Somalia: NORAD frame work project and Horumarinta Elmiga project baseline assessment on Literacy

1. Back ground:-

Ever since the devastating civil war of 1988-91, the vast majority of school age children in Somalia and Somaliland have had very limited access to basic services in general and basic education in particular. The protracted war has left the education system nearly dysfunctional. Throughout Somalia and Somaliland the average Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) at primary school level is the lowest in the world with at 30% (based on UNICEF primary education survey 2006 - 2007). This figure hides even lower figures for children in certain geographic areas, and others who are often denied access including girls, children of the pastoralist communities, those with disabilities, and children displaced through drought and conflict. Even where children enrol in school, only about 50% of those entering grade one are likely to complete grade 4 and a mere 18% will complete grade 8^[1].

The most alarming issue in the education system is that, even those enrolled are not learning. Over 40% of active teachers are untrained and mainly practice the conventional teacher centered teaching methodologies because of the failure of the teacher training and support system. There is a weak support for the teachers by the quality assurance officers, as they are neither well trained nor adequate in number. All schools gauge quality of education by the amount of inputs (teacher pupil ratio, pupil text book ratio, etc) instead of learning outcomes. The role of reading in facilitating children’s learning had never been an agenda except very recent when the Minimum Learning Achievement (MLA) is exercised in schools in Puntland and Somaliland.

The recent MLA assessment conducted by African Education Trust (AET) in coordination with the Ministry of Education and Higher Studies (MOE&HS) in Somaliland and Puntland indicated that children’s reading skills are far below the level they need for learning at the specific grades. The overall results suggested that between 15% and 20% of the children in grade 4 remain illiterate, unable to recognise single words or read and understand the most basic sentences. Further the document states that “30 to 40% would seem to be struggling at this level”. With all its limitations this assessment was able to indicate that children are not acquiring the required reading competencies for their respective grades. This vividly indicates a need for systematic intervention in improving children’s reading skills to facilitate learning to happen.

1. Purpose of the end line/ midline assessment: -

To systematically address this learning gap in future, Save the children International Somalia/Somaliland (SCI SOM) program is planning to implement ***Literacy* program** in the context of Somalia as an evidence based response to rise the number of children completing primary school who are able to read well enough to learn. To benchmark this program, SC has conducted end line assessment for MFA and midline for Norad on children’s reading and comprehension skills using Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) tools. The base line assessment is carried out in grade 3 of both Norad and MFA supported schools. The findings are anticipated to establish the reading ability of children in grades 3 in SC targeted schools, evidences on the existing gaps, areas of strength to build on and generate recommend to be taken towards improving children’s learning outcome.

General Objectives

Establish the existing literacy capabilities and gaps in early grades in SC target schools to inform SCI interventions for improving children’s reading and comprehension skills for better learning outcomes

Specific objectives

• Analyze and Compare the baseline assessment with the end line of MFA project and mid-line assessment for Norad project on core reading skills, namely: - letter knowledge, phonemic awareness, reading fluency, vocabulary and reading comprehension of grade 3 children using EGRA tools

• Establish factors impacting reading and learning of children

Scope of the work

1. Conduct a literature review that includes a review of literature on neighboring countries that have conducted EGRA and relevant studies on Literacy conducted in Somalia/Somaliland to provide a contextual background for this assessment.

2. Compare baseline assessment to end line for MFA and midline for Norad project and produce comprehensive report,

3. In analyzing focus on five core skills that research has shown are central to learning to read: - letter knowledge, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, reading fluency and comprehension.

• The target groups should be children of grade 2&3 in the 2016 - 2017 academic year.

1. Conduct interviews/focus group discussions with children and teachers to identify in and out of school factors contributing or/ hindering children’ acquisition of the core reading skills

2. Analyze the data and produce a comprehensive report detailing findings on all core reading skills segregated by districts, urban and rural, sex and schools.

3. Facilitate verification workshop on the findings and recommendations for key education actors, CECs, teachers, children and MoE staff and incorporate comments, feedbacks and enrich the document

Methodology

1. Use standard EGRA methodology to analyze the data.

Deliverables:

1. 2 separate draft reports for the 2 projects; MFA project in Hiran and NORAD framework program schools in Puntland and Central South Somalia

2. Revised first draft final reports, incorporating suggestions and recommendations from the verification workshop and SCI and MoE staffs.

3. Final Reports (electronic copy in PDF format and DOC format)

4. An executive summary report of maximum 3 pages

5. Electronic copy of all the data sets used in the data analysis.

Roles and responsibilities

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Time frame:-

The assignment will be undertaken in July, 2017 with total number of 16 days.

Required qualification and experience:-

1. Post-graduate degree in Education –preferably in language studied or social sciences.

2. Evidence on experience in conducting similar assessments and familiarity with the use and interpretation of EGRA tools

3. Knowledge of the Somalia context and education system and able to speak and read in Somali language.

4. Skill in analytic report writing

5. Excellent communication and report writing skills in English and computer literate.

Application Requirements: -

Candidates interested in the consultancy will be expected to provide the following documentation:

1. A technical proposal with detailed response to the TOR, with specific focus addressing the scope of work, methodology to be used and key selection criteria.

2. Initial work plan based on methodology outlined, and indication of availability

3. A financial proposal detailing the daily rate expected and other payment if applicable.

4. Company profile or CV including a minimum of 3 references

Application procedures:-

All interested candidate are encouraged to forward their CVs , Financial and Technical proposal to: Somalia.procurement@savethechildren.org

The closing date is on: 24^th July 2017.