Jordan: International External Evaluation - Final Evaluation of Education Project (BFdW)

Project Title

Improved Learning Environment for Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi children and youth as contribution to social cohesion

· Background information

Since 2012, The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Jordan, with funding support from various related agencies and donors, has been responding to the humanitarian crisis in the wake of the war in Syria, which has led to a huge number of displaced populations, including over 650,000 officially registered Syrian refugees into Jordan, in addition to refugees from other countries in the region such as Iraq.

Jordan has opened its doors to Syrian refugees and has guaranteed every registered Syrian child access to an education. They are doing this through “double shift” schools where Jordanian students attend school in the morning and Syrian refugees attend the same schools in the afternoon. This has doubled the pressure on the school system and the school buildings themselves. In addition, there are thousands of Iraqi refugee children in the country, and the majority of them are not attending school. Since 2013, LWF Jordan has been active in the rehabilitation and construction efforts in Jordanian schools. From 2013 to 2016, LWF Jordan constructed 77 classrooms and seven washrooms, and 28 schools were rehabilitated. This work was done in 41 schools across Jordan.

LWF Jordan is partnering with the Ministry of Education to support their objective to provide quality education to all children, including refugees and Jordanians. Since 2016, the Ministry of Education has engaged LWF Jordan in two 4-year projects[1] to improve the learning environment for girls and boys attending selected public schools in Irbid, Zarqa and Amman governorates.

Since 2016, LWF Jordan has been implementing a 4 year project entitled ‘Improved Learning Environment for Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi children and youth as contribution to social cohesion’ funded by Bread for the World , with the first year being devoted primarily to preparation of project implementation. The overall goal of the project is to contribute to an improved learning environment for Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi children and youth in selected communities in Irbid, Zarqa and Amman governorates as contribution to social cohesion. This is expected to be achieved through the following objectives: 1) Improved psychosocial and physical environment and practices in targeted public schools in field directorates in Amman and Zarqa governorates; 2) Improved access to formal education for refugee children and youth and 3) Syrian and Iraqi refugee school drop-outs have been empowered to re-enter the formal education system or, alternatively, to consider alternative career choices. A key lesson learned from the previous projects is that, while rehabilitation of physical infrastructure is an important factor in improving access to education, investment in training and related activities targeted at teachers, pupils and the wider community, including parents, is essential to ensure that the quality of the physical infrastructure is upheld and contributes to an overall enhancement of the learning environment.

This Terms of Reference document describes the project in brief and the requirements for a FinalEvaluation of this project by an external evaluator.

· OBJECTIVES and Expected results

OverallObjective:

To provide an external final evaluation of the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, impact and sustainability of the project as according to OECD- DAC criteria.

The goal of the final evaluation of this project is to obtain an objective, critical, readable, and transparent analysis of the progress made so far on this project. The analysis should contain recommendations on how to improve the action and on future courses of action. Likewise, the evaluation report should be a document that can function as a learning tool for LWF Jordan, the project donor, National and Local Authorities (Ministry of Education, Directorates of Education), local communities and other relevant stakeholders.

The specific objectives of the final evaluation are:

· To assess the appropriateness of the project actions with respect to the humanitarian crisis and protection in the project area.

· To evaluate the performance and achievements of the project against the plans laid out in the approved project document and determine the degree to which each of the individual objectives and indicators of the project were achieved and what humanitarian impact these achievements have had so far and will have in the future.

· Assess the project’s relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability.

· To extract the lessons learned from the project, provide recommendations for improvements and for further engagements.

· Determine what lasting impact the project may have achieved.

The OECD-DAC Criteria for the evaluation of humanitarian action will be used for the evaluation, together with relevant Sphere standards (including Standards Common to all Sectors) and other relevant technical standards to be finalized during the planning of the evaluation.

Specific Evaluation Questions

OECD DAC’s criteria

Relevance

· Is the project goal still relevant in relation to the needs and priorities of the intended rights-holders?

· Has the project had an impact on gender dynamics in the targeted schools? Has the project empowered girls/women?

· To which extend does the project live up to the humanitarian accountability principles, in particular in relation to the Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS) Commitment 3 (Humanitarian response strengthens local capacities and avoids negative effects.), Commitment 4 (Humanitarian response is based on communication, participation and feedback.) and Commitment 5 (Complaints are welcomed and addressed)?

