: 1. Proposed approach to the consultancy including methods and detailed work plan 2. Review of literature and brief situational analysis of Gender and IE including SEND in Bangladesh education system

Inception report including brief Situational Analysis report

Due within three weeks of contract signing

10 percent2. Develop Operational plan for the GIEAP including operational plan for SEND:Â Produce a comprehensive operational plan of GIEAP including situation analysis and status of IE in primary education with clear actions and activities required by each Division, Agency, Department or Ministry in order to strengthen inclusion in PEDP4. Timeframe and resources should also be estimated.

Final Operational Plan for GIEAP

Due within 8 weeks of contract signing

15 percent3. Develop social and behavior change communication plan for interventions to sensitize stakeholders towards social and behavior changes relevant to inclusion.

SBCC inclusion plan

Due within 12 weeks of contract signing

15 percent4. Produce implementation plans for strengthening DPE IE cell and establishing IE resource center at NAPE.

Plans for DPE and NAPE IE Cell

Due within 16 weeks of contract signing

10 percent5. Support strengthening of IE information in data and reporting systems: Report on and support implementation of changes to data systems and reports as well as systems for tracking progress on GIEAP and SEND through EMIS, ASPR and APSC.

Report on strengthening inclusion in data system with evidence of changes made

Due within 20 weeks of contract signing

10 percent6. Support to develop the implementation plan regarding Multilingual Education (MLE)

Implementation Plan on MLE

Due within 28 weeks of contract signing

10 percent1. Support the implementation of the operational plan in each Division, Agency, Department or Ministry, including capacity (personnel and institutional) development plan to sustain inclusive approach including CPD, revision of National and DPE Curriculum, Textbook and Assessment system in gender and SEND aspects. At least two-thirds of the agreed actions for each should be fully implemented. This is also the final report for the consultancy and should include lessons learn and recommendations for the way forward.

Report on status of implementation and agreed activities completed

Due within 30 weeks of contract signing

30 percent

Minimum Qualifications/Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

A masters degree in Education, sociology, or any other social science discipline relevant to the assignment, from a recognized university.

1. Proven professional expertise on inclusion in education including gender.
2. At least 10 years of relevant work experience in supporting implementation of IE plans and development of content, materials and manuals;
3. Strong background in analysis of systems for inclusivity;
4. Proven expertise in analysis of training materials, curriculum, textbooks, and strategic education documentation to improve inclusion;
5. Expertise on disability including knowledge of screening and referral systems;
6. Expertise in multi-lingual education is required;
7. Proven expertise in developing inclusivity plans and strategies;
8. Capacity to facilitate consultation and capacity building at national level; and
9. Strong spoken and written language skills, including in English, is required.

Remarks:

Workplace of Consultant: Home and Office base (based at DPE) as per requirement

Terms of Payment: Upon successful completion of each deliverables accordingly to schedule