Technical Assistance for Development of School Financing Policy

The goal of this consultancy is to make available to MoPSE suitable technical support that will enable it (MoPSE) to develop a school financing policy that adequately responds to the needs of the primary and secondary school subsector.

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For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

Consultancy Duration: 5 Months

A National or International Consultant is required.  

1. Background

 Compared to other countries on the African continent, Zimbabwe has registered commendable progress in the field of education. It currently has the highest recorded literacy rate of 92 per cent. Indicators of participation are similarly high: 2016 gross enrolment rates (GER) for pre-primary, primary and secondary school levels level stood at 51.9 per cent, 105.0 per cent 76.8 per cent respectively.  According to MICS (2014) primary and secondary school attendance rates were 93.3 per cent and 54.9 per cent respectively.  The quality of education offered by Zimbabwe’s schools has traditionally been good. For this reason Zimbabwe’s graduates have been in very high demand in the region and beyond. In the mid-2000s, end-of-primary school pass rates topped 70 per cent, but pass rates at ‘O’ level have been depressed since 1984. The low ‘O’ level pass rate has, however, been largely attributed to the application of very strict standards that also placed excessive emphasis on the academic dimension of learning, and were meant to cater for the needs of the top 25 per cent of the learner population. 

Schools are the primary agents for the delivery of education, and their capacity to offer education of good quality is largely dependent on the adequacy of resources made available to them in the form of infrastructure, teaching and materials and equipment, appropriately skilled personnel, and support to school management, leadership and supervision. It is not surprising, therefore, that trends and patterns in key education indicators have generally been positively correlated to the availability of resources to schools.  Much of the progress registered by the education sector is a result of many years of investment by the state, local government authorities, parents, communities, religious organisations, philanthropic organisations and development partners. A cadre of well-trained, highly motivated teachers, supervisors and education managers who have exhibited high levels of commitment to excellence has also contributed to the progress registered in the sector. Much of the latter can be quantified in financial terms.

Recent trends in pass rates over the past one and half decades, which show a decline, are linked to underinvestment in education at all levels, particularly from the early 2000s to the present. For instance, primary school pass rates for 2009 (the height of the economic crisis) stood at only 20.1 per cent, down from 70 percent witnessed in the mid-2000s.  Similarly, patterns in schools’ overall performance reflect the differences in schools’ funding levels. An analysis of 2013 EMIS data also shows that the worst performing 10 per cent of primary schools, with an average pass rate of 2.2 per cent, received a mean annual income of $22 per pupil. In comparison, the top performing 10 per cent of primary schools with an average pass rate of 79.8 per cent received annual per pupil income of $222. Indeed, the scarcity of financial resources affect other indicators such as access, retention and completion rates. For example, figures from the MICS of 2014 show that secondary school attendance rates for the poorest quintile was 54.9 per cent compared to 81.3 per cent for the richest quintile.  These issues require policy intervention.

2.  Introduction

 The Education Sector Analysis conducted in 2015 revealed that the financing of education was one of the major issues affecting the development of the sector, and yet there was no school financing policy in existence.  For this reason, the 2016-2020 Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) has the development of a school financing policy as one of its priorities. A school financing policy will provide Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) with a solid basis for determining the level of financial support considered to be adequate in order for learners in different school contexts and at different levels of the system to meet established educational standards in a cost-effective and efficient manner.

A school financing policy will also enable MoPSE to establish a clear framework for the decisions regarding funding priorities for schools, and provide guidance on how to determine them. The roles and obligations of the different players in the funding of schools, as well as their relative contribution to this effort, will also be clearer to all while decisions and formulae that guide the equitable allocation of resources and how these should be accounted for would be easier to determine. The school financing policy will enhance schools’ accountability for the resources they receive and thus enhance the achievement of key educational goals. Furthermore, it will serve as the basis for quantifying schools’ the resource requirements and guide advocacy and resource mobilization efforts.

