Consultant for Baseline Study (Re-announcement)

: Save the Children

: Nonprofits / องค์กรไม่แสวงหาผลกำไร

: 811

: 15 January 2024

21 January 2024

Type of evaluation:      Baseline study

Name of the project:    Basic Education Support Toward Transition (BEST) Phase VI and  Rakhine and Thai-Myanmar Multiyear Education in Emergencies Programme (2023-2025)

Project Start and End dates:  

BEST VI           1 March 2023 – 28 February 2026

EiE                   31 January 2023- 31 December 2025

Project duration:         36 months

Project locations:        9 existing refugee camps along Thai-Myanmar border

Thematic areas:           Education

Sub themes:                Basic Education

Donor:                         European Union (EC DEVCO) and  DFAT - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Australia

Estimated beneficiaries:         

19,216 (age 6-17 years) children (10,091 girls, 9, 125 boys, including 180 girls with disabilities and 177 boys with disabilities) enrolled in mainstream and special education in 58 basic education schools or 11 special education schools in the nine camps. 1,044 teachers: 979 mainstream teachers (689f, 281 m) and 65 inclusive or special education teachers (60f, 5m). 49 head teachers, 56 Resident Teacher Trainers (RTTs) and 7 local trainers (KRC camps), 19 camp local trainers (KnRC camps), 10 teachers receiving mainstream leave cover. 11 KRCEE members (4f, 7m), 49 OCEE members (30f, 19m), and 35 KnED members (11 f, 24m) will be supported with stipends, coaching and training. Support, and coaching for 961 (731 f, 230m) Parent Teacher Association (PTA) members. At least 25 individuals will join the Karen and Kareni Education Stakeholder Teams meetings

Overall objective of the project:         

BEST VI:

Overall objective: To improve the fulfilment of education rights of boys and girls refugees from Myanmar in nine camps in Thailand.

Specific objective: Increased access to inclusive, gender responsive, self-reliant basic education for child refugees in nine camps in Thailand

EiE:

Overall objective: Girls and boys, with and without disabilities, affected by conflict in Central Rakhine State and in refugee camps in Thailand learn from quality, meaningful inclusive and gender responsive learning in safe, protective education that is supported by communities and local organisations.

Introduction:

The Basic Education Support towards Transition (BEST) Phase VI is funded by the European Union to implement from 1st March 2023 to 28th February 2026. The project is being implemented in nine Refugee Camps in Mae Hong Son, Tak, Ratchaburi, and Kanchanaburi Provinces along the Thailand-Myanmar border with an overall objective to improve the fulfilment of education rights of boys and girls refugees from Myanmar in nine camps in Thailand and specific objective is to increased access to inclusive, gender responsive, self-reliant basic education for child refugees in nine camps in Thailand. The target group of BEST VI includes more than 36,344 children age 0 to 17 are living in the nine refugee camps located in Tak, Mae Hong Son, Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi Provinces of Thailand. 91,777 (46,347f, 45,430m) verified Myanmar refugees residing in the nine camps.

Rakhine and Thai-Myanmar Multiyear Education in Emergencies Programme (2023-2025 is being implemented in the same geographical area as BEST project, in seven refugee camps administered by KRCEE. PREPS 2020-2022, is funded by Australian Aid from 31 January 2023 to  31 December 2025.  Education in Emergencies Programm has designed to ensure access to education for children affected by conflicts 7 refugee camps in Thailand along the Thai-Myanmar cross border (Tak, Kanchanaburi, and Ratchaburi provinces in Thailand). The project aims to deliver access to inclusive and quality education, quality of teaching and learning, and community system strengthening.

Background:

Since 2013, Save the Children is the lead of the EU consortium ensuring access to basic education services to school-age children residing in the 9 temporary shelters located in Mae Hong Son, Tak, Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi Provinces. SC is also the co-lead – alongside the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) – of the Committee for Coordination of Services to Displaced Persons in Thailand (CCSDPT)’ education sub-committee. SC’s efforts align with its’ 2022-2024 CSP goal ‘The most deprived children receive a high quality multi-dimensional education from infancy to adulthood’.

Objectives/ Purpose and Key Research Questions:

The study will help Save the Children and partners to identify baseline value for Basic Education Programme following logframe indicator and generate evidence, knowledge and information needed for program planning and implementation. It is intended that the baseline study will provide base line data for BEST VI and EiE following indicators:

BEST VI

1. 1       # of refugees protected or assisted (students and teachers in education in camp schools) with EU support *GERF 2.20                       

1.2       % of boys and girls satisfied or very satisfied as per responses to Report on school quality against Safe the Children’s Quality Learning Framework (physical and emotional safety, quality of teaching, inclusion and gender equality, school management)

1.3       # of migration management or forced displacement strategies or policies (policies or guidelines that support integration and convergence on flexible movement and mobility of refugee teachers developed/revised under implementation with EU support (GERF 2.21)   

1.4       # of women in management or leadership positions in the camp’s school committees (GAP III)

Output1.2 Increased availability of learning materials for students in basic education schools in camps

1.2.3     % of beneficiaries who are satisfied and very satisfied with the quality of teaching and learning materials

Output 1.3 Improved basic physical infrastructures of schools in nine camps

1.3.1     % of camp schools repaired meeting minimum local safe school standards

1.3.2     % of Head Teachers showing satisfaction with the quality of the improved school infrastructure.

Output 1.4 Strengthened educational and teaching capacities of teachers in the camp's schools

1.4.1     % of teachers who passed the in-service teacher training and who pass the trainings course

1.4.2     % of new teachers who passed the pre-service teacher training and show increased levels of capacities

1.4.3    % of observed teachers in targeted schools demonstrating increased basic proficiency levels in core    competencies. (SDG 4.c.1)

Output 1.5 Strengthened capacities of school committees (children, parents, and community members) to ensure safety in camp schools.

