Consultant Terms of Reference: Programme Evaluation for 2014 to 2017 Life Skills Development Programme

Right To Play Thailand Foundation

BACKGROUND:

Right To Play International

Right To Play is a global organization committed to improving the lives of children and youth affected by conflict, disease and poverty. Established in 2000, Right To Play has pioneered a unique play-based approach to learning and development which focuses on quality education, life skills, health, gender equality, child protection and building peaceful communities. With programming in over 20 countries, Right To Play transforms the lives of more than one million children each week using play and sports, both inside and outside of the classroom. In addition to our work with children, Right To Play advocates with parents, local communities, and governments to advance the fundamental rights of all children.

Right To Play is headquartered in Toronto, Canada and has been operational in Thailand since 2002.

To learn more, visit us at: http://righttoplay.or.th/en/

Life Skills Development Programme

Background

From 2006 until 2008, Right To Play Thailand Foundation had ‘A Response to Tsunami Affected Communities in Thailand’ program, providing access to regular play and sport activities and improving the quality of education for 11,000 students in 200 schools. Following that, Right To Play’s work expanded to the ‘Sport and Play Based Life Skills Development Program’ from 2009 to 2014. During that period, Right To Play supported the Office of Basic Education Commission (OBEC) in putting into practice Life Skills education in 41 pilot schools. Right To Play focused its support on four key aspects: (i)Training and capacity building for teachers; (ii) On-going coaching and support to trained teachers; (iii) Development of Centres of Excellence as model schools; (iv) Consistent technical support to various stakeholders, such as school directors, Education Service Area Offices, and the OBEC. During the same period, Right To Play started to implement the program in four Juvenile Detention Centres, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and through the Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection (DJOP).  

The program continued to expand and evolve and from 2014 – 2017 the ‘Life Skills Development program’ continued to build on its work with both the Ministry of Education through OBEC and with the Ministry of Justice through the DJOP during the years 2014 to 2017. The program was completed at the end of December 2017.

Program Summary:

PURPOSE OF CONSULTANCY:

The objective of this consultancy is to conduct a programme evaluation for 2014 to 2017 period, which aligns the expected outcomes and indicators of the project as well as following the project monitoring and evaluation framework. The results of this evaluation will provide a critical learning for RTP internally in relation to strategy and future project expansion and/or how a new similar project might be implement in other contexts including lessons learnt, best practices and project development.

For this purpose, the project is currently seeking a consultant to design and implement the programme evaluation of the “Working together for Life Skills Education in Thailand” Project. Specifically, the consultant will:

• Design and plan a programme evaluation in collaboration with the Right To Play staff and implementing partners of the “Working together for Life Skills Education in Thailand” Project.
• Develop the overall approach and methodology for the evaluation.
• Design and prepare the data collection methodology and tools to be used during evaluation (including translation/localization work when needed).
• Provide recommendations and plans for gathering, integrating, and consolidating of data through data collection tools and/or other required data sets necessary for completing comprehensive analysis of project outputs and outcomes as well as impact of the project (if exist and measurable).
• Produce a comprehensive report based on the findings and evaluation results in line with the project goal and outcome indicators.

SCOPE OF WORK:

1. Preparing an evaluation plan outlining the approach/methodology to be employed in executing the assignment and a detailed plan for the whole processes of evaluation:
• Timeline/schedule of activities.
• Sampling requirements / framework (determine sample size for intervention and comparison areas)
• Detailed methodology of how to collect, triangulate and summarize the primary and secondary data of both quantitative and qualitative (if needed, develop data quality protocols to guide data collection/entry for Right To Play staff, including spot checking protocols).
2. Actively participate in regular meetings with Right To Play staff, consulting on research plan/methodology/timeframe, discussing results and findings and agreed recommended follow-up actions.
3. Depending on the consultant’s evaluation plan, collaborate and coordinate with RTP staff and travel to selected evaluation locations to manage data collection process and monitoring of data collection and storage. This includes assuring the credibility of field data collected by interviewers.
4. Compile a comprehensive first draft evaluation report based on the findings according to the format agreed with Right To Play staff.
5. Prepare and submit final evaluation report to Right To Play staff, including:
• Conduct de-briefing meeting with Right To Play staff at the Right To Play office;
• Copies of cleaned original data sets including any field notes, as well as annexes of processed results tables (with all levels of disaggregation, including geographical areas breakdown) are to be submitted to Right To Play Thailand Country Office with the draft report

6. Prepare a final slide deck of the summary of the report findings for sharing internally and with relevant stakeholders.

METHODOLOGY

The baseline survey will utilize both qualitative and quantitative methods to collect data ensuring in-depth analysis of output and outcome results according to the set indicators. Data collection methods will include guideline, some important background review of project and necessary data set considered relevant and important.

The interview or any other approaches to be used as part of the evaluation will be conducted in the sampling location e.g. schools, Education Service Area Offices (ESAOs), and surrounding communities where the project were implemented. The consultant will be supported by the Right To Play staff in arranging logistics for meetings with key stakeholders; the Country Director (CD), MEL Officers (MEL), Program Manager (PM) and Project Officers (PO) will guide review of the consultant inception write up and draft of evaluation draft report.

The consultant will be expected to travel to the project locations that are chosen based on sampling methodology and samples sizes.

DURATION OF THE ROLE

The programme evaluation will be conducted between February 20, 2018 to April 12, 2018. Specific level of effort for the consultant will be based on the agreed work plan that will be finalized with the contract.

KEY DELIVERABLES

LINES OF COMMUNICATION

The consultant will report to CD, PM, and MEL.

QUALIFICATIONS OF CONSULTANT

• Demonstrated experience in programme evaluation design, including selecting methodology appropriate for the project’s-specific factors, sampling, applying a mixed methods approach, developing tools, developing data quality protocols and data interpretation and analysis;
• Demonstrated 5 years’ experience in quantitative and qualitative data analysis;
• Knowledge and experience with child and youth development and/or life-skill development programs;
• Knowledge and experience working under context appropriateness with Ministry of Education (MoE) and Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC) is highly preferred;
• Knowledge and experience working under context appropriateness with Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection (DJOP) is highly preferred;
• Knowledge and experience working with schools and detention centers in Thailand (context appropriateness) is highly preferred;
• Research experience working with children and youth from vulnerable communities will be a strong advantage;
• Fluency in English and Thai;
• Ability to produce high quality work under tight timeframes.

 APPLICATION PROCESS

Consultants/Firms that meet the requirements should submit expression of interest, which should include the following:

• Cover letter including the consultant’s/firm’s suitability for the assignment and current contact information;
• CV including contact details of 2 referees. If the lead consultant is planning to recruit sub-contractors for conducting this assignment in Thailand to support the data collection from various sites, data entry and dataset development, please state this in your application and provide details (cost, expertise, expected role of each consultant, etc.);
• Detailed response to TOR, with specific focus addressing the purpose and objectives of the assignment, methodology to be used and key selection criteria (max. 2 pages);
• Detailed budget breakdown based on expected daily rates and initial work plan;
• Initial draft of the proposed work plan in Gantt chart style.

Deadline to submit the expression of interest is 12:00 Noon (GMT+7) 2 February 2018.

Applications will be sent to JSchipper@righttoplay.com, ARujiranupong@righttoplay.com, and TSinsomboonthong@righttoplay.com titled “Life Skills Development Program Evaluation – Consultant/Firm Name”.