Consultancy Services for the End Term Evaluation For Integrated Education in Emergencies Response for COVID19

Finn Church Aid (FCA) is the largest Finnish development cooperation organization and important provider of humanitarian assistance. FCA is a faith-based organization founded by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland as an instrument of its international diaconal. We value the different backgrounds and beliefs of all the people we work with and promote interfaith collaboration. The Christian tradition of compassion and social justice guides us. FCA is a member of ACT Alliance and is committed to working with its ecumenical and faith-based, and international and local partners.

Project Background

FCA Kenya is currently implementing a one-year Ministry of Foreign Affairs Finland (MFA) funded education project in Kalobeyei Settlement – Integrated Education in Emergencies Response for COVID19-affected children in Kalobeyei Settlement and surrounding host community in Kenya (12 months). FCA Kenya is leading the coordination of the action, and is accountable to the donor for the implementation of project activities. FCA is leading activities related to improving access to quality education through primary teacher education training; enabling children with special needs to access education, as well as activities focused on improving governance and accountability within education institutions amid Covid-19 pandemic. The project is coming to an end in October 2021 thus the need for end term evaluation.

Overall Project Impact:

COVID-19-affected refugee and host community children in the Kalobeyei Settlement have access to safe and inclusive quality primary education, and receive relevant psychosocial support to aid their return to schooling.

Project Outcomes:

• Outcome 1 – Increased access to safe and inclusive quality education for COVID19-affected boys and girls in the Kalobeyei Settlement and surrounding host communities.
• Outcome 2 – Improved quality of education delivered to COVID-19 affected boys and girls in the Kalobeyei Settlement and the surrounding host community.
• Outcome 3 – Improved psychosocial wellbeing, protection and safeguarding of COVID19-affected boys and girls in the Kalobeyei Settlement and the surrounding host communities

Purpose and Scope of the End-term Evaluation:

The overall purpose of the end-term evaluation is to assess the continued relevance of the action and the progress made towards achieving its planned outcomes. It will also determine in an objective manner the progress of project outcome indicators to inform the program implementation team on the status of planned milestones based on observed actuals. The results will also be used by FCA for learning to continue to inform programming of EIE and accountability to the donor.

The scope of the evaluation entails conducting a detailed analysis of the project within its implementation context and establishing the extent to which the project has contributed to the FCA Emergency Response Project. The evaluation will mainly focus on the project activities in Kakuma and Kalobeyei settlement of Turkana west sub-county and will target project beneficiaries, implementing partners, staff and other stakeholders,

The specific objectives of the end-term evaluation are as follows:

1) Assess the progress made towards achieving each project’s outcomes and results based on the project log frame, design & monitoring data.

Under this objective, the consultant will:

• Trace the number of learners benefiting from 670 rechargeable solar powered radios in promoting remote learning.
• Ascertain the number and gauge improved targeted support to the CWD learners across the settlement schools
• Determine the number and quality of procured teaching and learning materials for improved learner to desk ratio, teacher: desk ratio and learner: textbook ratio.
• Ascertain the standard of 4 constructed hand-washing points and their efficiency in promoting hygiene within the settlement school during and after COVID 19.
• Ascertain BOMs knowledge in children’s rights, inclusive education, gender equality, Mental Health & Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) and extension of the skills by disseminating them to the community for reduced stigma resulting from COVID 19.
• To assess the impact of mentorship and distribution of sanitary pads to girls in decreasing absenteeism risk, early pregnancy and school drop outs
• To establish the number of teachers recruited and participation in continuous teacher professional development trainings, assessing their knowledge and capacity to apply pedagogical skills learnt in the settlement mainstream classes.

2) Assess the overall contribution of the action to improved quality education delivered to COVID 19 affected boys and girls in Kalobeyei Settlement. The consultant will ascertain the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of teacher continuous professional trainings, coaching and mentorship approaches/ interventions in capacity building teachers for improved quality education. She/he will ascertain the roles of BOMs in linking the community/parents to the settlement schools for collaborated support to learners.

3) Document challenges, programmatic lessons learnt and key recommendation for program improvement.

