1.0 Introduction

The Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) is a Non-Governmental Organisation established in 2002 to coordinate the national efforts of education based non-state actors and education trade unions to work in partnership with the Zambian government and other stakeholders in the attainment of national and international education goals. It is an umbrella organization with a membership of 78 Civil Society Organizations. The core business of ZANEC is to influence quality education service delivery through advocacy, policy engagement, research, promoting social accountability, member capacity building and networking.

Since its formation, ZANEC has been working based on strategic plans agreed upon by its Member Organisations with input from other education sector stakeholders. The current 2016 -2020 Strategic Plan comes to an end in December, 2020. The Coalition is therefore calling for consultancy services to facilitate the development of the next Strategic Plan that will give ZANEC the strategic direction for the period 2021 – 2025.

2.0     Purpose and Objective

The purpose of the consultancy is to facilitate the development of a new Strategic Plan, taking into consideration lessons learnt, challenges and recommendations arising from the experience gained and the strategic plan evaluations conducted.

3.0     Scope of Work

The consultant is expected to facilitate the development of a Strategic Plan through a consultative process anchored on a well-articulated context analysis, strategies and strategic objectives for the operationalization of the ZANEC mission for the next five years. The current strategic plan evaluation report will play major role in informing the direction that ZANEC will decide to take in the next strategic plan.

  Specifically, the consultant will be expected to do the following:

1. To facilitate consultations among key stakeholders to candidly review ZANEC past operations and recommend the proposed future of the organization;
2. To design a consultative workshop programme that will ensure development of a relevant and realistic overall organizational goal, strategic direction, indicators and outputs that will guide ZANEC operations for the period 2021 – 2025;
3. To facilitate a Strategic Planning Consultative Workshop for ZANEC members and other education stakeholders;
4. To guide stakeholders towards the development of the direction and theme for the new strategic period;
5. To synthesize the proceedings of the consultative processes and the Strategic Planning Workshop into a well articulated, concise and practical 5 year Strategic Plan;
6. To initiate the developing  of the 2021 Annual Plans and Budgets with Member Organisations and;
7. To submit a satisfactory draft and final Strategic Plan Document to the Secretariat by agreed upon dates.

4.0     Specific Deliverables

• Detailed inception report with a work plan, including a list of documents to be reviewed and proposed Strategic Plan format/structure
• Stakeholders consultative workshop report
• First draft strategic plan to be submitted to the Board of Governors’ Administrative Committee for review  
• Second draft strategic plan based on feedback
• Final Strategic Plan document to be submitted by a date to be agreed upon during the inception meeting and to be reflected in the Inception Report
• 2 paged summary highlighting the major highlights of the Strategic Plan
• A presentation of the Strategic Plan to ZANEC Secretariat and Board Members

5.0     Qualifications

1. Must at least possess a Masters’ Degree in Social Sciences, Education, Gender or equivalent;
2. Must have proven experience in organizational strategic planning
3. Working experience with civil society organizations in Zambia
4. Must have expertise in organizational development processes
5. Knowledge in education and gender issues
6. Knowledge in overall national development issues
7. Good writing and facilitation skills

6.0     Time Frame

The consultant is expected to work for a period of 15 working days spread according to a deliverables-based work plan. The period includes planning and delivery of all stated deliverables.

7.0     Closing Date

*** Expressions of Interest must be accompanied by a resume detailing experiences with similar work; provide evidence of one or two similar works done with traceable references; provide an understanding/interpretation of the Terms of Reference, methodology with set timeframes and the proposed fees.

Interested consultants should submit Expressions of Interest not later than Monday, 21^st September 2020 at 17:00hours:

The Executive Director,

Zambia National Education Coalition,

Baptist Fellowship Building,

Plot 3061/2 Corner Makishi and Great East Road,

P.O. Box 30774,

Lusaka-Zambia,

Email: admin@zanec.org.zm; director@zanec.zm; information@zanec.org.zm; programmes@zanec.zm

The Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) is calling for entries for the 2020 ZANEC Education Media Awards. The award-giving ceremony is conducted every year to recognize and reward journalists who have contributed towards the need for quality education in our country.

BACKGROUND TO THE AWARDS

The objective of the awards is to promote reporting on the Education and Skills Sector hence raising public awareness, understanding, participation and the need for the provision of quality education in the country. Also promotion of education in light of COVID 19 pandemic is important.  The entries must be based on one of the three (3) selected Education Sub Sectors namely:

1. Skills and Tertiary Education – with a bias to Academic Freedoms and quality of education in Higher Institutions of Learning.
2. Youth and Adult Literacy Education (YALE).
3. Gender and Equity.

The article; program; documentary or video must demonstrate the author or producer’s understanding of the Education and Skills Sector at the barest minimum.

