International Consultant - Implementation Evaluation of Child Friendly Schools in Lesotho

This evaluation will assess the extent to which the Child Friendly Schools Framework has been adopted in schools in Lesotho and in the work of the Ministry of Education and Training to identify bottlenecks and barriers to the effective implementation of this initiative in Lesotho. This evaluation will make recommendations for adaptation, scale up and sustainability for the initiative. This evaluation will also highlight opportunities for improved cross-sectoral collaboration.

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1. Context

In Lesotho children are faced with multiple intersecting vulnerabilities that lead to low enrolment, high dropout rates and poor performance. These vulnerabilities include poverty, insufficient schools, lack of enabling school environments, low quality teaching, food insecurity, violence, HIV & AIDS, absent parents, disability, customary practices and low literate parents. These vulnerabilities act as barriers to quality teaching and learning and negate the promotion of healthy lifestyle to pupils.

To address these multiple challenges, the Child-Friendly School (CFS) concept, was introduced to Lesotho in 2006 as a strategy to increase access and enhance the quality of basic education. CFS initiatives implemented to date have included the development of a set of CFS Indicators for School Inspectors, the conduct of a CFS Training of Trainers workshop, and analysis of the child-friendly status of pre-service teacher training courses at the Lesotho College of Education and the National University of Lesotho, during 2008-2011 and the development of a Child-Friendly School manual for pre-service teacher trainees.

In 2012, MOET, supported by UNICEF, embarked on the development of CFS Quality Standards, providing a definition of what exactly denotes child-friendliness in the Lesotho context. This process involved extensive consultations with stakeholders at national, district and school-community levels, including primary school learners, teachers, community members, in all districts of Lesotho, together with review of policies, plans, reports and other documents, with a view to identifying barriers to education, and enabling factors. The set of CFS Standards that emerged from this process provide a reference for school improvement planning, and a foundation for expanded implementation of the CFS model throughout Lesotho.

The standards have been organised within seven child-friendly pillars. These pillars are:

Pillar 1 Child-Friendly School Leadership, Planning and Management

Pillar 2 Inclusive, Child-Seeking, Access-Enabling

Pillar 3 Learner-Centred Teaching and Learning

Pillar 4 Health, Nutrition and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

Pillar 5 Safety, Protection and Psycho-Social Care and Support

Pillar 6 HIV and AIDS Prevention, Care and Support

Pillar 7 School-Community Partnership and Mutual Support

The right of all children to quality basic education is formally recognised in the National Constitution of Lesotho, which stipulates that Lesotho shall endeavour to make education available to all, that education will be directed to the full development of the human personality, individual dignity and respect for human rights and fundamental freedom.

The Lesotho Education Act 2010 makes provisions for free and compulsory education at primary level; whilst the Child Protection and Welfare Act (CPWA) 2011 reiterates: the right of every child to education, adequate diet, clothing, shelter, protection, medical attention, social services and any other service required for the child development, without discrimination or exclusion on any basis (neither disability, pregnancy, initiation, cultural rituals or other factors); and the right of every child to express his/her opinion freely and to have that opinion taken into account, in any matter affecting the child.

To date, the CFS framework has been implemented in 751 primary schools in Lesotho, representing about 50 per cent of the total number of primary schools.

2. Evaluation Purpose and Objective

Founded on principles of child rights as expressed in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Child-Friendly School (CFS) concept is being promoted in an increasing number of countries, as a major initiative promoting the realisation of children right to quality education and despite its implementation in Lesotho for several years, the coverage is still limited and no evaluation has been undertaken on this initiative.

Purpose

UNICEF understands that a successfully implemented CFS framework means that learners feel safe, supported and engaged with a high level of family and community participation and child centred pedagogical approaches. In preparation for the new UNICEF Lesotho country programme (2019-2023) the findings of this evaluation will inform the relevant education sector policies, plans and strategies for teacher training in basic education and strategies that will improve readiness for implementation at the school and community level as well as strengthening the links with the life skills and WASH dimensions of the framework.

An evaluation of the implementation of the CFS framework in Lesotho would provide impartial evidence and generate information on how UNICEF, the MOET and other key stakeholders have worked to implement the framework. The evaluation will be both summative and formative in purposes. It will be summative in providing an independent assessment of the implementation of CFS in Lesotho since 2012 and the development of the CFS quality standards. It will be formative in providing learning and recommendations to guide UNICEF ongoing support to CFS in Lesotho and where relevant, UNICEF child friendly initiatives globally.