1.5.1     # of schools involved in the development or review of school's code of conducts

1.5.2     % of schools equipped with board of trustees and/or board of management (school committee) to promote improved transparency, accountability and targeting of parental contributions

1.5.3     % of KRCEE/OCEE and KnED members whose competency is increased in selected organisational capacity development (OCD) domains (measured against SC's essential standards)

Output 1.6 Strengthened capacities of head teachers to monitor quality (safe, gender, socially inclusive and protective) learning environments.

1.6.1     % of Head Teachers trained showing increased knowledge on quality learning environment school management

1.6.2     # of quality measures (safe school assessment and action plan addressing safety, gender- social inclusive and protective) drafted following training by Head Teachers with the support of the intervention to improve learning environments in the schools                  

Output 1.7 Increased awareness and opportunities for teachers and students to transition to education systems outside of the nine camps.

1.7.2     % of students who receive support from the intervention in the form of transcripts and certification

EiE 

Outcome 2: Improved quality education through continuous teacher professional development and quality learning materials

% of learners with improved social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies

Outcome 3: Improved conflict-sensitivity and sustainability of community systems and organizations to provide safe, inclusive, quality education in emergencies       

# and type of Local partners having improved abilities implementing education in EiE contexts.                    

Output 3.3: Improved Cluster Coordination and Evidence Generation for EiE

# of coordination meeting and reports/evidence available (Target: 36; Means of Verification: Meeting Records and analysis report) 

Scope

The consultant is expected to collect data in 4 selected refugee camps namely: Mae La, Nupo, Mae La Oo and Don Yang.  The sample size should represent the portions of the populations below,

• Total students are 21,229 (male 9,781, female 11,446)
• Total teachers are 880 (male 292 and female 588)
• Total is 46 schools

Key tasks

The overall study is comprised of the following tasks:

The study deliverables and tentative timeline are outlined below. The study team lead, and SC study Project Manager will agree on final milestones and deadlines at the inception phase.

Deliverable / Milestones and Timeline

2^nd week of December 2023:

The study Team is contracted and commences work      

3^rd week of December 2023:

Documentation review, desk research

4^th December 2023:                 

The study Team will submit an inception report* in line with the provided template, including:

• Study objectives, scope and key study questions
• description of the methodology, including design, data collection methods, sampling strategy, data sources, and study matrix against the key study questions
• data analysis and reporting plan
• caveats and limitations of study
• risks and mitigation plan
• ethical considerations including details on consent
• stakeholder and children communication and engagement plan
• key deliverables, responsibilities, and timelines
• resource requirements
• data collection tools (in line with the study matrix)
• Once the report is finalised and accepted, the evaluator/researcher study team must submit a request for any change in strategy or approach to the study manager or the steering commit

2^nd - 4^th week January 2024:

Final data collection tools (in the report language):

• Survey instrument
• Data collection mechanism       

1^st week February 2024

A Power Point Presentation including a summary of formative findings from the study. The focus will be on:

• Summary of interim findings
• Any emerging program issues or risks (if applicable)
• Any changes that have had to be made to the study design (if applicable)
• Key tasks for the next stage of the study and any proposed refinements or changes to methodology (if applicable)

1-3^rd week February 2024

A Study Report* (Draft Version – template available if useful though external actors may want to use theirs) including the following elements:

• Executive summary
• Background description of the Program and context relevant to the Study
• Scope and focus of the study
• Overview of the study methodology and data collection methods, including a Study matrix
• Findings aligned to each of the key Study questions
• Specific caveats or methodological limitations of the evaluation
• Conclusions outlining implications of the findings or learnings
• Recommendations
• Annexes (Project logframe, study ToR, Inception Report, Study schedule, List of people involved)

A consolidated set of feedback from key stakeholders will be provided by Save The Children within [X] weeks of the submission of the draft report.

1-3^rd week February 2024:

Data and analyses including all encrypted raw data, databases and analysis outputs

4^th week February 2024:

Final Study Report* incorporating feedback from consultation on the Draft Study Report       

1^st week March 2024:

Knowledge translation materials:

• PowerPoint presentation of Study findings
• Evidence to Action Brief**         

Qualification and expertise:

To be considered, the study team members together must have demonstrated skills, expertise and experience in:

• Designing and conducting high quality project evaluations based on OEDC-DAC evaluation criteria
• Proven ability and track record conducting ethical and inclusive research with vulnerable populations while ensuring rigorous ethics, integrity, and safeguarding especially in refugee setting;
• Thai or international consultant who has experience to work in Thailand
• Ability to work independently and meet tight deadlines
• Language proficiencies required include: English, Sgaw Karen, Karenni, and Burmese; kindly include a clear plan for language proficiencies in the team and/or translators included in the team
• Flexibility to travel to remote areas

How to apply:
We invite interested candidates to submit an application for the consultancy should include:

• Expression of interest: stating candidate skill and experience suitable for the consultancy (max 2 page)
• Technical and financial proposal: Outline of research framework and methods, proposed timeframe, work plan and budget (max 4 pages; applications over limit will be automatically excluded).
• CV of proposed individual/s
• Provide at least 2 research samples in Thai or English led by the leading consultant on the assignment

Applications should be sent by email to the following email address: Request full TOR or more information at kwang.tangmanakit@savethechildren.org, nutcharin.panket@savethechildren.org and Submission through admin.thailand@savethechildren.org
Deadline:
The deadline for submission is 21 January 2024

Contact : Kwang.tangmanakit@savethechildren.org; nutcharin.panket@savethechildren.org; admin.thailand@savethechildren.org

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ที่ปรึกษา / Consultant