Eligibility

The awards are open for published and broadcasted works in print, radio, television or online media. Only journalists who are Zambian nationals are eligible for the competition. The competition is only open to individual journalists and not media institutions or organizations;

The entries shall be works published/broadcast between 1st July 2019 and 30^th June 2020

Languages
All works entered for the competition shall be in English Language.

Categories
Entries shall consist of the following:

• Print Journalism: Features articles or stories published in mainstream newspapers, magazines, journals or newsletters.
• Radio Journalism: Documentary or discussion programmes.
• Television Journalism: Documentary or discussion programme.
• Online/news media: Feature articles or stories published on online media.

Adjudication and Awards

The selection of winners will be done by an adjudication panel identified by ZANEC Secretariat with expertise in media and media development. The winners will get a monetary award, a trophy and a certificate.

Respects for copy rights

All entries submitted must be original and in conformity with copyright requirements and must have been published or broadcast between 1^st July 2019 and 30^th June 2020.

Deadlines

• All submissions should be made to ZANEC by Monday, 5^th October, 2020.

• Further information on ZANEC can be obtained from:
• Website: www.zanec.org.zm
• Facebook www.facebook.com/Zambia – National- Education -Coalition

All submission are to be made to:

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  / information@zanec.org.zm

1.0 Introduction

The Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) is a Non-Governmental Organisation established in 2002 to coordinate the national efforts of education based non-state actors and education trade unions to work in partnership with the Zambian government and other stakeholders in the attainment of national and international education goals. It is an umbrella organization with a membership of 78 Civil Society Organizations. The core business of ZANEC is to influence quality education service delivery through advocacy, policy engagement, research, promoting social accountability, member capacity building and networking.

Since its formation, ZANEC has been working based on strategic plans agreed upon by its Member Organisations with input from other education sector stakeholders. The current 2016 -2020 Strategic Plan comes to an end in December, 2020. The Coalition is therefore calling for consultancy services to facilitate the development of the next Strategic Plan that will give ZANEC the strategic direction for the period 2021 – 2025.

2.0     Purpose and Objective

The purpose of the consultancy is to facilitate the development of a new Strategic Plan, taking into consideration lessons learnt, challenges and recommendations arising from the experience gained and the strategic plan evaluations conducted.

3.0     Scope of Work

The consultant is expected to facilitate the development of a Strategic Plan through a consultative process anchored on a well-articulated context analysis, strategies and strategic objectives for the operationalization of the ZANEC mission for the next five years. The current strategic plan evaluation report will play major role in informing the direction that ZANEC will decide to take in the next strategic plan.

  Specifically, the consultant will be expected to do the following:

I. To facilitate consultations among key stakeholders to candidly review ZANEC past operations and recommend the proposed future of the organization;

II. To design a consultative workshop programme that will ensure development of a relevant and realistic overall organizational goal, strategic direction, indicators and outputs that will guide ZANEC operations for the period 2021 – 2025;

III. To facilitate a Strategic Planning Consultative Workshop for ZANEC members and other education stakeholders;

IV. To guide stakeholders towards the development of the direction and theme for the new strategic period;

V. To synthesize the proceedings of the consultative processes and the Strategic Planning Workshop into a well articulated, concise and practical 5 year Strategic Plan;

VI. To initiate the developing  of the 2021 Annual Plans and Budgets with Member Organisations and;

VII. To submit a satisfactory draft and final Strategic Plan Document to the Secretariat by agreed upon dates.

4.0     Specific Deliverables

• Detailed inception report with a work plan, including a list of documents to be reviewed and proposed Strategic Plan format/structure
• Stakeholders consultative workshop report
• First draft strategic plan to be submitted to the Board of Governors’ Administrative Committee for review  
• Second draft strategic plan based on feedback
• Final Strategic Plan document to be submitted by a date to be agreed upon during the inception meeting and to be reflected in the Inception Report
• 2 paged summary highlighting the major highlights of the Strategic Plan
• A presentation of the Strategic Plan to ZANEC Secretariat and Board Members

5.0     Qualifications

I. Must at least possess a Masters’ Degree in Social Sciences, Education, Gender or equivalent;

II. Must have proven experience in organizational strategic planning

III. Working experience with civil society organizations in Zambia

IV. Must have expertise in organizational development processes

V. Knowledge in education and gender issues

VI. Knowledge in overall national development issues

VII. Good writing and facilitation skills

6.0     Time Frame

The consultant is expected to work for a period of 15 working days spread according to a deliverables-based work plan. The period includes planning and delivery of all stated deliverables.