The dual purpose of the evaluation will be to promote accountability and capture learning that informs ongoing programming. First, the evaluation will promote accountability to key stakeholders. To that end, it will provide evidence based findings on how UNICEF and the MOET worked to implement the CFS framework in Lesotho.

Second, the evaluation will capture learning from the implementation and develop recommendations to inform UNICEF programming and MOET implementation of the CFS framework. To that end, it will provide key findings, conclusions and recommendations aimed at supporting UNICEF efforts in strengthening and scaling up CFS in Lesotho.

Objectives

The proposed evaluation objectives will be as follows:

• Provide an independent assessment of the implementation of the CFS framework in Lesotho since 2012, to promote accountability among key stakeholders.
• Provide evidence based learning and recommendations to guide future work on the implementation of CFS in Lesotho.

Stakeholders and users

The key stakeholders in the CFS framework in Lesotho include the following:

• Governance: MOET, local communities and school management committees, teachers and parents
• Implementation: UNICEF programme sections, MOET including national coordinating staff, district education managers, district resource teachers, principals, teachers
• People affected: among them intended beneficiary learners (including those with disabilities and affected by HIV & AIDS) and their communities, teachers and parents

The primary audience of the evaluation is UNICEF Lesotho and the MOET and the secondary audience includes multi-sectoral partners that can strengthen the implementation of CFS such as other UN Agencies and line ministries including the Ministries of Health and Social Development.

3. Evaluation Scope

The evaluation will focus on the implementation of the CFS framework since the development of the CFS standards. The evaluation can refer to the period since the introduction of CFS in Lesotho (2006) but the focus should be on the period January 2012 to May 2018 (six months of the last country programme; and the ongoing country programme). The geographic scope will be the whole of Lesotho although in depth field work will be carried out in selected Districts representing the geographical zones of Lesotho.

The evaluation will focus on the overarching question: How well has the CFS framework been implemented in schools in Lesotho and how can this be improved? The implementation should be gauged to the extent to which it enabled or constrained results for children.

The evaluation should focus on evaluating the effectiveness of the overall implementation of CFS at national, district and school level and identify key bottlenecks to scaling up the initiative nationally. It is important for the scope of the evaluation to remain limited if these key issues are to be assessed in adequate depth. Many other reviews on the impact and effectiveness of CFS have been undertaken in other contexts and this evaluation can draw on these studies although implementation rather than impact is the primary focus of this evaluation.

As a result of this work, LCO will have evidence-based strategies to improve the implementation of the CFS framework that strengthen cross sectoral collaboration on key aspects of the framework including protection, WASH, nutrition and HIV and AIDS prevention, care and support.  Ultimately, the work will allow UNICEF LCO to improve the quality, efficiency and equity of its own programming and that of the government partners we support through improved technical support.

4. Evaluation Framework and Draft Questions

The evaluation will be framed by the usual UN criteria as applied to development interventions, particularly responsiveness to issues of equity, gender equality and children rights.

The evaluation framework to guide the evaluation will be developed at the inception phase. However, the following questions are suggested:

• How effectively are the currently identified CFS schools implementing the framework?
• Which pillars of the CFS framework are most successfully implemented, which are the most difficult to implement, and why?
• What are the key bottlenecks to implementation of the CFS framework in all schools in Lesotho?
• How can the implementation of the CFS framework be made more effective?
• How can cross sectoral collaboration be improved to strengthen key elements of the CFS framework (WASH, HIV and AIDS prevention, health and nutrition)?

The evaluation will apply a child rights and gender lens to all aspects of the evaluation process. Gender, rights and child rights will be addressed most specifically through coverage, which assesses the extent to which specific groups are included, targeted and assisted.

5. Methodology and Approach

The evaluation will be conducted in selected Districts having a geographical zone representation of Lesotho and at National level with Central Government and implementing partners. The exact methodology will be designed in the inception phase but will include collection and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data with stakeholders outlined above.

Step 1: Mapping of CFS in Lesotho and Methodology Design

• Working with UNICEF Lesotho country office staff, key ministries and external partners, the consultant will develop a clear understanding of the Child Friendly School framework as it is implemented in Lesotho and how it fits with UNICEF Lesotho priority areas of work for children over the coming 3-5 year timeframe. This will include a desk review of materials provided by the office (CPD, strategy notes, Situational Analyses, concept notes, etc.), key informant interviews with core UNICEF colleagues, government counter parts at national and decentralized level, and identification of other outside partners and documents for review.
• The consultant will design and develop the methodology, evaluation framework and instruments to be used during the evaluation.

