TERMS OF REFERENCE DEVELOP THE STATUS OF EDUCATION REPORT

TERMS OF REFERENCE DEVELOP THE STATUS OF EDUCATION REPORT

STATUS OF SCHOOL DROP-OUT RATES, EARLY PREGNANCIES AND EARLY MARRIAGES IN LIGHT OF COVID 19 PANDEMIC

  • INTRODUCTION

The Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) is a network of Civil Society Organisations registered under the Registrar of Societies Act on 3rd July, 2002 on certificate number ORS/102/35/2581. The organisation currently has seventy (70) Member Organisations comprising of Community Based Organisations, Faith Based Organisations, Non-Governmental Organisations and Teacher Trade Unions.

The organization’s mandate is to coordinate civil society advocacy for quality, equitable and inclusive education for all Zambians. ZANEC’s focus is therefore on national plans and international frameworks that advance education in Zambia. Particularly, the Coalition takes interest in the operationalization of the Education and Skills Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) for the Education Sector in Zambia and how its interventions take into account agreed upon national and international frameworks.  This is achieved through participation in policy influencing, monitoring and research.

  • PURPOSE OF CONSULTANCY

The Status of Education Report is ZANEC’s annual flagship report with varying themes each year to give the Coalition perspectives on pertinent issues affecting service delivery. The Status of Education Report allows the Coalition to distil key issues of advocacy based on emerging issues in the sector.  Past reports have covered the topics such as quality of education, gender and equality as well as disability in the education sector.

The 2021 Status of Education report is supported through the funding from the Education Out Loud Campaign of the Global Partnership for Education through Oxfam Ibis. The 2021 study will focus on the effects of Covid 19 on the retention of learners. This focus emanates from the recent school readiness and accountability monitoring survey as well as the continuity of learning survey conducted by ZANEC in 2020 and 2021 respectively. Key among the findings of the monitoring is that the school closures caused by the outbreak of Covid 19 pandemic in 2020 which lasted 6 months saw increased cases of pregnancy, early marriages and a high number of learners not returning to school, especially in rural areas. Thus, this Status of Education Report will seek to interrogate the actual status on the ground and provide recommendations for remediating the situation. The report is also envisaged to prescribe measures for promoting the safety of learners both in and out of the school environment, in line with ZANEC’s Learner Protection Policy.

  • SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:

 

  1. To review the gender and disability responsiveness of policies developed to mitigate the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on education and how well they have been implemented.
  2. To investigate the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on school drop-out rates, early pregnancies and early marriages at primary and secondary school levels
  3. To make policy recommendations for mitigating the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on school drop-outs and girls’ retention in school.

 

  • SCOPE OF WORK

ZANEC wishes to hire a consultant for sixteen (16) working days to conduct an analysis of the Status of Education with regard to learner drop-out rates during COVID 19 period and recommend mitigation measures. Specifically, the consultant will be required to do the following:

  1. Review policy documents developed by government to mitigate the impact of COVID 19 to find out the extent to which gender and equity issues were mainstreamed
  2. Conduct a rapid assessment of how well the gender and equity policy measures in (i) above were implemented.
  • Conduct a desk review and interviews with relevant target groups to assess the number of children in school by gender (enrolment rates) before and after Covid closure;
  1. Identify root causes of drop outs among the learners during the COVID 19 pandemic
  2. Identify plausible mitigation measures to return and retain learners in school;
  3. Analyse the budget allocations and disbursements towards COVID mitigation measures that aim to retain learners in primary and secondary schools;
  • Develop a 2 paged Policy Brief with appropriate info graphics summarising and visualising the key findings and recommendations of the study;
  • Disseminate findings of the report to a stakeholders’ meeting to be organised in liaison with the ZANEC Secretariat.

 

  • KEY DELIVERABLES
  1. An inception report outlining the methodology, key deliverables and timeframes;
  2. A satisfactory draft report to be reviewed by ZANEC Secretariat;
  • A satisfactory second draft to be reviewed by the Secretariat;
  1. Final full Status of Education Report;
  2. Two paged Policy Brief with relevant info graphics derived from the final report.
  3. Power point presentation of the key findings of the report
  • REQUIRED COMPETENCIES
  • Must possess Masters’ Degree in Education, Gender or a related field;
  • Proven experience and track record in working around gender issues and the education sector;
  • Strong analytical, facilitation, writing and communication skills;
  • Ability to devote full time towards meeting assignment deadlines.

All expressions of interest with a clear presentation on the understanding of the task, methodology, competencies and proposed cost must be submitted through post or email to the address below by Friday, 25th June, 2021.

The Executive Director,

Zambia National Education Coalition,

Baptist Fellowship Building,

Plot 3061/2 Corner Makishi Road and Great East Road,

P.O. Box 30774,

Lusaka-Zambia,

Email: admin@zanec.org.zm

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