CONSULTANCY TO INTEGRATE GENDER-RESPONSIVE APPROACHES INTO THE THREE EXISTING CHILD FRIENDLY SCHOOLS (CFS) TRAINING MODULES

Background and Justification

Since 2008, UNICEF has been supporting the Child Friendly Schools (CFS) initiative in Angola. From 2018 onwards, UNICEF has been implementing the model in the municipalities of Cacula, Gambos and Quipungo in the province of Huila. Among other things, this model is characterized by promoting teaching processes that contribute to the cognitive, social and emotional development of students based on pedagogical practices that place the student as the central figure in the educational process.

Within the scope of Child Friendly Schools project in Angola, in 2015 the Ministry of Education and UNICEF developed three manuals to support trainings for teachers, directors and parent committee members:

(1)       Student-Centred Pedagogy (Ensino Centrado no Aluno) - The student-centred training manual is based on a student-centred learning approach. This approach, anchored in the philosophy of social constructivism, and differentiated pedagogy, promotes participatory processes of teaching and learning that emphasize differentiated pedagogy and instruction to ensure that the unique learning needs of individual students are met.

(2)       Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) for Students (Água, Saneamento e Higiene (ASH) para Alunos) – The WASH manual provides clear guidance on WASH infrastructure and hygiene practices needed to ensure safe, clean school environments for students and staff.

(3)       Leadership and School Management (Módulo Sobre Liderança e Gestão Escolar) – The leadership and school management manual provides guidance to school directors and parent committee members on how to lead and organize schools, with a focus on the development of School Management Plans (Projectos Educacativos Escolares).

The existing manuals, while extremely useful, are not currently adequately gender responsive, nor have they been updated in the light of learning methodologies that allow the acquisition of practical, transferable skills for lifelong learning within the school environment. These transversal skills must be integrated into the learning processes of different subjects addressed in the manuals. The development and implementation of transferable skills for lifelong learning facilitates learning processes and helps transform approaches such as gender equality into practice.

While issues of gender are sometimes addressed in the three documents mentioned above, they do not employ an explicit gender lens to examine the differentiated ways that boys and girls experience their school environments.  In the context of Angola this is problematic: girls face significant challenges accessing quality education, and educational processes, spaces, and learning materials are frequently not gender responsive. In Angola, evidence suggests that major gender inequalities negatively impact the lives of girls:

•           The Human Capital Index developed and published by the World Bank in 2018 suggests that girls’ access to education and learning outcomes are lower than for boys. On average, girls go to school almost two years less than their male counterparts, and their outcome of quality learning years is 0.8 years less than boys.

•           With the closure of schools in 2020 and early 2021 due to Covid-19, girls lost the protection that schools often provide against exploitation and gender-based violence (GBV). Administrative data from the Criminal Investigation Services suggests that GBV increased significantly during the pandemic: 77% more cases were reported nationally between January and June 2020 than compared to the same period in 2019. In 2020, 7,283 girls reported being victims of physical, sexual or psychological violence, and according to INAC, nearly 15,000 children experienced one of these same forms of violence in 2020 (SOS Child Line, 2020). Early pregnancy and marriage tend to increase among girls, which will make it more difficult for them to return to school.

•           According to Demographic Health Survey data (INE, 2015-2016), only 58% of women are literate, while the literacy rate among men is 84%. In rural areas, the difference is even greater: only 25% of women are literate compared to 63% of men.

•           The completion rate of lower secondary education in the first cycle is 74.8%. The difference by sex shows that girls are at a disadvantage: data from the Angolan Ministry of Education’s Education Management and Information System (EMIS, or SIGE in Portuguese) shows that 69.7% of girls compared to 79.8% for boys.  In upper secondary education, the completion rate is 25.8%; for girls it is 24% and for boys it is 27.5%.  (MED - SIGE, 2020).

The data above hihlights the need for improvements in gender-responsive approaches in all areas of the Angolan education system. This includes strengthening gender-responsive pedagogy, gender-responsive school leadership, and gender-responsive water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure and practices. UNICEF Angola feels that a greater emphasis on gender equity – anchored in a right-based approach that guarantees children’s access to safe, quality learning – is strongly needed in the Child Friendly Schools project.

This consultancy will contribute to strengthening gender equity in the CFS project by revising and improving the three manuals to be more gender responsive and to help develop transferable skills for lifelong learning, such as (but not limited to) empathy, participation and respect for diversity. For example, the student-centred pedagogy module can be strengthened by incorporating principles and practices from the Gender Responsive Pedagogy (GRP) toolkit developed by the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) to address quality aspects of teaching in African schools, with the support of  UNESCO, UNICEF, IICBA, and the Creative Action Institute. The GRP methodology:

 “focuses on the individual needs of students, especially girls, and aims to equip teachers with the knowledge, skills and attitudes that will enable them to respond appropriately to the learning needs of girls and boys by improving gender-aware classroom processes and practices... It develops teaching practices that engender equal treatment and participation of girls and boys in the classroom and in the wider school community. It advocates for classroom practices that ensure equal participation of girls and boys, including a classroom environment that encourages both to thrive. Teachers are trained in the design and use of gender-responsive lesson plans, classroom interaction, classroom set-up, language use in the classroom, teaching and learning materials, management of sexual maturation, strategies to eliminate sexual harassment, gender-responsive school management systems, and monitoring and evaluation”.

