Early Grade Numeracy (EGM) Technical Assistance

IRC Background:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC delivers education programs in 22 conflict-affected or post-conflict countries around the world.  The IRC’s educational interventions strive to help children and youth gain valuable skills and knowledge that will increase their opportunities and life chances and contribute to their well-being and livelihood. The IRC supports formal and non-formal learning activities that lead to tangible learning outcomes and promotes the protection and psychosocial well-being of conflict-affected children and youth.

Project Background:

The IRC Afghanistan has been implementing large scale education in emergencies (CBE) programming in Afghanistan for more than a decade with the support of numerous multi-lateral donors including USAID, ECW, GPE and UNICEF. As a part of a new FCDO-funded education program, IRC will seek to enhance children’s early grade numeracy skills, given critical gaps in basic skill development observed in formal schools in Afghanistan. As a first step in this process, IRC seeks to better understand the current and past landscape for Early Grade Math (EGM) in Afghanistan, as a basis for future technical design and development for EGM approaches and materials.

Objective:

The overarching goal of this consultancy is to undertake a landscape review of current and existing Early Grade Math (EGM) programs and practices in the Afghanistan context to inform the design of a new EGM program for conflict affected children in Afghanistan. This landscape review will be essential in informing new program design, with the goal of understanding what content has already been created by key actors, what has worked well in the Afghanistan context, and what requires improvement for impact for children. This landscape review will include both a secondary desk review as well as primary data collection with interviews of key stakeholders from the NGO sector, donors as well as National Ministry of Education (MoE) to help inform new program development.

Specific Tasks:

The consultant will work together with the IRC’s Afghanistan’s technical team and Technical Advisors for the production of the following deliverables:

Deliverables:

Secondary Landscape Survey of existing EGM materials and approaches (NGOs and donor community)

Secondary Landscape Survey of existing EGM materials, content, competencies, and teaching approaches (national curriculum and national Ministry of Education)  

Primary data collection (FGDs/KIIs) with IRC teachers (2 field locations, CBE and Formal) on EGM instruction and approaches

Analysis of Strengths and Weakness of existing EGM approaches (integrated and explicit)

Report Development

Feedback and Finalization of Report

Presentation of Final Report

Total Days – 30 days