Step 2: Field Work 

• At this stage and based on agreed upon methodologies the consultant will undertake field work to collect quantitative and qualitative data at district and school level to answer questions outlined in the inception report.
• The data collection should include both schools and districts that are implementing the child friendly schools framework and those that are not.

Step 3: Developing Evaluation and Recommendations

• Based on the results of the work in the first two steps and taking into account the parameters outlined above, the consultant will develop an evaluation report including recommendations for a package of interventions that UNICEF can undertake to strengthen the CFS framework in Lesotho.
• The plan should cover how UNICEF should engage on this issue, and should include reflection on the enabling environment, demand and supply. The report should also include consideration of other actors apart from government and UNICEF that can help strengthen this framework in Lesotho.
• Grounded in country needs and contexts, priority issues for children, UNICEF comparative advantages and opportunities on the horizon, the recommendations should consider:

• The work that is already ongoing that should be continued, replicated and/or scaled up (both within UNICEF and what UNICEF should be supporting others to do);
• The work that is already underway that should be phased out or transitioned to partners;
• Any new work UNICEF should undertake (either directly or in support of others work) in this area;
• What capacities and resources are needed to undertake the recommended work; and
• What partnerships UNICEF should pursue in order to undertake the work successfully.

• The recommendations should identify priorities for immediate action that can be undertaken/implemented immediately; it should also include longer term priority areas of work on CFS.
• The evaluation and recommendations should be developed along with key members of the country office in a consultative process. That process should include discussions about the best ways to assure buy-in and improved collaboration.

6. Deliverables and Work Plan

The length of each deliverable will be negotiated between the consultant and UNICEF Lesotho:

The evaluation report should be between 40-60 pages and include an executive summary.

7. Norms and Standards

These guidance documents mentioned below are those that the evaluation is expected to comply with:

• United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) Norms and Standards for Evaluation in the UN System 2016; (including impartiality, independence, quality, transparency, consultative process) SWAP Evaluation Performance Indicator.
• Ethical Guidelines for UN Evaluations will guide the overall process 
• UNICEF Ethical Guidelines and standards for research and evaluation (relevant information can be found here)
• The evaluation should incorporate the human rights-based and gender perspective and be based on Results Based Management principles

8. Management and Governance Arrangements

The evaluation will be managed by the Chief of Education in collaboration with the Research and Evaluation Committee of the UNICEF Lesotho Country Office. The Committee will contribute to ensuring the relevance, accuracy and hence credibility and utility of the evaluation. The committee will have an advisory role, the main responsibility being to review and comment on key evaluation outputs (i.e. this TOR, the Inception Report, evaluation framework, draft and final reports). A management response will be completed in response to the evaluation.

The MOET will appoint key contacts that will be involved in the planning of the evaluation and ensuring a participatory process in the development of the evaluation framework and methodology

9. Qualifications and Experience

• Minimum of a Master degree (or PHD) in education, child development, international development or any other relevant discipline.
• Experience of both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis
• At least 5 years experience in Programme monitoring and evaluation of education interventions in developing countries
• Good communication and interpersonal skills including facilitation skills
• Demonstrated experience in evaluating initiatives from a human rights/child rights/gender perspective
• Experience of programming/evaluation of child friendly schools is an advantage
• Knowledge and experience of Lesotho is considered an asset

10. Timeframe

The duration of the consultancy should be 4 months.

11. Reporting and Supervisor

Direct supervisor of this consultant is the Education Specialist of the UNICEF Lesotho Country Office.

12. General Conditions, Procedures and Logistics

Conditions of service to be agreed to by the consultant and in line with UNICEF set Standard Terms and Conditions.

• The consultant will work on its own computer(s) and use its own office resources and materials in the execution of this assignment.
• The contractor fee shall be inclusive of all office administrative costs and travel costs.
• The consultant will be able to access UNICEF LCO transport for the execution of the field work.
• Consultant will be paid based only upon submission of deliverables.
• Flight costs will not be covered by UNICEF LCO.

How to apply:

Qualified candidates are requested to complete an application including profile to the respective advertisement on  https://www.unicef.org/about/employ/. Please indicate your ability, availability and financial proposal/quote to complete the terms of reference above. Rates must include all expenses related to the assignment (including administration and logistics).

Applications submitted without a fee/ rate will not be considered.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.