7.0     Closing Date

Interested consultants should submit Expressions of Interest with a demonstration of track record/experience, technical interpretation/understanding of the Terms of Reference, time frame for delivery, proposed Consultancy Fees and CV(s) not later than Monday, 31^st August 2020 at 17:00hours to:

The Executive Director,

Zambia National Education Coalition,

Baptist Fellowship Building,

Plot 3061/2 Corner Makishi and Great East Road,

P.O. Box 30774,

Lusaka-Zambia,

Email: admin@zanec.org.zm and infoHR@zanec.org.zm

FACILITATE MONITORING OF THE RE-ENTRY POLICY IN FOUR PROVINCES, THREE DISTRICTS EACH TO PROMOTE GENDER PARITY

1. INTRODUCTION

The Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) is a network of Civil Society Organizations registered under the Registrar of Societies Act 119 of the Laws of Zambia on 3rd July, 2002 on certificate number ORS/102/35/2581. The organization currently has 78 Member Organizations comprising of Community Based Organizations, Faith Based Organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations and Teacher Trade Unions. The Member Organisations work in different parts of the country and in different sub-sectors of education. ZANEC’s mandate is to coordinate civil society advocacy for quality, equitable and inclusive education for all Zambians.

ZANEC’s vision is ‘A sustainable and inclusive education system that responds to national aspirations and fosters an environment for self-fulfillment. The mission of the Coalition is to promote quality and inclusive education for all, through influencing of policy, consensus building, holding duty bearers accountable, and strengthening the capacities of stakeholders in the education sector.

2.0 BACKGROUND

The Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) advocates for quality learner outcomes through provision of a good, equitable learning environment and sufficient, efficient and timely service delivery in the Education and Skills Sector. As a strategy to promote access to education for all Zambians, ZANEC identified gender as one of the key cross cutting issues, in particular the need for achieving gender parity and retention in the sector. Gender parity at lower primary education has almost been achieved with current data showing a parity of 1.02 by 2018.  However, less females are accessing education at higher levels where the gender parity has remained stagnant at 0.85. There are several factors that take away adolescent girls from the education system including child marriages and pregnancies, poor water and sanitation facilities in schools and long distances coupled with inadequate boarding facilities in most schools. Sadly, Zambia continues to record high numbers of pregnancies among female learners with current figures showing that   11, 453 and 3, 576 girls get pregnant at primary and secondary school level annually respectively. There is urgent need to seriously look into the challenges of implementing the Re-entry Policy to enable more girls return to school in order to mitigate against increasing the number of illiterate women in the country.  Further, only 4,917 and 2,488 re-admissions were recorded in 2018 at primary and secondary levels respectively.   Although the numbers show improvement over the years, more needs to be done as the change is painfully slow and continues to see most female learners disadvantaged.

3.0 RATIONALE

ZANEC has received funding from the Education Out Loud Campaign of the Global Campaign for Education through Oxfam Ibis to monitor the implementation of the Re-entry Policy. This will build upon the monitoring conducted in 2018 and will endeavour to identify bottlenecks to the effective implementation of the Policy as well as ascertain to what extent the Policy Guidelines are being adhered to in schools.

3.1 OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

 The objective of the exercise is to generate evidence that can help strengthen ZANEC’s advocacy case for the prevention and mitigation of girls’ drop-out rates due to pregnancy.

3.2 EXPECTED OUTCOMES

3.2.3 Evidence of the status of implementation of the Re-entry Policy

3.2.2 Enhanced advocacy for accelerated and effective implementation of the Re-entry Policy

3.3 SCOPE OF WORK

In order to conduct effective monitoring, ZANEC will engage a lead consultant to support Member Organisations in the Gender Equality and Equity Sub-sector Committee and Member Organisations based in the target areas to conduct the monitoring exercise.

 The Member Organisations, who are responsible for direct monitoring of the implementation of the Re-entry Policy, will track, among other things:

i. to ascertain utilisation of budget allocations enabling the implementation of the Re-entry Policy which will promote the return of girls who drop out of school because of early pregnancies;

ii. the levels of awareness on the Re-entry Policy Guidelines in schools;

iii. the main causes of early pregnancies;

iv. the number of girls who fall pregnant annually by age;

v. the number of pregnant girls who return to school after delivery;

vi. reasons some pregnant girls are still not going back to school despite the Policy.

vii. Uptake of ZANEC recommendations from the last monitoring exercise

3.4 METHODOLOGY

The monitoring exercise will be preceded by a one-day virtual re-orientation of the tools and the monitoring process. The consultant will thereafter assign the Members of the Gender Sub-sector Committee to work with the members based in the target areas in collecting information.

The targeted provinces for the exercise are: Eastern, Luapula, North-Western and Southern Provinces where there are high numbers of pregnancies and early marriages among girls of school going age. Three districts will be monitored in each province. In light of Covid pandemic, monitors will as much as possible utilise telephone and virtual means to conduct the exercise but will also have minimal contact with the schools.  

Following the provincial exercise, the monitoring teams will convene to analyse and consolidate the report into one, using online technology such as zoom and share point. Consolidation of the provincial reports will be done by selected members who will then submit to the consultant for refining and analysis.

