Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) is an independent non-governmental organization registered as a society in Pakistan in December 1992 and has been working exclusively on child related issues since then, drawing inspiration from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. SPARC is working for child rights through research, awareness, advocacy, capacity building of people working for and with children and outreach activities including establishing Child Rights Committees at district level.
1. Introduction of the Project:
SPARC is planning to implement a project in 60 schools of Districts Abbottabad and Haripur of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The project has a goal to promote child friendly classroom environment, improve the infrastructure and quality of education (learning outcomes) in selected schools of two districts in KPK.
The objectives of the project are listed below;
The overall objective is that the project will enable children in 60 schools to enhance knowledge through a child friendly learning environment aiming at a better life perspective. The specific objectives are derived as below;
- To assess and provide basic educational facilities in 60 selected schools of Abbottabad and Haripur
- To train teachers in selected schools on improved teaching techniques and create friendly teaching environment in classrooms
- To strengthen the child protection systems in the province
- To improve the student’s learning and increase enrolment ratesin targeted schools
2. Purpose of the Assignment:
The purpose of this assignment is to conduct a baseline survey to provide appropriate and in-depth understanding of the current situation of the schools in both the districts of Abbotabad and Haripur. It is important to mention that this study will establish the project’s benchmarks for comparison and measurement of impact at the end of project.
3. Scope of the Assignment:
The consultants are expected to prepare a baseline report on the important statistics and characteristics around the project described above. The baseline report is expected to cover but not limited to the areas listed below;
- Current situation of the selected schools in terms of basic facilities, teaching and learning aids, enrolment, retention and dropout rates, and related factors behind retention and drop outs
- Current status of capacity building initiatives including trainings and their frequency by the government/ other organization.
- Training needs assessment of (a) Parents Teachers Councils (b)teachers particularly on participatory teaching methods, child rights, corporal punishment, child protection measures, peaceful and supportive class room environment, learning aids with benchmarks for measuring change in knowledge, skills and attitude.
- Determine the atmosphere of learning and the quality of teaching in terms of students’ participation and teacher’s feedback
- Determine the awareness among teachers, students and parents of the child rights and the existence (if any) of complaint mechanism and effectiveness (awareness, implementation and documentation) in schools. and scope of improvement through project interventions
- Determine Birth Registration trends in both districts by involving school authorities, NADRA, Parents Teachers Councils and communities. B.R benefits (e.g. access to healthcare) will also be taken into account
- Assess the learning levels among students in core subjects
- Establish the effectiveness of extracurricular activities in target schools to encourage child participation
- To provide benchmark information to measure project achievements and impact and hence prepare a monitoring framework, in consultation with SPARC.
SPARC will be taken into confidence regarding the clarity, usefulness and appropriateness of the proposed methods and techniques for the baseline. This document will serve as a basis of end of line survey.
The consultant shall further make part of baseline any other area that is considered important to help in measuring the progress of the project during and at the end of the project.
Scope of work
- To undertake document review and understand the project and deliverables;
- To prepare inception report of the consultancy;
- To develop appropriate data collection tools;
- To pre-test tools in the community;
- To work closely with project coordinator (SPARC), school administration, teachers, and community for data collection
- Data collection in the field, entry and analysis
- To prepare and submit draft baseline situation survey report;
- To present key findings to SPARC; Incorporate feedback and finalize the report
4. Report of the Baseline
The production of the Baseline Report will be the liability of the consultant covering all the aspects as outlined in the TOR. The Baseline report will be;
- Produced in English language and should be simple in expression and easy to understand
- The team will be liable to submit at least 02 hard copies and 01 electronic copy of the report by the agreed deadline
The Baseline report should contain the different elements and it should be structured as mentioned below. All parts should be clearly distinguished from each other and of sufficient quality.
- Cover Page
- Table of contents
- Area profile
- An executive summary that can be used as a documents in its own right. It should include the major findings of the BASELINE and summarize conclusions and recommendations
- The objectives of the BASELINE
- A justification of the methods and techniques used (including relevant underlying values and assumptions, theories) with a justification of the selections made (of persons interviewed. villages or activity sites visited)
- All research questions should be addressed, paying attention to gender issues
- Conclusion, which will analyze the various research questions. Conclusion will have to be derived from findings and analysis is thereof.
- Recommendations should be clearly related to conclusions but presented separately. Recommendations should be practical and if necessary be divided up for various actors or stakeholders and include guidelines of how they can be implemented.
- Report annexes
Confidentiality of information: All documents and data collected will be treated as confidential and used solely to facilitate analysis and will not be shared or disclosed without prior permission from SPARC.
5. Profile of the Consultants
The team must be multidisciplinary as the baseline is an opportunity to set the direction of all project components. At minimum the consultants must possess the following;
- At-least Masters Degree in Social Sciences and five years demonstrated experience in social research.
- Skilled and proven experienced in research and baseline studies
- Proven experience of using participatory rural appraisal tools as the means of data collection for baseline purpose.
- Conversant with application of cross cutting themes like gender mainstreaming, and gender competence, M & E and child protection to the project.
- Excellent analytical and report writing skills
6. Consultancy Duration
The entire period of this consultancy will be for two months that will include preparation, development of the survey tools, testing and reviewing of the tools, field work, data collection & analysis, sharing of the key findings and reviewing of the final report.
7. Bid Requirements
Consultants who meet the requirements should submit their proposals, which should include the following:
- A suitability statement, including commitment to availability for the entire assignment
- A brief statement of on the proposed study methodology including a detailed work plan
- A detailed financial proposal
- The CVs of the persons involved in the assignment with their roles and responsibilities in the
baseline process and proof of previous similar assignments that they have conducted