Effectiveness

• Is the project on good track to achieve its objectives?
• Are the project activities and outputs relevant to achieve the project objectives?
• Have the planned or expected results been achieved, including whether the intended population was reached?
• Does the project contribute to achieving the programme goal?
• What are the specific factors and key activities that have contributed and are going to contribute to achievement and non-achievement of the project objectives?
• To which extent is the project rights-based?

Participation: Have rights-holders participated in project design, implementation and this evaluation?

Accountability: Has the project made its commitments clear to the rights-holders, e.g. by disseminating budgets?

Non-discrimination: Has the project taken specific steps to include vulnerable groups?

Empowerment: Has the project made the rights-holders more capable of claiming their rights?

Linking: Are the specific local and global human rights mechanisms relevant to the project identified?

Efficiency

• Have the objectives been achieved in a financially viable manner?
• Are the investment and recurrent costs justified?
• Could the same results have been achieved with fewer resources?

Impact

• What positive and negative, primary and secondary long-term effects are likely to be produced by the project, directly or indirectly, intended or unintended?
• What are the leverage effects of the project’s expected results?

Sustainability

· Will the intended positive changes (foreseeably) have a lasting effect?

· What is the probability of long-term benefits?

· Will the intended benefits continue when development cooperation is terminated?

· Is local ownership established?

· Which factors felicitate/maintain and which factors hamper the sustainability of the intended positive changes?

METHODOLOGY

For the purpose of accomplishing his/her tasks, the evaluator will consider the following methodology:

· An initial and final debriefing between the evaluator, the LWF Jordan Programme Staff and the Country representative for LWF Jordan.

· Review of the main reference documents (including but not limited to):

• Project proposal, baseline, progress reports submitted to the donor, reports from monitoring visits by the programme staff, project records (work plans, internal reports, minutes of the meetings, monitoring data), PMER mission reports

• Review of other relevant documents from other institutions working in the same field and target areas.

· Qualitative data collection (focus group discussions and key informant interviews) and analysis

The Evaluator should use participatory evaluation methods for every aspect of the assignment. He/she is expected to collect an appropriate range of data related to the project objectives, expected results and indicators. This includes (but is not limited to):

• Primary data:

• Semi-structured and structured interviews with direct and indirect beneficiaries and key informants, including 2-3 days of field visit to project sites

• Focus group discussion with beneficiaries and surveys via questionnaires. The questionnaires should be tested before the field application.

• Interviews with key staff members

• Interviews with local authorities;

• Meetings with MoE and DoE representatives

• Meeting with The Related Organisation / donor representative.

• Secondary data: including analysis of Education working group/ Protection working group data, official statistics and/or any other relevant statistical data

A discussion on the evaluation methodology shall take place before starting the evaluation, focusing the targets of the evaluation, looking at the OECD DAC criteria, accountability, participation and selection.

timing,logisticsand facilities

The evaluation will be for 32 days starting on the 1^st of April 2019 with the following draft work plan:

March 17-21: Concluding contract

April 1-3: Start of Evaluation: Preparation/ Reading documents

April 4: Briefing and planning with team and partners-submission of inception report

April 7-25: Data Collection

April 28-May 15: Report writing Draft

May 15: Submission of Draft Evaluation Report

May 16: Debriefing with team and partners/ MoE

May 31: Submission of final evaluation report

LWF Jordan office will provide:

1. The evaluator/team leader with background information about the project and any available related document to assist the evaluator in undertaking the evaluation
2. The full project proposal (and all accompanying documents) including the interim report
3. All relevant project records, including correspondence, monitoring and evaluation forms, project notes and minutes, needs assessments, baseline data surveys if available, etc.

Expected products:

1. An inception report
2. A draft final evaluation report
3. An overall final evaluation report submitted in English, based on the specific objectives of the mission.

reporting

The final evaluation report should be submitted using the sample evaluation report annexed to the TOR.

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

The external evaluator should have the following qualifications at a minimum:

· The Evaluator should affirm that s/he understands the precise nature of the final deliverable (the Evaluation Report itself) and must provide two (2) recent work/writing samples. These work/writing samples will be carefully evaluated as a part of the candidate selection process.

