TENDER NO. ZOCS/PSU/SSRI/01/2024

Scaled School Readiness (SSRI) course content enhance the skills and competence of volunteer teachers beyond the current School Readiness Initiative (SRI)

1.0 Background

Zambia Open Community Schools (ZOCS) is a vibrant and a flagship Organizations for Community Schools since 1992 in Zambia that empowers communities to provide quality basic education to OVC especially girls and Children with disabilities. Premised on the principle that every child has a “right to education”, ZOCS through its three-pillar approach of Advocacy, Service Delivery and Capacity Building, has accomplished much for the children and people of Zambia reaching out to 224,847 learners (112,433 Boys; 112,414 Girls) in 1,285 Demonstration Open Community Schools across 97 selected districts in all the 10 provinces of Zambia since its inception. ZOCS is unwavering in keeping these three aspects to the fore resulting in more and better open, accessible schools for the disadvantaged children and communities.

ZOCS delivers its programme through the three strategic pillars to ensure that children in underserved communities have access to quality, equitable and inclusive education thereby enabling them to progress and complete mandatory schooling in order to brighten their prospects of reaching their fullest potential and significantly contribute to national development.

The three strategic Pillars are;

• Advocay aimed at influencing education policies to levalege resources for increased support to OVC education through Community Schools Countrywide.
• Capacity building through training of Volunteer teachers in various skills (including pedagogical skills), inclusive education for learners with Special Education Needs (SEN), psychosocial counselling skills  and professional teacher training at Primary Diploma level); training of Parent Community School Committee (PCSC) members in School governance, resource mobilization and advocacy skills
• Service Provision aimed at direct support to the learners through upgrading of Community School’s infrastructure; procurement and supply of appropriate teaching and learning materials to community schools; provision of School bursaries to vulnerable OVC who qualify to Secondary School; procurement and supply of assistive devices for learners with disabilities; providing Community Schools, volunteer teachers and OVC households with economic strengthening support; providing water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities and school feeding in Community Schools.

2.0 Project Background and Context

Action on Early Childhood Development and Education in Eastern and Southern Africa has been driven by civil society and governments based on international treaties and declarations on Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) (UNESCO, 2007). The more recent Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target 4.2, underlines the need for “all boys and girls to have access to early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.” Generally, programmes on school readiness and transition (SRT) are seldom based on sound developmental principles or practices (Ladd, 2009). Studies addressing the topic of integrating developmental and academic perspectives together do not also focus on how play-based learning (PBL) can facilitate SRT (Baker, 2014).

Both Zambia and Uganda seem to have made significant gains in developing policies for the provision of ECDE. However, the following are identified as key challenges and educational priority areas in pre-primary and primary schooling (UBPS 2018, UNICEF, 2019, NPA, 2020, Steel, 2017-2021, Curriculum framework, 2013). This intervention sought to address the identified challenges in line with during the duration of implementation, namely:

Lack of stakeholder coordination: The roles that parents, teachers, school administrations and the community should play in ensuring school Readiness and transition from pre- primary to primary school are not coordinated. In Zambia the transition management implementation guidelines (2021), have been developed but not implemented yet. Uganda has not yet developed any guidelines in this regard.

Inadequate school readiness and transition due to limited access to ECDE: It is estimated that only 6% of Zambian children between the ages of three and six attend pre-schools and that 76% of children starting primary school have no ECDE experience (Educational Statistical Bulletin of 2016). In Uganda, in 2016, only 563,913 learners accessed pre-primary education in the registered 6,798 pre-primary schools of which 284,824 (50.5%) were girls (NPA, 2020). Limited access to ECDE has implications on equity and inclusion especially among the marginalized and rural communities.

Inadequate PBL pedagogical practices among teachers and inappropriate learning environments: Teaching through play is favoured for pre-primary and early grades in primary schools. However, teachers have inadequate skills, knowledge and attitudes to implement play approaches (Early learning development standards for Zambia, 2016). The school environments including physical conditions and facilities are usually not age-appropriate (Early learning development standards for Zambia, 2016).

Lack of trained and certified teachers in ECED: In both Uganda and Zambia, the governments have only recently been involved in the training of ECED teachers. As a result, volunteers without knowledge and skills assume the responsibility of teaching ECDE children.

3.0 Specific project objectives

3.1   Geerate knowledge and evidence to strengthen the ECDE curriculum frameworks of Uganda and Zambia with a focus on play-based learning and the development of play-based learning materials;

3.2   Strengthen the capacity of teacher educators, teachers, parents, education leaders, and community members to support play-based learning for effective school readiness and transition from pre-school to primary school;

3.3   Strengthen support and coordination structures for ECDE at national, provincial, district, and zonal levels for effective support to play-based learning in Uganda and Zambia.

4.0 Project design

Currently the SRI model is being implemented by ZOCS in the Central and Southern Provinces of Zambia. The goal of scaling up the project is to strengthen the capacities of schools and communities for the adoption of the PBL and curricula to significantly contribute to enhanced school readiness and transition in ECD and early grades of primary education in Zambia and Uganda. This will be achieved by enhancing the SRI course content through evidence-based PBL frameworks and deepened scope from research to be conducted in the two countries. Additionally, the lessons learned from the current SRI model will be used to strengthen the SRI through a wider stakeholder involvement including strengthening the capacities of the untrained volunteer teachers, teacher educators, and in-service teacher trainees by acquiring and upgrading their qualifications.  Support to school leaders, parents and caregivers will involve training in the production and use of locally and contextually produced PBL materials. To what extent does the

5.0 Purpose and Objectives of the Evaluation

Generate knowledge and evidence to strengthen the ECDE curriculum frameworks of Uganda and Zambia with a focus on play-based learning and the development of play-based learning materials

6.0 Evaluation Objectives

6.1   Review performance of the project with emphasis on the outcomes and impact of implemented interventions from 2021to 2022 and 2022 to 2023;

6.2   Assess the effectiveness of the advocacy, capacity building, and service delivery interventions such as community sensitizations, lobbying and policy influencing and training for volunteer teachers.