 The adaptation and improvement of the manuals from a gender and transferable skills perspective will help to ensure that issues of access, quality and schools management in supported schools will be addressed through gender-sensitive policies, processes and infrastructure. This gender lens is needed if the model is to be taken to scale.

Objective:

To integrae gender-responsive approaches into the three existing Child Friendly Schools (CFS)  training modules (Student-centred Pedagogy; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene [WASH]; and Leadership and School Management), in the process integrating transferable skills for lifelong learning for students, teachers, directors and caregivers into the manuals.

Specific Objectives:

1.         To examine the current CFS training manuals and assess the extent to which they are gender sensitive (i.e. they explicitly acknowledge and address the differentiated ways that girls and boys experience education);

2.         To summarize international, regional and national evidence with regards to gender responsive pedagogy and gender-sensitive educational processes, including the development of the necessary skills to foster gender-sensitive practices and behaviours (such as participation, empathy, and respect for diversity) identifying good practices and lessons learned for the Angolan context;

3.         To examine the extent to which CFS-supported schools employ gender responsive pedagogy and have policies and management structures and procedures that are gender responsive, including WASH practices and facilities that are gender responsive;

4.         To develop updated versions of the three training manuals incorporating gender-responsive approaches that explicitly develop transferable skills for lifelong learning among students, teachers, directors and parents, including activities to pilot the manuals at the school level an to validate with key stakeholders

Methodology

The consultancy will employ the following qualitative research methodology to meet the objectives outlined above:

•           Desk review of key national and international documents;

•           Key informant interviews;

•           School site visits and classroom observations;

•           Observations of trainings using the updated manuals

Activities & Tasks

1.         Development of a chronogram/workplan

2.         Development of an inception report for the project, including:

a.         Desk review of national and international literature related to gender-sensitive pedagogy (including how transferable skills create positive practices and support lifelong learning), gender sensitive school management and gender-sensitive WASH practices and infrastructure. This should include a rapid review of national regulations and guidance around gender equity in the Angolan education system;

b.         Proposed research plan (including research methodology, draft interview protocols, and draft gender-sensitive observation protocols for the field visit)

3.         Desk review of three CFS training manuals to assess the extent to which they are gender-responsive and gender-sensitive, or encourage the development of transferable life and citizenship skills;

4.         Key informant interviews of key stakeholders at the national, provincial, municipal and school/community levels;

5.         Site visits to CFS schools in Huila, including classroom observations;

6.         Development of the first draft of the three revised documents;

7.         Facilitation of an online workshop to present and validate the draft updated manuals to national, provincial, and municipal partners;

8.         Update of the manuals based on feedback received during the validation workshop with stakeholders;

9.         Completion of a training of trainers (5 – 10 people trainers/technical staff from MED and the Province of Luanda) on the revised draft manuals;

10.       Pilot and assessment the three updated manuals via trainings in the municipalities of Viana and/or Cacuaco in Luanda. Trainings will be held to pilot each of the manuals  (1) the updated Student-Centred Pedagogy with 15-25 teachers and directores; (2) the updated Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) for Students with 15-25 teachers, directors and parents/caregivers; and (3) the updated Leadership and School Management manual for 15-25 directors and parent committee members. This will require the following activities:

a.         Development of assessment forms to observe how the updated manuals are used by trainers and training participants;

b.         Development of a feedback/assessment from for trainers and participants to assess the extent to which the manuals are gender responsive;

c.         Observations of the three training sessions in Luanda;

11.       Update and finalization of the three manuals based on the pilot observations and feedback from trainers and participants.

Geographic Scope

The majority of the consultancy will take place remotely; however, classrooms will be observed in the CFS-supported municipalities of Cacula, Quipungo and Gambos in the province of Huila. It is estimated that a visit of at least 5 working days to the province of Huila will be required to speak with key stakeholders and understand the context of CFS-supported schools in Angola. In addition, the piloting training and piloting of the manuals will take place in the municipalities of

Cacuaco and/or Viana in Luanda.

Meetings wit key stakeholders at the Ministry of Education and with UNICEF will be needed. These meetings will take place remotely.

Estimated Time Required in Angola:

•           Province of Huila - 5 working days

•           Luanda – at least 10 working days

All the costs to support this field work should be included in the financial proposal. If translation services are required, they may be included in the financial bid.

Required qualifications, desired competencies, technical background and experience

The minimum requirements are:

•           Minimum of three years' knowledge and experience in the design and production of educational materials and learning pedagogy for elementary school students.

•           Minimum of three years of experience in teacher training processes in teaching-learning pedagogy.  Knowledge of the skills-based approach is an asset.

•           Minimum of three years’ knowledge of the gender approach and its application to the development of educational material and training processes.

•           Experience in using tools to monitor progress in training processes, and students learning

•           Strong writing skills.

•           Proven ability of working with people and communication skills to work with people of government institutions, teachers, communities, and children.

•           Experience working in a development context, ideally Africa/Angola, is required.

•           Experience working with the UN or similar development agencies is preferred.

•           Demonstrated proficiency with Microsoft Office; advanced skills with publishing software such as Adobe InDesign or Microsoft Publisher preferred.

•           Professional proficiency in Portuguese is required (B2 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages [CEFR] or higher); proficiency in English is also strongly preferred (B2 or higher).

Consultants/Institutional Contractors interested in participating in this Requirement can submit their offers to the emails supplyangola@unicef.org, indicating BID REFERENCE LRFPS FO N° 2021-9170583.