Strengthening the Northeast Syria Education Working Group’s Response to the Education Crisis

Terms of Reference for an International Consultant

Sector: Education

Date: 11th January 2023

Project Name: Strengthening the Northeast Syria Education Working Group’s Response to the Education Crisis

Location: North East Syria

Duration: Estimated 5 months (starting in Q1 2023).

Purpose of Assignment: To lead a comprehensive Joint Education Needs Assessment (JENA) for Northeast Syria (NES) and the formation of the Education Working Group (EWG) Strategy, in line with the Whole of Syria Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) and the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP).

The Consultant will prepare a JENA and a Strategy Plan in line with the Global Education Cluster’s (GEC) guidelines (see the GEC Education Cluster (EC) Guide and the GEC Strategy). A partner and stakeholder stocktaking exercise will be conducted to delineate the scope of engagements in this consultancy work. The JENA and the Strategy will be guided by a GEC-suggested Assessment Framework (AF). This will be drafted by the Consultant in liaison with the EWG Secretariat (Coordinator, Deputy Coordinator, Support Officer, Information Management Officer etc.), the EWG AF sub thematic group, the Strategic Advisory Group (SAG), EWG partners and stakeholders. The AF will show clearly through specific methodologies how the parties above will be engaged throughout the JENA and the Strategy process. A plan to ensure that the entire process includes accountability to the affected populations will be mandatory. The AF should be approved through an inclusive engagement process of the parties mentioned above. All engagement process will be clearly documented and signed off as may be recommended by the EWG Coordinator. The AF will be aligned to the inception report which will follow the same review, consultation and approval process as above. The Consultant will lead the primary and secondary data collection and analysis of the JENA 2022 in NES with support from the EWG Partners as prescribed by GEC. Manual data collection methods are preferred but this can be discussed. There may also be need for the Consultant to sign a data protection memorandum of understanding with the EWG. The EWG and its partners will supplement the Consultant’s effort in the collection of all the relevant secondary data. The Consultant will then analyse and produce the Secondary Data Report (SDR), which will be approved by the EWG Coordinator and Concern Worldwide before the successive steps. The Consultant will lead the data collection and analysis with the support of the EWG members who are available or who have the resources to do so. A contingency plan should be made in case the Consultant has to do the process with minimum support from partners.

The Consultant will lead the development of the data collection tools based on the findings from the SDR report and on the GEC guidelines (to be provided by the EWG Coordinator). This will be done before leading the EWG partners and data collectors in the collection of primary data as mentioned above. The Consultant will coordinate data collection and analysis and will be responsible for producing the deliverables of the JENA (outlined in section 2e).

Through a shared understanding of the impact of the education crisis in NES, the JENA will be the primary source document for the second component for the assignment, which will be the development of an Education Strategy for the NES EWG. The strategy will establish a coherent and structured education response in NES. This will ensure collective, objective, timely, effective, efficient quality products. This will set out the Education Response Framework across NES in line with the current needs. The two documents will be the guides for education partners to ensure alignment to a harmonized understanding of the Education response. The JENA will also inform the EWG’s strategy on response planning, contingency planning, and resource mobilization. The outputs of this exercise will inform a broader dialogue on issues of alignment and continuity.

Background Information

1. Context

Syria remains a complex humanitarian and protection emergency with over eleven years of ongoing hostilities including in NES. The region has experienced long-term consequences including widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure, explosive ordinance contamination and one of the largest number of internally displaced people in the world. More than eleven years of crisis have inflicted immense suffering on the civilian population, who have been subjected to massive and systematic violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. More recently, the accelerating economic deterioration and impacts of climate change have increasingly become additional key drivers of needs, compounding vulnerabilities even further. The Humanitarian Needs Assessment Programme (HNAP: 2022) reports that in 2022 14.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, an increase of 1.2 million from 2021.

2. Education Overview

Education services continue to be fragmented across the country, compounded by the COVID-19 and Cholera pandemic, economic crisis, insecurity and displacement. These factors limit the ability to build on past investments of duty bearers, educators, caregivers and most of all children. Education and child wellbeing are long-term investments that necessitate a holistic approach. For learning to take place and wellbeing to be fostered, education services need to be available, accessible and predictable across the academic years and learning levels and lead to recognized learning. The quality, relevance and utility of education need to offset the direct and indirect costs of children regularly attending school. Unaddressed needs in education limit the ability of children to reach their potential and weaken their resilience far into their future lives.