3.5 Overall expected tasks to be delivered by the Consultant

3.5.1 to conduct a training of data collectors on the methodologies and tools to be used for the Monitoring Exercise, using the Gender Monitoring Tool;

3.5.2 Supervise and provide close guidance to  data collectors while they are in the field;

3.5.3 Conduct desk review on background of the implementation of the Re-entry Policy;

3.5.4 Convene feedback meeting with data collectors;

3.5.5 Analyse data and synthesise into one report with key recommendations for efficient budgeting and implementation

3.5.6 Present findings of the monitoring to the engagement meeting to be organised by ZANEC Secretariat.

4.0 KEY DELIVERABLES

•  Facilitation of one-day orientation meeting;
  • Report of orientation meeting;
  • First draft monitoring report for Secretariat review;
  •  Final report submitted seven days after feedback from Secretariat;
  • Presentation of report at engagement meeting

5.0 REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

The consultant will be required to have the following competencies:

5.1 Masters’ Degree in Education, Gender or any field related to the Education and Skills Sector.

5.2 At least five years’ experience policy monitoring work. Experience in the Education and Skills Sector will be an added advantage;

          5.3 Must possess analytical skills

*** Expressions of Interest must be accompanied by a resume detailing experiences with similar work; provide evidence of one or two similar works done with traceable references; provide an understanding/interpretation of the Terms of Reference, methodology with set timeframes and the proposed fees.

Interested applicants should send their application no later than 1^st September, 2020 to:

The Executive Director
Zambia National Education CoalitionBaptist Fellowship

Cnr of Makishi and Great East Road
P.O. Box 30774, Lusaka
Email: admin@zanec.org.zm and infoHR@zanec.org.zm

Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) is saddened by the passing on of its Chairperson Mrs Harriet Sianjibu Miyato who passed on on 4th of August 2020. Who was also the Executive Director of Zambia Open Community Schools (ZOCS) a member of ZANEC. The late Chairperson will be put to rest today 8th August 2020. May her soul Rest in Eternal Peace.

1. Background

The Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) is a coalition of civil society organisations engaged in the education sector in Zambia. It was formed in 2001 to lobby and advocate for the Education for All (EFA) agenda in Zambia. This followed Zambia’s participation at the Dakar EFA forum in 2000 and a need to respond to the challenge. ZANEC’s mandate later broadened to focus on national, regional and international educations goals and commitments made by the Zambian government. ZANEC’s intention is therefore to work with its members to enhance their capacity to participate in the achievement of education goals in Zambia. 

ZANEC is looking for a suitably qualified consultant to conduct an evaluation of the impact of its Strategic Plan. The first evaluation of ZANEC was undertaken in 2010 under the 2008-2011 Strategic Plan and was commissioned by the Irish Aid, then ZANEC’s main institutional donor. The second evaluation was conducted in 2015 for the 2012-2015 Strategic Plan. Therefore, this evaluation is intended to among other things, inform stakeholders on how the Coalition has grown since the last evaluation and its achievements over the 2016-2020 strategic period.

2 Purpose and Objectives of the Evaluation

The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the progress and performance of the ZANEC programmes and activities under the current Strategic Plan; identify factors that contribute to the organisation’s successful implementation of the Strategic Plan; identify the nature and magnitude of constraints that affected the effective implementation of the ZANEC programmes and activities; inform stakeholders including cooperating partners whether or not ZANEC is making a significant contribution towards quality education service delivery; and to make appropriate recommendations for the future growth focus of ZANEC.

Evaluation Objectives

The objectives of the evaluation are:

i. to assess the performance of ZANEC over the last 5 years since the commencement of the current Strategic Plan, including defining its strengths and weaknesses and providing recommendations to consolidate the strengths and mitigate the weaknesses;

ii. based on the recommendations, to define clear objectives concerning the strengthening of ZANEC within the context of the changing operating environment in Zambia; and

iii .to identify the necessary human resources (profiles, etc.) in order to operationalise the objectives and provide proposals for an improved organisational structure.

3. Scope of the Evaluation

The scope of the evaluation includes all ZANEC programmes and activities implemented from 2016 to date. The evaluation should assess the organisation as a whole and address the aspects outlined in the annex to these terms of reference (“Specific Aspects to Be Addressed”)and make appropriate recommendations. 

4. Expected deliverables

The expected outputs to be delivered by the evaluator(s) are:

4.1 Inception/concept report;

4.2 Evaluation instruments prepared by the Evaluator(s);

4.3 Selected field visits relevant to ZANEC’s programmes and activities;

4.4 Draft evaluation report, including findings from field visits by the Evaluator(s);

4.5 Final analytical report including:

• Executive Summary with key findings, conclusions and recommendations;
• Clearly identified findings and conclusions;
• Recommendations for ZANEC’s future operations;
• Key achievements and Lessons learned;
• Appropriate Annexes.

