Consultancy to design and deliver a training program to train Teachers on how to support Learners develop literacy competences for 61schools

Purpose: AKF aims to hire a firm or Consultant(s) to design and deliver a training program for teachers to support the development of literacy competences among their learners.

Duration: 4 Months

Aga Khan Foundation

The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a group of private, non-denominational development agencies that share a mission to improve the living conditions and opportunities of marginalized communities in target countries across Africa and Asia. AKF was established by His Highness the Aga Khan in Switzerland in 1967 and began working in East Africa in 1974. In Uganda, AKF operates a multi-sectoral portfolio that includes programming in Education, Economic Inclusion, Civil Society, Health, and Early Childhood Development predominantly in the Central and West Nile Regions.

About Schools2030 Program

Schools2030 is a new globally informed, locally rooted 10-year longitudinal action research and learning improvement programme that searches for and supports positive deviance about ‘what works’ in equipping learners in marginalized contexts with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values needed to become contributing members of society. The project will enable teachers and school stakeholders to co-design, implement, and measure new school-level solutions to identify what works to improve students’ learning outcomes. Schools2030 will track the relationship between the school-level, gender responsive solutions and the holistic learning progression of boys and girls and young women and men in three cohorts (ages 5, 10 and 15 years old) from 2020 to 2030.

Background to the consultancy

UNESCO (2019) estimates that by 2030, 50% of the world’s children and adolescents will lack basic literacy, numeracy, and social/emotional skills. And yet, teachers and school leaders still lack evidence-based, actionable, and contextually relevant strategies to improve learning outcomes for children within their classroom contexts. There is a critical need for teachers to get equipped with alternative new educational ideas, products, and pedagogical approaches to improving the quality of lifelong learning.

To address this, at a project level, Schools2030, trained project beneficiaries (ECD care givers and teachers) in Human Centered Design Thinking as an approach to identify and address deficits among their learners and generate context driven solutions. The process equipped teachers /education leaders and CSO instutional Heads with skills to conduct conversations, dialogues and assessment exercises with their learners /stakeholders to support them identify what key challenges are hindering the attainment of the much-desired learning outcomes. One of the outstanding cross cutting challenges identified in over 50 schools under the program was that teachers and learners lacked literacy skills.

A deeper engagement was conducted among teachers during the HCD prototype validation workshop during which, teachers shared that they lack skills to effectively teach/develop literacy competencies in learners. To effectively deliver in literacy development, teachers expressed the need to acquire skills in using phonics, curriculum interpretation and lesson planning as key competencies. There is need to support teachers to learn how to support children to develop literacy skills.

Objective of the consultancy

AKF seeks to engage an organisation, consultancy firm /a team of consultants to design and deliver training modules to improve the capacity of teachers to support the development of literacy skills among learners in 31 ECD centres and 30 primary Schools.

Scope of work and expected deliverables

1. Design Modules

• Module 1: A Guide to Curriculum interpretation and lesson planning.
• Module 2: Early Grade Reading Methodology Guide
• Module 3 Design Tailor made Teacher guides on Teaching Using Phonics (Reading, writing and comprehension)
• Module 4: Teacher integrated Play Based Pedagogies and Material Development Resources.
• Module 5: Conduct micro-Teaching sessions in active classrooms and Progressive Coaching (Clinical Supervision Model)

1. Deliver the four modules

• Implement the developed modules through co-creation sessions and co-adaptation workshops at cohort and classroom level.

1. Activity report

• Draft a report documenting best practices, lessons learnt and recommendations in a detailed matrix representing each school.

Expected Background and Experience

AKF is looking for an experienced organization, Firm/Team of consultants with a strong background in Training Teachers to Teach literacy. This must be combined with classroom experience in Teaching Literacy for ECD and lower primary.

Proposed teams should demonstrate the following qualification.

• Bachelor’s degree in Education, English etc., required. Post graduate qualifications in teacher training or other relevant field will be an added advantage
• Demonstrable experience delivering literacy skills training to teachers of Primary and ECD
• At least 10 years in classroom practice for ECD and Lower primary.
• Minimum of 8 years of conducting continuous professional development and capacity building in Literacy for ECD and lower primary.
• Experience in Early Grade Reading methodology is a must.
• Lead consultants should exhibit Qualification in ECCE/Primary Education or any relevant qualifications.
• Excellent communication skills: Fluency in written and spoken English is key.
• Skills in data collection and report writing is a plus
• Evidence of understanding of and commitment to child protection and safeguarding as well as other vulnerable populations

All applications must include the following

Technical Proposal

• Cover letter demonstrating suitability for this assignment based on previous related work.
• Technical proposal (maximum 4 pages) with the proposed methodology for delivery and implementation plan
• Financial proposal -Please provide a budget that includes all anticipated costs/expenses (Daily rate for professional fees, administration, and other related logistics)
• CVs of Lead consultant and other technical personnel attached to the assignment.
• At least 3 most recent references for similar assignments including names of contacts at organizations, Schools trained and/consultancies supported.
• Sample training modules from similar trainings conducted.
• Recommendation/Validation Letter from Ministry Of Education on previous work done or a certificate of affiliation from a recognized public Teacher training institution.