6.3   Provide key lessons learnt, best practices and recommendations for incorporation into the ZOCS Strategic Plan mid-term review: advocacy, capacity building and service delivery strategies.

7.0 Scope of the Evaluation

The Evaluation will cover all project activities for the period 2021 – 2023. The analysis will focus on the following expected results:

7.1  Increased access to quality education for ECE in the two (2) provinces of Zambia

7.2  Government acknowledgement of the knowledge from the school readiness initiative and its application.

7.3  Increased numbers of trained ECE teachers

7.4  Level of appreciation of the knowledge generated and by the Relevant stake holders

7.5  Level of the Ministry’s adoption of the SRI project.

7.6  Development of an online Virtual Learning Environment

8.0  Evaluation Target Groups:

8.1   School Administration (Teacher in charge)

8.2   Volunteers’ teachers

8.3   Parents Community School Committees (PCSCs)

8.4   District Education Board Secretaries (DEBS)

8.5   MoE HQ staff

8.6   ZOCS Head of Programme

8.7   ZOCS Projects Manager

8.8   ZOCS Executive Director

9.0 Methodology

It is expected that the Consultant shall design a detailed methodology suiting the nature of the study. The evaluation process should be collaborative and participatory to utilize existing and new data and information that will respond to the aims and objectives of the evaluation. The Consultant shall be expected to employ quantitative and qualitative methods with a well-structured sampling design including data collection tools and data analysis framework that will assess the effectiveness of the project in achieving its outputs, outcomes, and desired impact. The Evaluation will target a total of 36 schools in the targeted two (2) provinces of Zambia. The duration for the evaluation including submission of the final report to ZOCS and dissemination of the findings to the stakeholders is 23 days from the time the contract is signed.

10.0      Evaluation deliverables:

The deliverables of the evaluation shall include the following.

10.1      An evaluation methodology and design (sampling methods and plan to be used and questions to be answered) and a detailed work plan for the entire exercise which includes timelines and milestones. Questionnaires, interview guides and other data collection tools will be submitted to ZOCS for review and approval before commencement of data collection.

10.2      As part of the annexes to the final report, the Consultant shall prepare an evaluation summary to give a focused version of the report spelling out the aims and objectives of the study and the effectiveness of the intervention together with findings and recommendations for sustainability of the interventions and learning..

10.3      Evaluation report: The Consultant will submit a detailed final report outlining the evaluation methodology, findings (including indicators), lessons learned and recommendations. The report shall incorporate the most appropriate recommendations that will inform programming by ZOCS and partners.

10.4      The final report shall address the issues and questions outlined in these Terms of Reference (ToR) and in line with the evaluation objectives.

10.5     Budget: The Consultant shall include, as part of their application, a detailed budget providing the estimated costs associated with executing the evaluation.

11.0      Audience

11.1Donor: The dissemination of findings to the donor will be through the final technical report

11.2Partners at Provincial/District level: At district level the dissemination will be done during a dissemination meeting with all implementing partners which will be held centrally in Lusaka

11.3Partners at Community level: Brochures will be used to communicate results to all the partners/stakeholders at community level

12.0      Eligibility and Pre-qualification criteria

This EOI is open to all eligible consultants (firms) with relevant technical skills and experience. To be shortlisted for this assignment, eligible Consultants should submit the following additional information:

12.1Valid and certified PACRA registration confirming CITIZEN OWNERSHIP of consulting firm

12.2Provide documentary proof of valid ZRA tax clearance certificate

12.3Submit proof of Zambian Nationality- Certified copies of National Registration Card (s) (NRCs) of firm’s partners

12.4A detailed workplan of the proposed methodology

12.5At least Master’s degree in Education, Development Studies, Project management, Monitoring and Evaluation or a related field

12.6Demonstratable experience of at least five (5) years in working with development programmes in education

12.7Demonstrable experience with quantitative and qualitative research, data base management and statistical data analysis

12.8Experience of working in Zambia, Southern Africa, and East Africa Especially in Uganda

12.9Relevant knowledge and experience regarding the thematic areas

12.10    Ability to deal with hardship and remote area field work preferred

12.11     Action-oriented and evidence-based approach and strong drive for results

12.12    Trade references (letters addressed to Executive Director, Zambia Open Community Schools with reference to this Expression of Interest) from at least two (2) viably running commercial entities where similar consultancy has been successfully provided.

The Consultant will be expected to have a meeting with the ZOCS to discuss the plan for the study.

Interested Consultants may obtain further information by sending all the related inquiries and clarifications to zocs2008@gmail.com

13.0 Submission

All EOI (One original and three copies) in sealed envelopes clearly marked “EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI) TO PRE-QUALIFY FOR APPOINTMENT AS CONSULTANT (FIRM) TO CONDUCT A MIDLINE EVALUATION NO. ZOCS/PSU/SSRI/01/2024. Do not open before 14.30 hours on Monday 22nd January 2024” should be sent to “The Executive Director, Zambia Open Community Schools (ZOCS), P.O. Box 50429, Tito road, Lusaka OR deposited in the Tender Box located at our Head office. Our contact details are +260 211 253841/43, email: zocs2008@gmail.com: Closing date and time is Monday 22nd January, 2024 at 14:30 hours.

The EOI will be opened soon after the closing in the Conference room in the presence of consultants or their representatives who choose to attend. Please note that this is not a contract but an Expression of interest and Zambia Open Community Schools reserves the right to cancel or annul this process without assigning any reasons thereof.