4.6 The total length of the report should be a maximum of 30 pages for the main report, excluding annexes; additional annexes can provide background and details on specific components of the ZANEC evaluation. The report should be submitted as one complete document.

4.7 All drafts and final outputs, including supporting documents, analytical reports and raw data should be provided both in paper copy and in electronic versions compatible for Word for Windows. 

4.8 Ownership of data from the evaluation rests with ZANEC. The copyright of the evaluation report will rest with ZANEC. Use of the data for publication and other presentations can only be made with the written agreement of ZANEC. Key stakeholders can make appropriate use of the evaluation report in line with the original purpose and with appropriate acknowledgement. 

5. Methodology

5.1 The review will be carried out using relevant documents (desk review) and selected stakeholder consultations and interviews. 

5.2 At the end of the desk review period, the Evaluator(s) will prepare a brief inception/concept document indicating the Evaluator(s)’ understanding of the assignment; the proposed methodological approach for the evaluation; the evaluation instruments; and the work plan and budget, to be discussed and approved by ZANEC prior to the commencement of the field trips.

5.3 The evaluation instruments prepared by the Evaluator(s) will indicate further selected specific aspects to be addressed. The evaluation instruments should identify the priority aspects to be addressed in the evaluation.

5.4 The Evaluator(s) will work to the highest evaluation standards and codes of conduct.

6. Competencies of Evaluator(s)

The profile of the Evaluator(s) should include:

• Relevant background in social and/or economic development;
• Experience in working on education issues in Zambia;
• Experience in working on civil society issues in Zambia;
• Experience in the designing, management and evaluation of development programmes and activities, in particular with policy level work, institution building and local development projects;
• Fluency in English.

7.Management of the Consultancy

7.1 The consultancy will be overseen by the ZANEC Secretariat. The Secretariat will meet with the Evaluators at mutually agreed intervals, depending on the work plan that will be agreed with ZANEC. The Secretariat will also be available to respond to queries as they arise.

7.2 Payment details will be indicated in the contract to be signed between ZANEC and the Evaluator(s).

All proposals must be submitted through email or hand delivered to the address below by Monday, 4^th May, 2020.

The Executive Director,

Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC),

Baptist Fellowship Building,

Plot 3061/2 Corner Makishi and Great East Road,

P.O. Box 30774,

Lusaka-Zambia,

Email: infoHR@zanec.org.zm

Annex: Specific Aspects to Be Addressed

The following are among the aspects and questions that should be addressed in the evaluation:

1. Implementation (Effectiveness and Impact)
   1. 1Assess whether ZANEC achieved its objectives and intended outputs and outcomes as envisaged in the Strategic Plan. 
   1. 2 How would you rate the quality and relevance of the information and reports produced by ZANEC?
   1. 3 In what ways is Government, specifically MoGE and MoHE, involved with ZANEC and how would you assess its level of support for ZANEC work?
   1. 4 Is the entire target population being reached? 
   1. 5, What mechanisms are in place for organisational monitoring?
   1. 6. Assess the quality and use of work plans and monitoring plans.
   1. 7 How do factors outside the control of ZANEC affect objectives and programme and activity implementation and how does ZANEC deal with these external factors?
   1. 8 How effectively does ZANEC deploy resources?
   1. 9 Assess the effectiveness of ZANEC’s overall management arrangements.
   1. 10 Assess the effectiveness of ZANEC’s financial management.
   1. 11Assess the participation of the various relevant actors in ZANEC’s programmes and activities. How do these actors participate in programme and activity implementation?  How does this participation affect the outcomes of the programmes and activities?

• 2 Organisational Structure
• 2.1Is ZANEC’s organisational structure appropriate, feasible and realistic for achieving its objectives?
• 2.2 Are the linkages between objectives, inputs, activities and outputs clear and logical (i.e. according to a logic model)?
• 2.3 Is the organisational structure relevant to the national education situation and the needs of the target groups?
• 2.4Is the organisational strategy gender sensitive and does it recognise and respond to the vulnerabilities of girls and women?
• 2.5 Does the organisational strategy correspond to national priorities and development of policies?
• 2.6 Does the organisational strategy correspond to the current and changing aid environment?
• 2.7 To what extent does the structure take into account the capacity of ZANEC and the commitment of stakeholders, especially the Ministry of Education?
• 2.8 Examine the capacity constraints of ZANEC and the commitment of stakeholders, and how this impacts on the implementation of programmes and activities.
• 2.9 Does the Secretariat adequately support the Sub-sector Committees? What capacity gaps are evident in the Secretariat and Sub-sector Committees?
• 2.10 To what extent were external factors and assumptions identified at the time that the organisational structure was put in place? How have these been addressed since?
• 3 Relevance
  • 3.1 Assess the choice of strategies that ZANEC adopted. Were they relevant to the problems it was aiming to address? Did the results of ZANEC’s programmes and activities solve the problems, as intended?
  • 3.2 Do the problems and needs that gave rise to the stipulated strategic plan priorities still exist or has the situation changed? If so in what ways?
  • 3.3 How does ZANEC know whether it is responding to the real needs of the beneficiaries in its strategic plans?
  • 3.4 Assess the validity of ZANEC’s approach and strategies and their potential to upscale.
  • 3.5 What changes are taking place in the educational environment that are not taking place in ZANEC?