Major tasks and deliverables of the end-term evaluation

Deliverables under this consultancy will include the following:

1. An inception report: The consultant will share his/her inception report that details the study design (rationale, methodology), data collection tools, and a detailed work plan within 1-3 days of engagement, to be approved by Finn Church Aid (Programs Manager & Education Specialist).
2. Data collection tools: Develop the data collection tools and have them approved by Finn Church Aid before data collection, analysis, interpretation
3. Draft Evaluation report: The consultant will prepare a draft evaluation report with details of findings, recommendations and lessons learnt for review by Finn Church Aid
4. Final Evaluation report: The consultant will share a final evaluation report after incorporating the comments from Finn church Aid. This will be both in electronic and hard copy (MS Word document, PowerPoint slides). All data sets: Consultant will deliver the data sets to Finn Church Aid.

The format of the report shall include the following: Executive Summary (max 2 pages) Preliminary pages – Acknowledgment, Acronyms and Table of contents Main text, to include: Background Information: Brief on the Project and context; Evaluation – purpose and objectives; evaluation limitations Methodology: Design, Sampling technique and Sample size Findings: Analysis based on evaluation objectives and interpretation Key accomplishments and Summary of project assessment Lessons learnt, Best practices and opportunities for improvement Recommendations Appendices: Evaluation tools, evaluation ToR, sample framework, etc. Present the draft report to FCA team for review before producing a second draft and Final and present to FCA and other stakeholders in workshop to facilitate sharing of evaluation results with a view to incorporate inputs from project stakeholders in the final draft. Submit a Final Evaluation Report to FCA as stated in the Consultancy Contract.

Timeframe:

The duration of the assignment will be 13 days including travel days. This study will begin in the Month of November, 2021, however preliminary works may begin earlier such as development of the tools and review of the final study design. The final report incorporating feedback from Finn Church Aid will be submitted 3-5 days after presentation of the preliminary findings.

Qualifications and Expertise Required

• Post-graduate degree in Education, Social Sciences, Statistics or related field;
• Minimum of 5 -10 years’ relevant professional experience in education programming and research;
• Strong background and experience in data collection and analysis; experienced in and able/willing to use mobile technology (tablets) for data collection
• Proven experience of undertaking evaluations/research or leading evaluation/research teams, with outstanding skills in qualitative and quantitative research and data analysis using relevant software such as STATA or SPSS and ATLAS;
• Technical expertise in assessing issues of education demand and supply, and the ability to draw strong and valid conclusions;
• Strong knowledge and experience in refugee programming is essential;
• Excellent communication and report writing skills.

Remuneration

The consultant is advised to submit an itemized budget with realistic daily rates for the assignment based on the understanding of the assignment and the current market rates. Where need be, Finn Church Aid will engage the consultant to an agreeable daily rate. Finn Church aid will cover for the consultant’s air tickets on economy class to relevant field sites, accommodation on bed and breakfast plus airport transfers in the field. All other costs shall be borne directly by the consultant. Remuneration will be based on submission of deliverables that are satisfactory to Finn Church Aid as agreed upon after discussion with FCA in the inception meeting. The payments will only be made when the deliverables have been assessed by FCA team to be of good quality. Taxation laws for Kenya will apply on the overall consultancy fee.

The following payments will be paid to the consultant using an agreed mode of payment.

• After approval of inception report: 30%
• After approval of Final Report: 70%

Ethics, Child Safeguarding and Code of Conduct

As the consultant, will be working on behalf of Finn Church Aid they will be required to sign and adhere to the Child Safeguarding Policy and ethical guidelines. Note that background checks will be undertaken on all applicants.

The consultant will make clear to all participating stakeholders especially children of all ages that they are under no obligation to participate in the exercise and that it is purely voluntary. All participants will be assured that there will be no negative consequences if they choose not to participate. The consultant must obtain informed consent from all participants, including children and their care-giver if a child is to be interviewed. The consultant must receive prior permission for taking and use of visual still/ moving images for specific purposes. The consultant will assure the participants the anonymity, confidentiality and will assure the visual data is protected and used for agreed purpose only.

About the documentation, the title rights, copyrights and all other rights of whatever nature in any materials used or generated under the provisions of this consultancy will exclusively be vested with Finn Church Aid-Kenya country office.