The education sector faces major challenges and gaps in NES with 99% of the sub districts rated from “severe, extreme” to “catastrophic” on the Syria HNO Severity Ranking (2021). 39 percent of these geographical areas are around Al-Hasakeh and Ar-Raqqa governorates. These are in acute and immediate need of humanitarian support to enable over a million children to have access to an inclusive, relevant and quality education. The 2021 Schools in Syria report shows that 31% of children in NES schools feel unsafe at school due to unsafe school infrastructure, violence in and around schools, and the fear of attacks. It is further reported that 43% of the infrastructure in schools that was destroyed during the 11-year protracted war has yet to be rehabilitated, dramatically undermining the sector’s ability to meet needs and posing significant risks to children.

The war in Syria has affected children’s learning outcomes over the years. An IRC pilot report – Impact of war on Syrian Children’s learning: Annual State of Education – shows a general decline in children’s outcomes over years. The report states that 59% of Year 7s, 52% of Year 8s and 35% of Year 9s could not read a simple 7 – 10 sentence story. This is the equivalent of Year 3 reading skills. These debilitating rates are estimated to be much lower in NES where the draft 2023 Syria HNO Report shows worse learning conditions. For example up to 23% of children are not going to school in Hassekeh MSNA Syria (2022). Attendance of children in schools continues to drop to below 59% for Ar-Raqqa and 69% for Aleppo particularly for the lower grades in the Autonomous Administration of North East Syria (AANES) areas. The HNAP (2022) report shows that 9% of boys and 10% of girls aged between 6 and 11 are out of school. The HNAP (2022) further reports that figures are much higher among the 12 to 17 years age group where 42% of boys and 36% of girls are out of school. The COVID-19 pandemic and the shortage of water and electricity in most schools, communities, camps and as well as camp-like situations such as informal settlements, make it difficult for children to access quality education. In NES the highest proportion of out of school students is found in Ar-Raqqa governorate, with 65% of children between the ages of 6 to 18 years not attending school; 64% in Deir ez-Zor governorate; 59% in Al-Hasakeh; and 58% in Northeast Aleppo countryside (Whole Of Syria Education Cluster HNO [2021]).

The provision of quality education for vulnerable children remains a challenge for multiple reasons. Infrastructure remains largely insufficient and unsafe to ensure adequate WASH, learning, and recreational facilities. The HNAP (2022) report shows that in NES, 31% of out of school children did not go to schools because of their parents’ concerns about quality. Extreme winter and summer weather conditions provide acute challenges around heating, cooling, and ventilation of classrooms. The Schools in Northeast Syria Report (2021) shows that 91% of schools in NES do not have sufficient heating and cooling facilities for classrooms and other school infrastructure. Intensifying winters have resulted in a surge in learner absenteeism and dropouts. Thirty-seven percent of sample of 1,187 assessed households were not going to school in winter due to this extreme weather (HNAP Household Demographic Survey 2021). Schools in NES also have inadequate capacity to accommodate the over 95,000 children with disabilities in the region, approximately 27% of all children in NES (HNAP, 2021). According to the Schools in Syria Report (2021) only 23% of the 3,685 assessed schools had a capacity to accommodate only 3,516 boys and girls with disabilities.

The EWG is the coordination arm of NES education partners in their response work in camp, camp-like settings and communities. The EWG’s main mandate among other things is to ensure that there is no duplication and there is a harmonization of the education response services throughout NES in camps or communities under non-formal or formal education services. This also helps ensure that interventions are directed to communities that are in most need of humanitarian assistance. The EWG consists of five main sub-thematic working groups. These include the SAG, Non-Formal Education/Formal Education (NFE/FE), Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD), Construction and Rehabilitation, Assessment Group (AG) and finally the Localisation Group (LG). The Construction and Rehabilitation sub-thematic working group consists of partners in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene; Shelter and Settlement; Shelter and Non-Food Items; and Education, and these have the technical support of engineers from partners.

Consultancy Objectives and Expected Results

1. Objectives and Specific Tasks to be undertaken by the Consultant

The consultancy consists of two specific objectives:

(i) Joint Education Needs Assessment:

The JENA seeks to provide data across NES on the educational gaps and needs of children in North East Syria. The scope of the educational needs will cover out-of-camp, in camp and camp like conditions to ensure there is a clear understanding of educational needs across all demographic and geographic divide in NES. This will help structure, harmonize and inform the prioritization and targeting of the most vulnerable children with the appropriate interventions, in alignment with the severity rankings of need locations.

