ECW * Whole of Syria (WoS) Terms of Reference (ToR)

Terms of Reference (ToR)

Education Cannot Wait (ECW): Consultancyfor Designing and Developing a Technical and Monitoring Framework of the Capacity Building Component

  1. Background

Education is a fundamental component of humanitarian assistance due to its contribution to child survival, to safeguarding gains through continuity in learning and through the sense of dignity and hope that it can bring. Humanitarian crises are increasingly complex and protracted making access to quality education for children in these situations a real concern. The provision of education in these contexts require interventions that take into account context-specific social, political and cultural elements. This is compounded by a considerable shortage of mid-level education staff with the skills, knowledge and competencies required to plan, implement and coordinate EiE responses effectively at the scale required.

  1. Objective

Against this backdrop, within the framework of the ECW investment for Syria, the Whole of Syria (WoS) will design and implement an EiE capacity development program providingeducationactorsat the national level with an opportunity for professional development and action-oriented experiential learning. This initiative will aim at equipping them with the knowledge and skills required to plan, implement and coordinate high quality education in emergencies (EiE) responses in complex emergencies and crises.

The EiE capacity development program will be mainly addressed at NGOs working cross-border from Gaziantep and Amman. These in turn can replicate the training at local level inside Syria with education and school authorities, teachers and education personnel to increase national capacity and long term sustainability. The same will apply for Damascus Hub members, where the training would happen from Beirut and would then be embedded in the Hub’s efforts to develop governorate-level preparedness and response.

The program will be developed within a holistic framework, linking an implementation to a follow-up strategy. It is hoped that in the medium to longer term, a similar program might also expand to other crisis-affected countries.

  1. KeyOutputs

The capacity development framework will be developed in close consultation with the WoS Capacity Building Task Force members.The expected outputs of the consultancy are:

  1. Inception Report: Outlining the overall methodology and scope of work. This will include a work-plan, early findings and limitations of the work. (length: up to 15 pages)
  2. Desk Review Report: A detailed desk review of all the available training resources and packages available under the six programmatic pillars (Annex 1. The report should include a prioritization of training packages and proposed training modalities.
  3. Comprehensive Capacity Development Framework:A comprehensive costed capacity development framework and monitoring plan to roll out the trainings for the WoS education actors in all the three hubs. The framework based on the above identified pillars would identify comprehensive program for the EiE frontline responders. The framework will also be linked to the implementation and follow-up M&E strategy.
  4. Final Report: The final report will include a PPT presentation of no more than 30 slides covering key points and main deliverables from the reports and the assignment.
  1. Methodology & Duration

This is a 2-month full time consultancy designed to begin in 1stJanuary2018 and conclude by 28th February 2018 with the submission of the final version of the consultancy report. The consultant will report to the WoS co-coordinators and will provide bi-weekly progress reports (in bullet form) on advancement of the work against the detailed work-plan that will be developed in the inception report. The bi-weekly progress reports and the main deliverables reports documents will be presented and discussed during the capacity building task force meeting.

  1. Qualifications
  1. Advanced University Degree (Master Degree or equivalent) in education, social science or related field.
  2. At least 5 years of professional work experience in relevant work of education capacity building programmes
  3. Technical expertise on issues related to service delivery in protracted crises
  4. Experience in working for the UN or other international organization is asset.
  5. Fluency in written and spoken English is essential and Arabic is asset.
  6. Competencies Required: Core Values: Commitment, Diversity and Inclusion, Integrity. Core Competencies: Communication, Working with People, Drive for Result. Functional Competencies; Leading and Supervising, Formulating Strategies and Concepts, Analyzing, Relating and Networking, Persuading and Influencing, Creating and Innovating.
  1. Payment Schedule

Progressive payment scheme will be used, linking the payment schedule to each deliverable as follows: Inception report: 30% - Final report: 70%

Annex 1 - Suggested Thematic Areas of the Capacity Development Program
  1. EiE concepts and frameworks
  • Impact of emergencies on children’s access and learning, and on the education sector
  • Global frameworks and child development principles that underpin priorities for education during humanitarian crises (INEE Minimum Standards, conflict-sensitive education, etc.)
  • Working along a humanitarian to development continuum within protracted crises
  • Advocacy, and championing humanitarian principles
  1. System strengthening
  • Data collection and analysis in emergencies and linkages to national systems e.g. EMIS
  • MRM
  • Policy issues in humanitarian contexts
  • Working with local education authorities
  • Governance and school-based management in humanitarian contexts
  • The governance of teacher professional development - including training, governance, ongoing support
  • Partnerships, humanitarian architecture and coordination mechanisms
  1. Access
  • Barriers to education access in humanitarian contexts
  • Equity: gender and inclusion issues
  • Strategies for education access in humanitarian contexts
—Back-to-learning campaigns and community engagement
—Self-learning program
—Curriculum B/accelerated education programs (AEPs), remedial education
  • ECD and ECE in humanitarian contexts
  • Technical and vocational education and training in humanitarian contexts
  • Social protection and inter-sectoral approaches
  1. Quality
  • Life skills and citizenship education and its importance during crises, relation to conflict-sensitive education
  • Teaching and learning strategies in emergency contexts (including psychosocial support and social emotional learning)
  • Monitoring learning outcomes
  • Quality learning environments in emergency contexts
  1. Programme management/operations
  • Emergency programme cycles (HNA, HRP, etc.)
  • Management of programs/projects (response plans, proposals, budgets, M&E, donor compliance, reporting, etc.)
  • Human resource issues

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