The development of a school financing policy is a complex undertaking that requires guidance from an expert who is knowledgeable in the field of education policy. The skills required range from the ability to analyse data and transform it into a robust policy framework, and the ability to work with MoPSE teams, as part of capacity building, in order to ensure that the product reflects MoPSE priorities as articulated in the ESSP.  The policy itself must reflect the interplay and linkages among a complex set of political, legal, economic, demographic, socio-cultural, and cultural factors. The consultant is also expected to ensure that other players outside MoPSE, who contribute to school financing, participate in the policy development process. He/she must have the skill to generate policy options for MoPSE and its partners to consider.

While the consultant is expected to provide support to the entire policy development process over a period of 4 months, he/she will only make inputs at critical stages of the process.

 The goal of this consultancy is to make available to MoPSE suitable technical support that will enable it (MoPSE) to develop a school financing policy that adequately responds to the needs of the primary and secondary school subsector.  More specifically, the consultant will be expected to:

• Provide technical support for the development of a school financing policy that strikes a judicious balance between MoPSE’s ideals and the current and future realities facing the primary and secondary education subsector;
• Develop a set of guidelines for a policy-making process that MoPSE can adopt in future policy-making processes; and
• As part of the process of the development of the school financing policy, build MoPSE’s capacity for the execution of policy-related functions.

 4.           Scope of Work

 The consultant is expected to undertake the following tasks:

1. Provide an overall framework for school financing policy, including policy objectives (drawn from relevant documents), the key pillars of the policy; and the scope of the policy. The overall framework should be presented to MoPSE to secure their endorsement.
2. Provide a set of guidelines on the policy development process, including the stages to be followed, clarification of the roles of the different players, the structures to be put in place to specifically support the development of this policy, and inputs required from different players at each stage.
3. Undertake a review of a broad range of relevant documentation to inform the thrust, focus and scope of the school financing policy, ensuring that the information is packaged in a way that facilitates the identification of policy issues, promotes policy debate, and generates policy options. Among these reports are: Legal documents/instruments (e.g. Education Act, Finance Act, SIs for SDCs, etc.), relevant policy documents generated by MoPSE, planning documents (such as ESSP, NOP, DOPs, SDPs), statistical reports (e.g. EMIS MICS, DHS, etc.), system reports (e.g. Secretary’s reports, departmental reports, reports on programmes, etc.), financial documents (e.g. the “Blue Book”, Programme-based budgets)
4. Secure broad stakeholder participation through (a) the identification of the key stakeholders to be consulted; (b) ensuring their participation at appropriate stages of the policy development process; (c) capturing their views through a variety of methods such as key interviews with key informants, discussion meetings with relevant groups, taking note of information from presentations, analysis of documentation; and (d) analysing and interpreting different stakeholder’s views and consolidating them in a way that reflects broad consensus, compliance with the requirements of legal, policy and other provisions, and responsiveness to national realities and aspirations.
5. Work closely with the Technical Working Group (TWG) on Policies and Legislation and other individuals identified by MoPSE to draft the school financing policy and present it at different forums for review and provision of additional inputs. The consultant will be required to incorporate the feedback into subsequent drafts to produce the final version of the school financing policy.
6. Document the policy development process.  The documentation of the process will (a) serve as the reference document for the future activities in policy development work; (b) provide contextual information on the policy itself; and (c) demonstrate that due processes were followed in the development of the policy, and thus vouch for the legitimacy of the policy.

 The general approach to the assignment involves a combination of document review and consultations (mainly key informant interviews) with staff in MoPSE and other sector ministries and Departments (e.g. Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Public Service Commission). Consultations should also be undertaken with MoPSE’s key stakeholders (selected donors, UN agencies, NGOs and CSOs who are active in the education sector).  The approach adopted should be based on a clear and robust framework, with an element that supports building of MoPSE’s capacity for policy development.

 The consultant will be required to work closely with relevant MoPSE staff on a day to day basis. Given the policy thrust of the assignment, the consultant is expected to engage with senior MoPSE personnel in order to gather relevant documentary information, and to secure their views, guidance and support. Where required, the consultant will also present inputs at consultative meetings and promote policy dialogue.