(ii) NES EWG Education Strategy:

The second component of the consultancy will be the development of a three year Education Strategy, which will be based on the information gathered from the JENA. The EWG strategy provides direction for education partners on the education outcomes we are collectively working to achieve. The strategy will guide partners to ensure there is a collective understanding to the direction of the education response programme, and inform programme design, including targeting, approaches, measurement and goals.

2. Expected Research Methodologies

NES has a complex context, which will require the Consultant to review literature on the context to get a thorough understanding of the dynamics in the NES operational environment. The Consultant will conduct an in-depth literature review/document review of already existing works by the GEC, ECs and independent scholars in relevant contexts and on different works on JENAs and Cluster strategies. A secondary data analysis and successive report will refocus the data collection on data gaps in the area. The Consultant is expected to work extensively with the EWG, partners and stakeholders in the process through the guidance of the GEC AF. Field data will be collected and submitted to the EWG by enumerators working with the Consultant, with the possible involvement of partner staff. The Consultant will provide a good balance between the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the assignment (mixed methods research). This will require the use of data collection methodologies such as questionnaires, interviews, surveys, focus group discussions and observation, among other methods. The Consultant is expected to fully engage all partners mentioned above and follow the approvals schedule outlined at each milestone of the assignment. The ToR will be iterative until the contract is signed.

3. Operationalisation and Monitoring Plan

The Consultant will be expected to provide as part of the deliverables an operationalisation, monitoring and review plan of the Strategy. This will ensure the usage of the two documents, as relevant, in the coming three years as per the stated timeframe for the strategy. During the inception stage and in the inception report it is expected that the Consultant will clearly explain how this important requirement will be fulfilled. The plan should include specific timelines, accountabilities, milestones, expected challenges and how these could be resolved.

4. Roles and Responsibilities of the Consultant

The Consultant will:

• Be responsible for the delivery of a comprehensive JENA for NES, with support of the EWG and with the full engagements of the partners and stakeholders. The development of the JENA report will inform the NES education response as stated above and in particular guiding documents for the humanitarian response such as the HNO and the HRP.
• Ensure that they use the documents availed during the 2022 and 2023 HNO as a reference for up-to-date information. The documents include the Power Bi dashboard reports, the Severity Index Mapping and the 2023 HNO draft. This will help identify the gaps that will be central during the data collection process.
• Use the JENA to inform the NES EWG Strategy. In consultation with education stakeholders, the Consultant will lead the strategy development process to ensure a coherent and structured education response.
• Report to the EWG Coordinator, with support from the EWG support functions including the EWG SAG.
• Avail themselves for a brief weekly update check in meeting, to be held with the EWG Coordinator and Concern.
• Travel to areas of operation in NES to undertake the consultancy, attend the relevant EWG meetings as well as meet with various education partners. (Any offer is dependent on the Consultant’s ability to get access to NES).
• Chair a consultation workshop or meetings with EWG partners (to be organised by the EWG Coordinator) to get their input in the JENA.
• Provide the completed JENA, Strategy, Assessment Report, Operationalisation and Monitoring Plan and any other outputs that may be agreed in the AF or work plan to the EWG and Concern.
• Lead the validation workshop, which will also act as the After Action Review (AAR).

The hosting agency, Concern, and the EWG will provide any support that may be required during this process. As a contingency measure and in the event of restricted entry remote engagement may be considered but with representatives to carry out the activities in NES, with the necessary quality.

5. Roles and Responsibilities of the EWG Coordinator

The EWG Coordinator will be responsible to:

• Provide direct line management of the Consultant.
• Support with movement in areas outside of Concern’s areas of operation.
• Support with education data, reports and sources including secondary data to inform the secondary data report.
• Provide guidance to the Consultant as per the deliverables of the Terms of Reference.
• Establish weekly meetings to document progress, areas of learning and opportunities of success to be shared with the relevant stakeholders.
• Review weekly progress reports from the Consultant.
• Hold the Consultant to account with the submitted work plan.
• Mobilize the Education Needs Assessment Task Force partnership to support with the JENA.
• Organise the meetings and workshops associated with the consultancy.
• Support with providing direction for the strategy based on consultations with partners.
• Be the lead interlocutors for the external stakeholders in Syria as well as with the coordination functions, such as Whole of Syria.
• Conduct regular calls with the Consultant to follow up on relevant milestones of the consultancy to review and share feedback on the following stages: (i) support with secondary information (ii) inception report (ii) AF (iii) draft of tools for the JENA (iv) JENA work plan (vi) draft findings of the JENA (vii) strategy work plan (viii) draft strategy.
• Organise regular feedback meetings.
• Give feedback and comments to the draft tools.
• Publish the final reports