• 4 Efficiency
  • 4.1 Examine the delivery of ZANEC’s outputs and outcomes in terms of quality and quantity. Are they being delivered in a timely manner?
  • 4.2 Assess the efficiency of ZANEC, i.e. compare the allocated resources with results obtained. Do the results obtained justify the costs incurred?
  • 4.3 Are there more efficient ways and means of delivering more and better outputs with the available inputs?
  • 4.4 Adequacy of available resources to effectively implement the strategic plan activities.
• 5 Sustainability
  • 5.1 Are there future activities or commitments of ZANEC and its partners that will help to ensure sustainability?
  • 5.2 What contributions is ZANEC making to strengthen the capacity and knowledge of the members and national stakeholders?
  • 5.3 Are lessons learned being documented? What are the possibilities for replication of good practices?

• 6 Gender
  • 6.1 Has a gender analysis been carried out of ZANEC’s target groups during the strategic plan implementation?
  • 6.2 Has gender planning been used in addressing the different vulnerabilities and needs of men and women in the target groups?
  • 6.3 Are the benefits of ZANEC’s programmes and activities accruing equitably to men and women in the target groups?
  • 6.4 Assess the progress of ZANEC’s gender mainstreaming activities.

• 7 Causality
  • 7.1 What particular factors or events have affected ZANEC’s results?
  • 7.2 Are these factors internal or external to ZANEC?

• 8 Unanticipated Effects
  • 8.1 Are ZANEC’s programmes and activities having any significant (positive and/or negative) unforeseen effects?
  • 8.2 What could be done to either enhance or mitigate them so that ZANEC has a greater overall impact?

Evaluation of the Zambia National Education Coalition Strategic Plan 2016-2020

1. Background

The Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) is a coalition of civil society organisations engaged in the education sector in Zambia. It was formed in 2001 to lobby and advocate for the Education for All (EFA) agenda in Zambia. This followed Zambia’s participation at the Dakar EFA forum in 2000 and a need to respond to the challenge. ZANEC’s mandate later broadened to focus on national, regional and international educations goals and commitments made by the Zambian government. ZANEC’s intention is therefore to work with its members to enhance their capacity to participate in the achievement of education goals in Zambia. 

ZANEC is looking for a suitably qualified consultant to conduct an evaluation of the impact of its Strategic Plan. The first evaluation of ZANEC was undertaken in 2010 under the 2008-2011 Strategic Plan and was commissioned by the Irish Aid, then ZANEC’s main institutional donor. The second evaluation was conducted in 2015 for the 2012-2015 Strategic Plan. Therefore, this evaluation is intended to among other things, inform stakeholders on how the Coalition has grown since the last evaluation and its achievements over the 2016-2020 strategic period.

• Purpose and Objectives of the Evaluation

The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the progress and performance of the ZANEC programmes and activities under the current Strategic Plan; identify factors that contribute to the organisation’s successful implementation of the Strategic Plan; identify the nature and magnitude of constraints that affected the effective implementation of the ZANEC programmes and activities; inform stakeholders including cooperating partners whether or not ZANEC is making a significant contribution towards quality education service delivery; and to make appropriate recommendations for the future growth focus of ZANEC.

Evaluation Objectives

The objectives of the evaluation are:

1. to assess the performance of ZANEC over the last 5 years since the commencement of the current Strategic Plan, including defining its strengths and weaknesses and providing recommendations to consolidate the strengths and mitigate the weaknesses;
2. based on the recommendations, to define clear objectives concerning the strengthening of ZANEC within the context of the changing operating environment in Zambia; and
3. to identify the necessary human resources (profiles, etc.) in order to operationalise the objectives and provide proposals for an improved organisational structure.

• Scope of the Evaluation

The scope of the evaluation includes all ZANEC programmes and activities implemented from 2016 to date. The evaluation should assess the organisation as a whole and address the aspects outlined in the annex to these terms of reference (“Specific Aspects to Be Addressed”)and make appropriate recommendations. 

• Expected deliverables

The expected outputs to be delivered by the evaluator(s) are:

• Inception/concept report;

• Evaluation instruments prepared by the Evaluator(s);

• Selected field visits relevant to ZANEC’s programmes and activities;

• Draft evaluation report, including findings from field visits by the Evaluator(s);

• Final analytical report including:
• Executive Summary with key findings, conclusions and recommendations;
• Clearly identified findings and conclusions;
• Recommendations for ZANEC’s future operations;
• Key achievements and Lessons learned;
• Appropriate Annexes.