 The policy development process will largely be driven, led and owned by MoPSE.

  6.         Major Tasks, Deliverables & Timeframe

 The consultant will be expected to successfully complete the following key tasks, shown in the table below:

 Major Task - Prepare an inception report that presents in detail the consultant’s understanding of the tasks involved, the broad framework for the school financing policy, proposals on the policy development process to be followed, and an analysis of relevant policy issues drawn from a broad range of documents as well as views of key stakeholders.

Deliverable – Inception report                                                   Timeframe – 30 November 2017

Major Task - Conduct an analysis of relevant documents (from national and international sources) and MoPSE’s past experiences and aspirations on the financing of schools. Using the emerging policy objectives and targets, prepare an initial set of policy options recommendations for consideration by MoPSE. The inception report should lay the basis for consultations with key stakeholders and inform policy dialogue at various forums.

Deliverable – Draft school policy document                      Time frame – 30 November 2017

Major Task – financing policy that incorporates feedback from key stakeholders, particularly MoPSE and key partners (members of relevant Thematic Working Group on Policies and Legislation). Prepare a report that documents the policy making process, including the framework used, processes undertaken, documents and stakeholders consulted, challenges faced and lessons learnt. Prepare a power point presentation of the policy and, if required, present it to MoPSE.

Deliverable - a) Final version of the school financing policy, (b) Report that documents the policy making process,        (c) Prepare a power point presentation of the policy and, if required, present it to MoPSE & its partners.

Timeframe – 16 March 2018

7.         Timeframe

 The consultancy will begin upon the signing of the contract, which is scheduled to be on or before 31 October 2017 and end on 31 March 2018.

8.         Consultancy Requirements

The consultant will have the following qualifications and experience:

 Qualifications

• An Advanced University Degree in Education, Social Sciences or policy studies
• Sound knowledge of the policy making process in the public sector or government
• Ability to engage and work with  a variety of stakeholders in both Government and civil society
• Excellent analytical and report writing skills

• Good communication and facilitation skills, with fluency in spoken and written English. Knowledge of Shona and/or Ndebele is an added advantage.

  Work Experience

• A minimum of 10 years of professional experience at the national and international level in policy work in the social sector, preferably in the education sector
• Proven experience facilitating the work of groups and coordinating groups’ inputs while building their capacity in policy work
• Expertise and experience in writing policy and other related documents (such as strategy papers), particularly in developing country contexts
• Experience working in Zimbabwe or similar country contexts, and displaying knowledge of relevant protocols and sensitivities working with senior management as they make difficult policy decisions.

9.         Consultancy Management and Supervision

 The consultant will be supervised by the Education Specialist (Quality) in collaboration with MoPSE. The consultant will report to the Director, Policy, Research and Statistics (PRS) in MoPSE and provide regular updates and deliverables to the Education Specialist at UNICEF. He/she will also regularly interact with the Thematic Working Group on Policies and Legislation. Supervision will be provided through face-to-face meetings and consultations with frequent email communication for feedback, updates and guidance. It is expected that at every stage of the policy development process, close collaboration with MoPSE and UNICEF is maintained through designated staff, in cooperation with other departments in the Ministry and UNICEF.

10.       Other Consultancy Conditions, Costs and Payment Modalities

 The consultant is expected to submit a technical proposal that outlines the steps the consultant will follow in delivering the intended results. The proposal must also indicate all costs related to technical assistance needs, in-country travel costs and needed support expenses for all phases of work.  A detailed implementation plan for the programme including deliverables linked to activities above will be developed as part of the technical proposal, but will be refined in consultation with MoPSE and UNICEF upon signing the contract.

 No work may commence unless the contract is signed by both UNICEF and the consultant.

 Payment of fees to the consultant under this consultancy contract is subject to the consultant’s full and complete performance of his or her obligations under his/her contract with regard to such payment to UNICEF’s satisfaction, and UNICEF’s certification to that effect.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.