· MA degree highly desirable with specific knowledge of Education/multi sectoral humanitarian aid/ developmental approaches. The ideal consultant should have at least 5 to 7 years of relevant experience in Educational Impact Assessment and/or from a relief and development agency.

· Relevant geographical experience from the Middle East.

· Significant field experience in the evaluation of humanitarian/development projects.

· Noticeable experience in undertaking similar project evaluations. including in evaluating UNICEF/ EU funded projects. Expertise in evaluation designs and qualitative and quantitative methods.

· Knowledge of gender issues & deficits within women rights facing women.

· Knowledge of child protection policies.

· Excellent verbal/written communication skills & strong report writing skills.

· Experience in demonstrating achievement of project indicators in a LFA approach.

· Fluent English language writing ability.

· Ability to work under pressure meeting deadlines and producing agreed upon deliverables.

TERMS OF PAYMENT

The evaluation including logistical arrangements will be managed by the LWF Jordan office in coordination with the evaluator. The LWF Education Project Manager will assist the evaluator through arranging necessary meetings. It is expected that the evaluator will use his/her own laptop/computer and software. Transportation and accommodation in Jordan during the visits/ meetings will be facilitated by LWF Jordan.

The payments will be made according to the following schedule:

• 100% after submission and acceptance of final report

Payments will be processed within 30 days of the approval of the final evaluation report date.

Duties and Taxes

The consultants will pay all duties and taxes levied by the home country at any stage during the execution of the work.

However, if specified in the local law of the beneficiary country that it is the contracting authority responsibility to acquire tax receipts and deduction at source proofs from the contractor for the acquired service, the contracting authority shall do so. Otherwise contracting authority shall act upon the local law.

[1] In addition to the project proposed for this final evaluation, the Canadian Government via Canadian Lutheran World Relief supports a similar 4-year project implemented by LWF Jordan, though with a more substantial physical rehabilitation component, targeting schools in Irbid governorate.

Sample structure for the evaluation report

The points set below are the minimum components of an evaluation report; cross-cutting issues should be taken into account where practicable

Cover sheet with

· Project title

· Project number

· Implementing organisation

· Evaluator (author)

· Report date

· Region/country

· Possibly project period

Table of contents

List of abbreviations

Summary

· Short presentation of the subject matter of the evaluation, possibly including key framework conditions

· Brief information on the evaluation: Cause and objective, assessment period

· Key findings

· Key recommendations

1. Short description of the subject matter of the evaluation

· Project/programme/instrument (idea, target group, formulated objectives)

· Implementing organisation, term, donors

2. Framework conditions (only as far as relevant to the subject matter of the evaluation)

· Political, economic, ecological, societal and socio-cultural factors

· Risks to project success, assumptions/prerequisites

· Relevant activities of other organisations/private-sector companies

· Role of government actors

3. Description of the evaluation and the methodology used

· Timing of the evaluation within the course of the project

· Composition/expertise of the evaluation team

· Methodology

· Groups of people involved, number of participants

· Potential difficulties in conducting the evaluation and how to deal with them

4. Results

· 4.1 Relevance

· 4.2 Effectiveness

· 4.3 Efficiency

· 4.4 Impact

· 4.5 Sustainability

5. Recommendations (based on findings, realistic, specific and addressed)

6. potentially: General conclusions (lessons learned)

· for the project type (including exemplary nature)

· regarding the procedures and instruments

7. Appendix

· Travel and working procedure

· Sources (discussion partners, documents, specialist literature, field research etc.)

· Overview chart/map

· Terms of Reference

Application Process and Timeline:

If you are interested in applying for this Consultancy, please send your offer by email to info.jor@lutheranworld.org before the 11^th of March 2019 and kindly include “External Final Evaluation project- BfdW” in the subject line.

The offer has to include:

CVs of all evaluators involved

• Technical/specific proposal: short explanation and justification of the methods to be deployed

• Financial proposal: Complete cost estimate that includes both, the fee as well as any ancillary costs to be incurred, such as transport, accommodation, taxes, fees and costs of workshops in the scope of the evaluation etc.

The aim is for the consultancy to begin onthe 1st of Apriland end on the 31st of May 2019.

P.S: International & National are welcome to apply.