International Consultancy: TOR for Data Analysis and Documentation Consultancy on First Graders' Risk Assessment and Health Screening

Purpose of Assignment

Background:

Our society and its development lie in the untold promise of our young; our children who will one day become future builders of our society. The role of education is paramount in helping children realize this promise, as schools are where children learn, explore new concepts, develop skills and build connections with their peers and their community. As children spend their formative years in schools, schools have the room to adapt new practices that place the child’s best interest foremost at each and every turn.

Under the No Child Left Behind policy, the Ministry of Education has introduced two exemplary initiatives; First Graders' Risk Assessment in 2016 and Health Screening in 2014. Both projects aim to gain an understanding of every child who enters into Grade 1, by assessing them on risk factors and protective factors (i.e., First Graders' Risk Assessment) and by identifying any health issues and referring for treatment (i.e., First Graders' Health Screening). Through both of these initiatives, schools are able to identify vulnerable students early on, and work with families and relevant sectors to support individual children.

Both projects ensure that every first grader nationwide undergoes the risk assessment and health screening procedure. As such, there is extensive data on the prevalence of health conditions of first graders for the past five years, as well as data on risk indicators of first graders for the past three years. There is a need to analyze the collected data to identify trends and vulnerabilities among communities, to inform policymaking and formulate necessary programmatic interventions at the community level.

The Ministry of Education is looking for a team of international consultants to develop a comprehensive report on First Graders' Risk Assessment and Health Screening.

Objective

The purpose of the consultancy is to document and analyze data of both the first graders' risk assessment program and first graders' health screening program.

Deliverables:

1. Inception report.
2. Final consultancy report on Risk Assessment and Health Screening, which is both descriptive and analytical.
3. Presentation of main findings to the program team and Ministry of Education.

Scope of Services

The following tasks will need to be undertaken by the consultant:

1. Submit an inception report.
2. Meet with program staff and identified stakeholders.
3. Desk review of all available documents, including procedures and guidelines, on Risk Assessment and Health Screening.
4. Document both programs to identify strengths and areas for improvement.
5. Analyze data of both programs over the past five years to:-
   • Provide aggregated data at sub-national level (i.e., atoll-level and island-level) so that island profiles of vulnerabilities are generated
   • Identify trends and patters at sub-national and national level
   • Identify national level issues that warrant intervention at policy level by Ministry of Education and other relevant sectors
6. Develop final report on analyzed data and produce findings in a sociological context.
7. Make presentation on main findings of the consultancy.

Required Qualifications and Experience

In order to successfully carry out the tasks listed above, consultant is required to have the following qualifications and experience:

1. Advanced university degree in statistics and in social psychology/sociology/development and social studies or other related fields.
2. Experience of working with government, UN or international organizations in providing analytical reports and technical advice, similar to this consultancy.
3. Good communication skills, both written and oral, in development of reports in English
4. Good knowledge and understanding of risks within communities and its impact on child and human development.

Duration of services and terms of payment

The service is for a period of 30 days. Delays caused due to organizational/logistical matters not attributed to the consultant is to be given consideration in calculating days spent on the consultancy. The consultancy will be based in Male’ for 5 working days with no travel required outside of Male'; the remainder of the consultancy can be remote. The payment of the consultancy would be based on deliverables. Accordingly, payments would be made upon completion of the entire project and submission of the final, validated report.

All the documents produced under this consultancy need to be endorsed by the Ministry of Education.

Interested candidates should submit the following:

a) Updated CV

b) Proof of ability to undertake this consultancy (of relevant work)

c) A proposal on how the applicant will undertake this consultancy, with methodology and timeline provided

d) Proposed fee (in USD)

Note: Submit the documents via: [email protected]  before 24^th September 2018. 

Evaluation Criteria

• Proposed fee – 50 points
• Experience – 25 points
• Proposal- 25 points