Teachers’ capacity development Terms of reference for institutional consultancy

Summary

Purpose To provide support to the FMoGE and 17 SMoEs to review and develop national framework and strategy for teachers Training Expected fee Consultancy firm Location Khartoum (FMoGE) and travelling to 17 SMoEs when required Duration 2 months Start Date ASAP Reporting to UNICEF – Education specialist

Background and Justification

According to FMoGE teachers training policy adapted in 1994, every teacher must have a four years university degree in order to become a qualified teacher in basic and secondary schools in Sudan. This in turn requires that every newly recruited teacher should have a four years university degree in order to teach. In addition, each teacher must have at least 180 hours of pre-service teacher training to qualify as a teacher. Based on a Baseline Survey conducted in 2008, however, the data shows that only 17% of the teachers in Sudan have a university degree in teaching, and 73% of all the teachers are secondary school graduates. In addition, currently only 59% of the teachers in basic education have received some form of training and 41% have not been trained as teachers. The low level of university qualifications indicates the need for teacher capacity development alternatives other than university degrees building on secondary education qualifications.

UNICEF continues to work in close collaboration with FMoGE and State Ministries of Educations (SMoE) across the 17 states in Sudan to address the challenges of teachers training. The proposed consultancy will assess and contribute to the design of a national teachers training framework based on child-friendly schools principles in order to create inclusive, safe, and healthy schools with good learning environments. The outcome of this report will contribute to improving the quality of education via teachers training, and support access to education in areas where the enrollment rates are among the lowest in the states.

Based on information available in the recently published Education Sector Review (ESR), the government did not in recent years hire new teachers to fill the gaps in remote areas due to lack of funding. Furthermore, the training that was provided in the past focused on short training periods limited to 60 hours per teacher only, instead of the required 180 hours pre-service training.

Due to the lack of a strategy framework to address the current issues for teachers training, the training that is given to teachers across Sudan is not comprehensive. Due to the high demand for new teachers in Sudan – especially in rural areas – most of the states employ teachers that have not received any form of training and who lack the four-years degree diploma as required by the government policy. The in-service training in Sudan is fully managed by directorates of teachers training in the FMoGE and conducted at the state level.

Objective

To review and assess Sudan’s current teacher training policies, and to propose a national teacher training framework that supports the Government of Sudan’s teacher training policy, planning, implementation and evaluation activities. This will include a comprehensive review and assessment of the practices and gaps of the pre-service and in-service training systems.

Specific Tasks

The consultancy firm will be tasked to help the FMoGE achieve the following objectives;

• Prepare a two months’ work plan that covers all activities of this consultancy.
• Conduct desk review of existing policies, literature and decrees in pre- and in-service teachers training in Sudan.
• Identify key challenges and gaps in teacher training policy frameworks
• Identify key challenges and gaps within national and state level pre- and in-service teacher training practices.
• Based on assessment results, propose a new framework for teacher training that includes competency-based teacher profiles.
• Assess the capacity of the FMoGE and the SMoE to manage the pre- and in-service training of teachers at national and state levels.
• Provide teacher training policy recommendations.
• Recommend a systematic and comprehensive strategic teacher training framework that addresses the challenges and gaps identified by the review, in order to build a well-trained teacher force capable to respond to the education system needs across Sudan.

Methodology

Desk review, analysis, field visits, and meeting with key stakeholders. The consultancy firm will be directly responsible to the education specialist, under the guidance of the chief of education section. Final acceptance and certification and approval of the output submitted by the consultancy firm will be done by the Federal Ministry of General Education.

Payment schedules of the Institutional Contract Fees will be made according to the timetable of output. The following planned timetable of outputs shall be confirmed upon reception of the proposal submitted and the negotiations carried out with the selected consultancy firm. It will be stipulated in the contract which shall be signed with the successful party.

Expected Deliverables

A policy framework draft has been designed and presented to the FMoGE for consultation, which addresses the challenges of pre- and in-service training for the FMoGE and SMoEs.

This will be achieved through:

1. Inception report
   • The firm has provided UNICEF with an action plan for 2 months outlining all tasks and results expected to be achieved for each month (due on Day #3 COB)
   • The firm has provided UNICEF with a progress report, which will contain a summary of a desk review of all existing policies and decrees; gap analyses; and preliminary policy framework recommendations (due at the end of Week #4)
2. Workshop/meeting report
   • A workshop with key stakeholders has been conducted and a report has been submitted (due at the end of Week #5)
3. An assessment report
   • A report of an assessment of gaps in teacher training policies, as well as pre-service and in-service teacher training practices has been submitted (due at the end of Week #6)
4. Recommendations Document
   • Existing policies have been reviewed and assessed, gaps and challenges have been identified, and assessment results have been documented in a pre-final assessment report (due at the end of Week #7).
   • A teacher training framework has been proposed with a systematic and comprehensive approach to address those challenges and gaps identified in the assessment (due at the end of Week #8).
   • Action plans and structures for in-service and pre-service teacher training, and monitoring & evaluation with key indicators have been proposed (due at the end of Week #8).
5. Monitoring and reporting
   • Consultancy firm has held weekly review meetings with technical supervisor
   • End-of-assignment work report has been submitted (due at the end of Month #2).

Eligibility Requirements

Interested firms for the consultancy should meet at least the following requirements: 1. Demonstrate a sound record in providing consulting services for teachers’ capacity development strategic framework projects.

1. Demonstrated capacity to develop and conduct similar consulting services on pre and in service teachers training in Sudan. Knowledge of working within Ministry of Education organizational contexts will be an asset.
2. Minimum of 5 years’ experience of relevant professional experience, in education policy and teacher training, or other related field and undertaking similar types of capacity development projects.
3. The firm should be able to provide at least one consultant with an advanced university degree in a relevant subject such as education policy development, teacher training or similar discipline.
4. Proven training, communication and facilitation skills.
5. Past experience with UNICEF/UN/International organizations would be an asset.

Bid Submission

Interested parties to deliver the above scope of work are requested to submit their bids. The following shall be included in the bid:

1. Methodology and Approach This section shall highlight the methodology and approach that the consultancy firm proposes to deliver the scope of work. It shall highlight the various stages that will be followed through in the development of the teachers’ capacity development framework
2. Profile of the Consultancy Firm Under this section, provide details of the core team of consultants who will be working on this project together with their profiles. Please also submit details of relevant work experience of the firm and individual consultants.
3. Proposed Timeline Please submit a detailed work plan on how the Scope of Work will be delivered. The duration should not be more than 2 months and the final product of the Consultancy should be delivered to UNICEF latest by 31th January 2013.
4. Proposed Budget Please provide details of the proposed budget. Please also state, charges if any, for provision of consultancy services during the implementation stages of the communication plan.

Note: This Terms of Reference may be partly revised based on discussions and agreement with UNICEF Sudan, Federal Ministry of General Education and the contracting party during the Initial stages of the work to ensure the effectiveness of the work.

How to apply:

Interested Institution on should submit their application, updated profile to sudanhrvacancies@unicef.org,