Country: Zimbabwe
Closing date: 13 Nov 2015
The UNICEF Zimbabwe Country Office is seeking Expression of Interest (EOI) from qualified institutions to enter into a contract to evaluate the Education Development Fund (EDF) which was implemented between 2012 and 2015.
The purpose is to evaluate the extent to which the EDF contributed to meeting the Zimbabwe education sector goals, document lessons learned from programme implementation, and propose recommendations for future policy and programmatic interventions.
The aim of the EDF is to achieve planned results by investing substantially on systems development and strengthening government capacity at the central, provincial and district level, with stronger emphasis on policy, budgetary and strategic frameworks that provide support to sustained sector development. This is reflected in the objectives of the three priority areas:
PRIORITY 1: SCHOOL AND SYSTEM GOVERNANCE
To enhance school and system governance to improve the quality of school environments through the provision of grants to targeted schools and an improved capacity of MoPSE to plan for and implement educational needs.
PRIORITY 2: TEACHING AND LEARNING
To improve the quality of teaching and learning in Zimbabwe, measured by a reformed national assessment system.
PRIORITY 3: SECOND CHANCE EDUCATION
To support a second-chance education programme that provides opportunity for young people who have missed out on school to re-enter formal education or receive relevant skills training.
To date, the programme has funded interventions in the amount of over USD100 million. As implementation of the EDF draws to a close in 2015, it is important to evaluate the effect of the EDF on the Zimbawean education system and the extent to which intended results are being achieved.
Scope of the Assignment:**An institution is required to support evaluation of the**Education Development Fund (EDF) which set out in 2012 to ***“support the continued revitalization of the education sector by assisting the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) to realise its objectives of achieving universal and equitable access to quality educational services for all Zimbabwean children”.* Four years and over US$100,000,000 later, the question to be answered is, did the EDF achieve the intended results? There is also a need to understand why interventions succeeded or failed and to document lessons to inform future programming and policy.
Specific objectives are to:
i. Assess the programme design (including theory of change), coordination, management and administrative structures;
ii. Assess the effect of EDF interventions on the revitalization of the education sector and the extent to which they have contributed to the system “achieving universal and equitable access to quality educational services for all Zimbabwean children”;
iii. Examine performance of the EDF against outcome and impact indicators;
iv. Examine whether, and how, financial resources were utilised in ways that ensured best value for money;
v. Identify and document innovations and critical lessons that can be learned from the implementation of the EDF and their policy and programmatic implications;
vi. Assess the effect of contextual and organisational factors on implementation progress and programme effectiveness;
vii. Assess the effect of EDF on capacity of the education system at national, provincial, district and school levels; and,Assess, as far as possible, whether the various components and pillars of the programme have been implemented in a cost efficient way to deliver value for money
Qualifications: The assignment requires a highly motivated and competent contractor with the following qualifications and qualities:
· At least 15 years’ experience in education research, five of which should be in international developing country context;
· A team leader with at least a Master’s Degree in education, the social sciences, or research and demonstrated expertise in programme evaluation;
· Strong track record in evaluating complex national level education programmes in developing country contexts;
· Proven experience in the use of participatory, qualitative and quantitative assessment/analytic methodologies;
· Proven technical competence in quantitative and qualitative data analysis;
· Strong knowledge of the Zimbabwean education system;
· Expertise in budgeting and budget analysis especially as it relates to assessing Value for Money;
· Fluency in English and the major Zimbabwean languages (Shona and Ndebele); and,
· Proven track record of producing excellent analytic reports.
Institutions must provide details of qualification, samples of reports on similar evaluations, and a work profile of the team leader and other team members. Institutions should also include a Certificate of Incorporation or other appropriate documentation proving that they are a registered company or institution.
How to apply:
Response requirements: At this stage, UNICEF is requesting Expression of Interest (EOI) from institutional contractors to undertake a summative evaluation of the extent to which the EDF.
“Expression of Interest” in response to this advertisement***by either email or mail no later than***12:00 noon Harare local time on Friday, 13 November 2015.*** EOI should contain the following reference: “Institutional contractors to provide services pertaining to evaluate the extent to which the EDF contributed to meeting the Zimbabwe education sector goals, document lessons learned from programme implementation, and propose recommendations for future policy and programmatic interventions in Zimbabwe.”
We strongly encourage responses at the earliest, as institutions that express interest may begin to receive the RFP documents prior to the closing date. Email responses should be addressed to nsafure@unicef.org. Mailed responses can be sent to The Supply Section, UNICEF Harare Office, 6 Fairbridge Avenue, P.O. Box 1250, Belgravia, Harare, Zimbabwe