• The total length of the report should be a maximum of 30 pages for the main report, excluding annexes; additional annexes can provide background and details on specific components of the ZANEC evaluation. The report should be submitted as one complete document.

• All drafts and final outputs, including supporting documents, analytical reports and raw data should be provided both in paper copy and in electronic versions compatible for Word for Windows. 

• Ownership of data from the evaluation rests with ZANEC. The copyright of the evaluation report will rest with ZANEC. Use of the data for publication and other presentations can only be made with the written agreement of ZANEC. Key stakeholders can make appropriate use of the evaluation report in line with the original purpose and with appropriate acknowledgement. 

• Methodology
  • The review will be carried out using relevant documents (desk review) and selected stakeholder consultations and interviews. 

• At the end of the desk review period, the Evaluator(s) will prepare a brief inception/concept document indicating the Evaluator(s)’ understanding of the assignment; the proposed methodological approach for the evaluation; the evaluation instruments; and the work plan and budget, to be discussed and approved by ZANEC prior to the commencement of the field trips.

• The evaluation instruments prepared by the Evaluator(s) will indicate further selected specific aspects to be addressed. The evaluation instruments should identify the priority aspects to be addressed in the evaluation.

• The Evaluator(s) will work to the highest evaluation standards and codes of conduct.

• Competencies of Evaluator(s)

The profile of the Evaluator(s) should include:

• Relevant background in social and/or economic development;
• Experience in working on education issues in Zambia;
• Experience in working on civil society issues in Zambia;
• Experience in the designing, management and evaluation of development programmes and activities, in particular with policy level work, institution building and local development projects;
• Fluency in English.

• Management of the Consultancy
  • The consultancy will be overseen by the ZANEC Secretariat. The Secretariat will meet with the Evaluators at mutually agreed intervals, depending on the work plan that will be agreed with ZANEC. The Secretariat will also be available to respond to queries as they arise.

• Payment details will be indicated in the contract to be signed between ZANEC and the Evaluator(s).

All proposals must be submitted through email or hand delivered to the address below by Friday, 17^th April, 2020.

The Executive Director,

Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC),

Baptist Fellowship Building,

Plot 3061/2 Corner Makishi and Great East Road,

P.O. Box 30774,

Lusaka-Zambia,

Email: admin@zanec.org.zm

Annex: Specific Aspects to Be Addressed

The following are among the aspects and questions that should be addressed in the evaluation:

1. Implementation (Effectiveness and Impact)
   1. Assess whether ZANEC achieved its objectives and intended outputs and outcomes as envisaged in the Strategic Plan. 
   1. How would you rate the quality and relevance of the information and reports produced by ZANEC?
   1. In what ways is Government, specifically MoGE and MoHE, involved with ZANEC and how would you assess its level of support for ZANEC work?
   1. Is the entire target population being reached? 
   1. What mechanisms are in place for organisational monitoring?
   1. Assess the quality and use of work plans and monitoring plans.
   1. How do factors outside the control of ZANEC affect objectives and programme and activity implementation and how does ZANEC deal with these external factors?
   1. How effectively does ZANEC deploy resources?
   1. Assess the effectiveness of ZANEC’s overall management arrangements.
   1. Assess the effectiveness of ZANEC’s financial management.
   1. Assess the participation of the various relevant actors in ZANEC’s programmes and activities. How do these actors participate in programme and activity implementation?  How does this participation affect the outcomes of the programmes and activities?

• Organisational Structure
  • Is ZANEC’s organisational structure appropriate, feasible and realistic for achieving its objectives?
  • Are the linkages between objectives, inputs, activities and outputs clear and logical (i.e. according to a logic model)?
  • Is the organisational structure relevant to the national education situation and the needs of the target groups?
  • Is the organisational strategy gender sensitive and does it recognise and respond to the vulnerabilities of girls and women?
  • Does the organisational strategy correspond to national priorities and development of policies?
  • Does the organisational strategy correspond to the current and changing aid environment?
  • To what extent does the structure take into account the capacity of ZANEC and the commitment of stakeholders, especially the Ministry of Education?
  • Examine the capacity constraints of ZANEC and the commitment of stakeholders, and how this impacts on the implementation of programmes and activities.
  • Does the Secretariat adequately support the Sub-sector Committees? What capacity gaps are evident in the Secretariat and Sub-sector Committees?
  • To what extent were external factors and assumptions identified at the time that the organisational structure was put in place? How have these been addressed since?

• Relevance
  • Assess the choice of strategies that ZANEC adopted. Were they relevant to the problems it was aiming to address? Did the results of ZANEC’s programmes and activities solve the problems, as intended?
  • Do the problems and needs that gave rise to the stipulated strategic plan priorities still exist or has the situation changed? If so in what ways?
  • How does ZANEC know whether it is responding to the real needs of the beneficiaries in its strategic plans?
  • Assess the validity of ZANEC’s approach and strategies and their potential to upscale.
  • What changes are taking place in the educational environment that are not taking place in ZANEC?

