CONSULTANCY POSITION
Evaluation on the contribution of the UNICEF school construction component to the overall programme goals of access, quality and systems capacity enhancement.
VACANCY#: UNICEF/MLW/2015/025
1.BACKGROUND
School infrastructure development component under the child friendly schools programme of the current UNICEF MCO country programme has been designed to contribute chiefly to two key components of the national Education Sector Implementation Plan (ESIP)
I. improved access to equitable education
II. improved and relevant quality education
Access and quality of education in Malawi has long been affected by an extreme shortage of classrooms. While primary enrolment increased by 45% between 2004 and 2013, the number of primary classrooms rose by only 12%. A recent study (USAID, 2014) identified classroom shortage as one of the major factor leading to student absenteeism, repetition and dropouts. Analysis of PET-QSD Survey data also confirms this. Hence, the target of the Malawian education sector as laid out in the ESIP II (2013/14 – 2017/18) is to construct at least 20,000 classrooms to meet increasing population of school age children.
The proposed evaluation is important in assessing the extent to which the School Construction Component enables UNICEF Malawi to contribute to those broad objectives for key learner outcomes in education.
This evaluation will assess the extent to which the School Construction component of the Child Friendly Schools Programme has contributed to a) the development of standards, and capacity for their implementation within the wider BEYD goals of strengthening institutional capacity and b) the learning environment.
UNICEF is therefore seeking to hire a consultant to Evaluate on the contribution of the UNICEF school construction component to the overall programme goals of access, quality and systems capacity enhancement.
1) To determine school infrastructure contribution to the basic education programme objectives of improving access and quality through child friendly school construction and design
2) To assess effectiveness and efficiency of the inputs and processes
3) To identify lessons learnt and provide recommendations for future of school infrastructure and other strategies in the new 2017-2021 country programme
The evaluation is to improve UNICEF’s accountability and provide for lessons learnt on schools infrastructure projects. Findings from the evaluation will support UNICEF and its key partner the Ministry of Education to make evidence based decisions for future programming and planning within the field of education.
2.SCOPE OF WORK
Within the OECD evaluation framework (relevancy, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability) the key dimensions to be evaluated will be threefold focusing on expected outputs linked to learner outcomes; processes; and the chosen inputs and particularly the child friendly education and the school improvement approach.
The impact evaluation is to focus mainly on 35 primary schools constructed in 5 districts of Malawi under the BEYD Child Friendly Schools Programme between 2012 and 2015. Whereas the type and level of construction and subsequent interventions vary between school sites, the consultant will have to apply relevant and applicable assessment, examination and review methods as appropriate in order to fulfil the outlined scope of work. Each dimension is laid out below with key supporting questions and tasks intended to assist and guide (but not limited to) the evaluator in his approach.
1. Assess the focus of the School Construction Component in line with the BEYD education outcome objectives where possible given that the country programme still has one year to go;
· Were the programme objectives appropriate in the overall problem context; needs and priorities?
· What value (and for whom) did the School Construction add relative to other education initiatives?
· Given progress to date, are the School Construction objectives still relevant?
2. Examine efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the School Construction Component inputs and processes;
· How well did the various activities transform the available resources into results?
· What measures were taken to ensure cost-effectiveness in procurement and implementation?
· What measures were taken to ensure effective financial implementation, monitoring and reporting?
· How well did the School Construction predict and react to risks?
· To what extent did the project enable local participation and ownership of the project?
· To what extent will maintenance be sustained by local partners/beneficiaries once the funding comes to an end?
3. Examine key outputs and standards in light of the child friendly quality framework
· To what extent did the School Construction deliver expected results?
· To what extent has the design enabled the improvement of the school environment?
· How well has the School Construction component contributed to the improvement of standards and systems; especially in terms of institutional capacity?
· To what extent was progress made against key objectives of improving access and quality of education?
ØIncreased enrolment
ØDecreased drop out
ØImproved pass rates
4. Assess the extent to which the School Construction Component of the programme has ensured capacity of key stakeholders through participation, training and guidelines;
· The evaluation will examine impact of the approach in terms of contributing to establishment of systems/institutional capacity;
· The evaluation will consider extent to which policies and strategies have been established including cross-sectoral and gender responsive approaches;
· The valuation will examine extent to which capacity of stakeholders and ensured ownership including participation, maintenance and monitoring.
5.Review the overall safety and inclusiveness of the school environment, the level ground and environment.
· How well did stakeholders (head teachers, teachers, school management committee members and students) in the targeted schools participate in the process; by providing leadership harmonization, utilization and maintenance of the built environment?
· What are the key factors most likely to provide an understanding of success or bottlenecks associated with the implemented interventions in the targeted schools?
In choosing evaluation methodology, it is a give n that improving the quality education and achieving a child friendly school environment can never depend on infrastructure or school construction alone. The quality of education is a a multiplicity of interrelated in and out-of-school factors that are socio-economic and cultural in nature. The construction component evaluation will apply methods that take into account and control for other variables known to be directly related to the quality of education. This can include variables such as availability of qualified teachers, access to teaching and learning materials, socio-economic background and other relevant factors within the context of Malawi.
3.EDUCATION AND WORK EXPERIENCE
- Advanced university degree (Masters or PhD) in Education and environmental psychology with a focus on learning facilities and/or an architecture and specialize in learning facilities both with research experience (including statistical analysis).
- 8 years’ experience in programme evaluation within the field of education; preferably in design, construction of school buildings, school infrastructure (school water systems, and toilet facilities), and school ground planning and development.
- Proven capacity to conduct research at a national scale, including capacity to work with national level partners as well as management, analysis, and interpret large sets of data.
- Excellent analytical and writing skills.
- Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines.
- Excellent communication and negotiation skills and fluency in English written and verbal.
4.DURATION
50 Days
