UNICEF Assessment of the National South African Early Childhood Development Awards

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Assignment Assessment of the National South African Early Childhood Development Awards.

Location South Africa Duration 3 months Estimate number of working days 60 days Start date
1st March 2013 End date 30th April 2013 Reporting to Education Specialist Closing date for proposals 20th February 2013

1. Justification/Background

The South African Early Childhood Development Awards (SAECD Awards) started in 2003 as the ABSA SOWETAN ECD Awards. The name change came about as a result of increased interest by other ECD donors and development partners to participate and support the Awards. The current Partners of the ECD Awards are, ABSA Bank, South African Congress for Early Childhood Development, Jim Joel Fund, and the Departments of Basic Education, Social Development UNICEF. Representatives from each of these partners form the Awards Steering Committee. The Awards main objective is to recognise best practice in the ECD sector and encourage the provision of quality ECD services and programmes for the benefit of the young children of the country. There are five categories of the Awards:

1. Best ECD Centre of the Year
2. Best ECD Practitioner of the Year
3. Best ECD Trainer of the Year
4. Best Publication of the Yea
5. Best ECD Intervention Programme

Partners contribute prizes for each of the above categories as agreed upon by the Steering Committee Recognition of best practice and outstanding participation in ECD is conducted through participants entering themselves or being nominated to enter a particular Award category. Selection commences at provincial level and culminates to national level. Short listed candidates are interviewed and verification visits to the programme sites are conducted where applicable. Final short listed winners attend a national ceremony where finalists are awarded their prizes. Recipients of the Awards are Trainers, Practitioners, ECD Centres and Publishers of books for children birth to five. Prizes are used to enhance the work of the ECD programmes that the prize recipients are involved in.

The Awards also provide a platform for: • Participants to strengthen their understanding of the importance of quality care, protection and early stimulation in ECD. • Advocacy and information dissemination, the awards provide a communication strategy on the importance of the early years and how to intervene in a child’s life for better child development outcomes socially , cognitively, physically, and emotionally.

1.1. Objectives of the assessment The objectives for the study are to: a. Assess the contribution that the Awards are making in improving the quality of ECD provisioning. b. Provide a historical record of the Awards from 2003 to 2012 c. Through an analysis of evidence obtained from participants the assessment will provide evidence on the benefits of the Awards. d. Provide information on the effectiveness of the Awards partnership model

1.2. At this stage of the Awards history this assignment is important and is a critical exercise that will. a. assist in creating a base line for the awards. b. contribute to an understanding of the issues and challenges regarding sustainability of the Awards c. provide information about the Awards that can be shared with relevant role players and stakeholders d. contribute to the awareness about the Awards. e. provide previous winners an opportunity to share their perspectives about the awards. f. Provide evidence about how the Award prizes have been used g. Help to assess from a business perspective how the awards are an investment in the sector. h. provide recommendations on how the Awards can be improved

1. Scope of the Work

2.1 The work assignment will entail documenting the Awards history, procedures and provide an analytical assessment of the specific contributions that the Awards are making to the ECD sector since their inception in 2003.

2.2 The Awards procedures and the various categories will be examined and assessed to understand their relevance and contribution to ECD.

2.3 The assessment will also involve providing specific and general recommendations on the relevance of the Awards, procedures, awards components, partnership, sustainability and impact in the ECD sector.

2.4 The Awards data base has approximately 320 finalists and recipients of the Awards prizes the assessment will target 30 recipients and their sites as case studies to determine in particular the benefit of the Awards to recipients and their programmes.

1. Methodology

The study methodology will include document analysis and conducting interviews at national and provincial levels. Interviews will be conducted with various role players in the Awards, including entrants, finalists and winners of the Awards, service providers involved in

Capacity and training programmes for the finalists, and all partners of the Awards. Using the available data base of provincial and national applicants for the different Award categories, sampling will have to be applied to conduct interviews, using a set criteria to ensure equitable representation of for example the provinces and the different Awards categories.

1. Expected Deliverables

At the end of the assignment it is expected from the service provider to submit: a) Data base for the Awards recipients b) Information brochure for the Awards c) A completed report of the assessment with all the relevant sections d) A power point presentation of the assessment report. e) A final and consolidated report of the review consisting of the following sections: • Executive summary • Introduction • Methodology • Findings • Analysis of findings • Recommendations • Conclusion • References • Annexure

1. Desired Background and Experience
2. Knowledge and experience in research of at least five years with proven experience in conducting evaluations and assessments
3. An advanced Degree in Education or Social Science.
4. Knowledge and experience of the Early Childhood Development sector in South Africa is required.
5. Excellent administrative skills.
6. Good skills in Microsoft Word.
7. Excellent analytical, conceptual and facilitation skills
8. Excellent and concise writing skills
9. Willingness to travel and valid driver’s license
10. Ability and commitment to work to a tight time frame

11. Call for proposals
    

Proposals will be called from researchers who will be able to complete the assignment successfully.

The selection of the service provider will be done by the SAECD Awards Steering Committee.

The proposals called for to include the following: (a) Project Description indicating how the service provider analyses the work that will be done and how to go about in achieving the deliverables. This part should show sufficient evidence that the service provider understands the works assignment at hand; has analysed the amount of work to be done realistically; has the capacity to implement the work assignment; amongst others. A mere repetition of the Terms of Reference is not acceptable. (b) Broad Plan of Action against timeframes and the terms of reference provided. (c) Budget for the assignment based on the major activities. Provide as much details as possible. (e) The proposal shall be signed and initialed on every page.

In addition to the proposal the following is required from:

(a) Individual Service Providers - Curriculum Vitae - Application letter - P11 form

All proposals shall be submitted electronically to (UNICEF Procurement details to be inserted) before or on the deadline that will be provided. No late submissions will be accepted. 

1. Evaluation weighting
   _60% technical
   _40% financial
   100% total
   (Usually, 60% technical / 40% financial is recommended)

8 Conditions • Local travel and airport transfers (where applicable) will be covered in accordance with UNICEF’s rules and tariffs. • Flight costs where applicable will be covered at economy class rate as per UNICEF policies. • Please also see UNICEF’s Standard Terms and Conditions attached.

8.1 The payment schedule will be as follows:

• 40% on submission of preliminary report • 60% of the total fee after satisfactory completion of the assignment and submission of satisfactory final report.

How to apply:

Enquiries: Please direct any enquiries to: safpretoriavacancy@unicef.org Applications with all supporting documents (application letter, CV, P-11 form) should be addressed to: safpretoriavacancy@unicef.org with the subject line “Early Childhood Development Awards” deadline for submission: 20 February 2013 Only South African Nationals/candidates who have permanent residence/temporary residence and/or valid work permit for the duration of the contract will be considered.

If you have not been contacted within one month of the closing date, please accept that your application was unsuccessful. Only short listed candidates will be contacted and regret emails will only be sent to interviewed candidates.