• Efficiency
  • Examine the delivery of ZANEC’s outputs and outcomes in terms of quality and quantity. Are they being delivered in a timely manner?
  • Assess the efficiency of ZANEC, i.e. compare the allocated resources with results obtained. Do the results obtained justify the costs incurred?
  • Are there more efficient ways and means of delivering more and better outputs with the available inputs?
  • Adequacy of available resources to effectively implement the strategic plan activities.

• Sustainability
  • Are there future activities or commitments of ZANEC and its partners that will help to ensure sustainability?
  • What contributions is ZANEC making to strengthen the capacity and knowledge of the members and national stakeholders?
  • Are lessons learned being documented? What are the possibilities for replication of good practices?

• Gender
  • Has a gender analysis been carried out of ZANEC’s target groups during the strategic plan implementation?
  • Has gender planning been used in addressing the different vulnerabilities and needs of men and women in the target groups?
  • Are the benefits of ZANEC’s programmes and activities accruing equitably to men and women in the target groups?
  • Assess the progress of ZANEC’s gender mainstreaming activities.

• Causality
  • What particular factors or events have affected ZANEC’s results?
  • Are these factors internal or external to ZANEC?

• Unanticipated Effects
  • Are ZANEC’s programmes and activities having any significant (positive and/or negative) unforeseen effects?
  • What could be done to either enhance or mitigate them so that ZANEC has a greater overall impact?

Evaluation of the Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) Strategic Plan 2016-2020

ZANEC is looking for a suitably qualified consultant to conduct an evaluation of the impact of its Strategic Plan. The evaluation is intended to among other things, inform stakeholders on how the Coalition has grown since the last evaluation and its achievements over the 2016-2020 strategic period.

1. Purpose and Objectives of the Evaluation

The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the progress and performance of the ZANEC programmes and activities under the current Strategic Plan; identify factors that contribute to the organisation’s successful implementation of the Strategic Plan; identify the nature and magnitude of constraints that affected the effective implementation of the ZANEC programmes and activities; inform stakeholders including cooperating partners whether or not ZANEC is making a significant contribution towards quality education service delivery; and to make appropriate recommendations for the future growth and focus of ZANEC.

Evaluation Objectives

The objectives of the evaluation are:

1. To assess the performance of ZANEC over the last 5 years since the commencement of the current Strategic Plan, including defining its strengths and weaknesses and providing recommendations to consolidate the strengths and mitigate the weaknesses;
2. To define clear objectives concerning the strengthening of ZANEC within the context of the changing operating environment in Zambia; and
3. To identify the necessary human resources (profiles, etc.) in order to operationalise the objectives and provide proposals for an improved organisational structure.

• Scope of the Evaluation

The scope of the evaluation includes all ZANEC programmes and activities implemented from 2016 to date. The evaluation should assess the organisation as a whole and address the aspects outlined in the terms of reference (for detailed ToRs go to the ZANEC website www.zanec.org.zm  or the ZANEC facebook page). 

• Methodology
  • The review will be carried out using relevant documents (desk review) and selected stakeholder consultations and interviews. 
  • At the end of the desk review period, the Evaluator will prepare a brief inception/concept document indicating the Evaluator’s understanding of the assignment; the proposed methodological approach for the evaluation; the evaluation instruments; and the work plan and budget, to be discussed and approved by ZANEC prior to the commencement of the field trips.
  • The evaluation instruments prepared by the Evaluator(s) will indicate further selected specific aspects to be addressed. The evaluation instruments should identify the priority aspects to be addressed in the evaluation.
  • The Evaluator will work to the highest evaluation standards and Code of Conduct.

•  Expressions of Interest

All applicants must source the detailed Terms of Reference from the ZANEC website www.zanec.org.zm and the Zambia National Education Coalition facebook page. All Expressions of Interest must respond to the following:

• Credibility/track record/experience;
• Understanding and interpretation of assignment/requirements;
• Quality assurance;
• Time frame for delivery;

Proposed budget with a breakdown

• 5.           Competencies of Evaluator

The profile of the Evaluator should include:

• Masters’ degree in education, research, Monitoring and Evaluation or relevant field;
• Experience in working on education issues in Zambia;
• Experience in working on civil society issues in Zambia;
• Experience in the designing, management and evaluation of development programmes and activities, in particular with policy level work, institution building and local development projects;

All proposals must be submitted through email or hand delivered to the address below by Friday, 17^th April, 2020.

The Executive Director,

Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC),

Baptist Fellowship Building,

Plot 3061/2 Corner Makishi and Great East Road,

P.O. Box 30774,

Lusaka-Zambia,

Email: infoHR@zanec.org.zm

Email:admin@zanec.org.zm