6. Roles and Responsibilities of Concern Worldwide

• Concern Worldwide will be the host of this project and will be responsible to:
• • Manage the hiring process of the Consultant; with the engagement of EWG Coordinator.
    • Conduct regular calls with the Consultant to monitor progress at stages (i) to (viii) above, and as necessary in line with their role as hosting agency.
    • Arrange for permissions to travel, enter and exit the relevant countries, such as visa arrangement.
    • Meet logistics requirements, such as cars when in areas of Concern’s presence
    • Provide accommodation within Concern’s guest house (shared living space).
    • Hold final approval of all documents to effect payment as per the terms of an MoU between Concern and Save the Children, based on deliverables and monitored by the EWG Coordinator as per the work plan.
    • Provide logistical and administrative support during the entire duration of this assignment.
    • Concern will actively support the activity from its capacity as a EWG member. This will include attending meetings, providing reports and other support information on request, including actively taking part in the data collection process and any other support activities as will be stated to members in the EWG meetings.

7. Roles and Responsibility of the SAG

• The SAG will:
• Support the EWG Coordinator in ensuring that there is adequate consultation of members throughout the assignment.
• Review the inception report and give their feedback.
• Provide input to the AF and provide feedback on the final version from the Consultant.
• Support in ensuring that members are mobilised and actively take part in the data collection process.
• Review the draft strategy, assessment report, inception report, secondary data report and the operationalisation and monitoring plan for the JENA and Strategy.
• Participate in and provide feedback on the report from the validation workshop.

8. Roles and Responsibilities of the Partners, stakeholder and affected populations

The above stated groups will:

• Support the Consultant with provision of literature for the Consultant’s secondary literature and data review.
• Actively take part in the consultation process, which will be led by the Consultant.
• Provide support for the data collection process; this may include seconding staff, vehicles etc.
• Attend the inception and validation workshop and participate in the review of the draft JENA and Strategy.

9. The Consultant’s Deliverables

The Consultant will deliver the following outputs:

• Inception report, including a work plan, explaining the methodology and sampling method used for JENA and the process for the strategy development.
• Contingency plan in the event of unforeseen delays and disturbances in the operating environment which may impinge on the process. This may include the possibility of remote management.
• Assessment Framework, based on the GEC template to guide the entire operation.
• SDR report, based on the desk review of the SDR matrix and any additional data that may inform primary data collection.
• Start-up briefings of the JENA to the EWG.
• Primary data collection tools, piloting the tools and ensuring that the documents comply with data protection/ethics requirements. The Inception report should clearly show how this will be done.
• Data collection for the JENA with EWG partners, including their capacity building on research processes.
• First draft JENA report of preliminary findings and debriefing meeting to be attended by the EWG Coordinator, SAG, partners and stakeholders.
• Final narrative JENA report (including executive summary, maps, tables, graphs) detailing findings (separated by specific issues) and recommendations for various stakeholders.
• Presentation to the EWG with the main findings and recommendations.
• Policy brief summarizing key findings of the report and recommendations for various stakeholders.
• Dataset (database) with primary data collected and quantitative data compiled (available to all humanitarian stakeholders via web platform).
• Draft Education Strategy for review and input from the relevant stakeholders.
• Final version of Education Strategy.
• Validation workshop with Education stakeholders.
• An operationalisation, monitoring and review plan for the Strategy.

10. Timeframe (once in-country)

• The overall consultancy work is expected to take not more than 5 months, starting in quarter one of 2023 (following an approved work plan submitted by the Consultant).

11. Essential and Desirable experience and qualifications

• Essential:
• A postgraduate degree in education, social sciences or equivalent.
• Specialist in situation analysis and evaluation, particularly in the education sector.
• Demonstrable professional experience of at least five years in the education sector, with at least two years of experience in emergency contexts.
• Good knowledge of international standards and guidelines (INEE, IASC, GEC etc.) and humanitarian principles.
• Desirable:
• Experience leading a JENA.
• Experience developing education strategy at cluster or working group level.
• Experience in data collection and quantitative and qualitative analysis.
• Experience relating to humanitarian, preparedness, resilience and early recovery contexts.
• Ability to communicate in Arabic.
• Understanding of Syria including the NES context and sensitive settings in general.