Afghanistan: Consultant for Reviewing the Curriculum Developing and Teacher Training Package

1.Summary of Consultancy

Project Operationalizing the Comprehensive School Safety Framework (CSSF)Consultancy type Reviewing the School Curriculum (Text Books) and Conducting the Master Trainers Workshop Purpose Reviewing the School Curriculum and include the Key DRR Messages in to the existing Curriculum (text books from grade 1-6 for three subjects) and Developing the Teacher Training Package Project coverage Kabul & Jawzjan Provinces of Afghanistan (Curriculum review will be done at national level)Duration November -December 2015 TBC

2. Project Description

Operationalizing the Comprehensive School Safety Framework (CSSF) project is being implemented by Save the Children in partnership with the Ministry of Education and coordination and collaboration with Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA), Ministry of Rehabilitation and Rural Development (MRRD). This project is funded by ECHO. The proposed project has a budget of EURO 400,317 for a period of eighteen (18) months (started in April 2015 will be ending in September 2016). As per the plans Save the Children (SC) will support the curriculum department of Ministry of Education to review curriculum and to revise textbooks for Grades 1-6 to include DRR/DRM messages in three subjects: Language, Sciences and Social Sciences. These subjects will best allow inclusion of DRR messages into the standard school curriculum. Under General Education Department (GED) SC will work with Disaster Education Unit to build their capacity by supporting introduction of necessary guidelines and plans, including the School Based Disaster Preparedness (SBDP) model and with the support of MoE to train its Master Trainers to replicate trainings at Provincial, District and School levels. 18,770 children and 10,391 adults will be benefited by this action.

Purposes and Objective of Project

To increase the resilience of schools in the face of natural hazards in order to ensure uninterrupted access to education and school safety for children

To support the Afghan government to develop and implement curricula and systems to prepare for and respond to risks and hazards affecting schools throughout the country.

Result 1: Pillar 3 of the Comprehensive School Safety Framework (CSSF) – Risk Reduction and Resilience education is operationalized and tested in partnership with MoE in Afghanistan through the integration of DRR into school text books and training materials.

Result 2: Pillar 2 of the Comprehensive School Safety Framework – School Disaster Management – is operationalized and tested in partnership with the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan through training and capacity building of MoE Officials at national and province level to train School Management Committees (SMCs).

Result3:Effective guidelines and practices for the promotion and coordination of DRR within the education sector are approved by the Ministry of Education for country wide implementation.

3. Programme Stakeholders

The consultant is expected to have the curriculum review consultation process with curriculum department at the Ministry of Education and also with different stakeholders at national and provincial level to analyze and process as well as the reviewing the school curriculum and develop 15 DRR key modules to include in the existing text books. In addition conduct the workshop for identified master trainers at national level and then them to train the trainers at province and district level following the education system approach in Afghanistan.

The data/information consists of feedback from participatory discussions putting into consideration of the entire key project stakeholders who include; public authority, project beneficiaries, partners and other interest groups within the project area. Special attention is given to the following departments who have been key during the project life; local authorities (Curriculum Department, Deputy Minister of Curriculum and Teacher Education, Director General for Curriculum Development, Director of Curriculum, Department of Languages, Department of Science, Department of Social Sciences and each sectional curriculum developers. In addition General Education Directorate & EQUIP at Ministry of Education at Provincial and National level, ANDMA at National and Provincial level and Ministry of Rehabilitation and Rural Development) as well as closely coordinate with ECHO DRR International Project Manager and Rafi Aziz –Associate Director and the DRR Regional Technical Advisor. Please also see attached the Ministry of Education Organogram for the scope of this work in the Annex 1.

4. Scope of Study and Background

Afghanistan is a hazard prone country and faces a range of hydro-meteorological and geo-physical hazards. The most significant hazards include earthquakes, landslides, avalanches, sandstorms, droughts, extreme cold weather, floods and others (NDMP 2010). The disaster risk context varies (between extreme/high to low) for different regions and groups across Afghanistan, however in general the community capacities are low for widespread poverty & illiteracy, weak public services infrastructure and others. For lower levels of resilience and coping capacities, children, women and other groups remain the most vulnerable, thus suffer the most in case of eventuality. The natural disaster risk context is further exacerbated by the prolonged conflict.

Reviewing the school curriculum and integrating the DRR/DRM modules/key messages in to school curriculum is urgently required in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is consistently ranked as one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the impacts of disasters caused by both natural and man-made hazards and the education sector is put under huge stress during these events. The exposure to multiple risk factors is evident from the fact that Afghanistan is ranked amongst the 20 most disaster prone (for natural disaster risks) countries in the world. According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, World Disaster Report (IFRC – WDR 2009) about 15,760 people were killed and 11 million were affected by natural disasters in Afghanistan between 1989 and 2008.

Significant investments have been made in the last decade to rebuild the governance institutions and public services delivery apparatus in Afghanistan. The results are quite visible in terms of expanded & improved public services delivery. The national development and recovery efforts are largely guided by Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS 2008-13). ANDS makes indirect reference to DRR within social protection component of economic and social development pillar of the strategy.

The policy environment in Afghanistan is supportive of the school safety and DRR agenda and there is an EiE Coordination Group as part of the Emergency Education as well as various other documents that demonstrate Afghanistan’s commitment to strengthening the resilience of the education sector. Whilst there have been a significant number of school safety and DRR initiatives in Afghanistan, however these have not been included in the school curriculum/text books these have all been led by different agencies without the full ownership of the Curriculum department, General Education Directorate and DoE at the Ministry of Education. This needs to change and as such, developing the DRR/DRM modules and key messages and reviewing the existing curriculum as well as integrating these messages in to the school curriculum is an essential.

5. Purpose of Consultancy and Objectives

The purpose of the consultancy is to develop the DRR/DRM modules and review the existing curriculum and integrating the DRR/DRM key messages in to the existing curriculum, this follows with the few guidelines are:

1) Conduct meetings with the subject experts (Languages, Science and Social Sciences from grade 1-6 ( total of 15 books) and review what they’ve reviewed already in these text books and suggest key DRR[1] messages to include in the standard school curriculum;

2) Develop 15 DRR modules for text books in full consultation with the curriculum department to secure buy-in;

3) Develop a teacher training package on the new materials and train the master trainers

The developed DRR modules and revised text books will be piloted in Jawzjan province in the phase two of this action with the aim of getting the modules endorsed for use across the country.

1. Methodology

The consultant will coordinate with Save the Children National Office in Kabul. While conducting the consultancy, a number of methods (qualitative) will be used to generate information required. The consultant will be required to review project documents, project proposal including any other secondary data sources. However, the major information source will be direct discussion and interviews with key informants, FGDs and project staff and partners.

In this action, SC will work with curriculum department and disaster education unit at GED in Kabul and their corresponding counterparts at the Provincial level of Jawzjan including the Districts where this project will be implemented. Besides, a total of ten (10) Schools in the Districts Sheberghan and Agcha Districts of Jawzjan Province.

Additionally the consultant can propose the best suitable methodology for this assignment.

7. Deliverables

The consultancy exercise will take 40 working days which will be taken on throughout the month of November and December. The revised school curriculum with DRR modules, Teacher training package and training of master trainers will be expected in the third and fourth week of November.

The following are the expected deliverables from the consultancy;

· A work plan to be submitted by the consultant within three days of signing the contract including the tools to be used in the work. A draft of the work plan and consultancy instruments such as questionnaires and interview guides will first be reviewed and agreed upon together with project staff team prior to the preparation of final versions to be used.

· Presentation of initial findings to Save the Children management

· The final product will be presented in soft copy

All reports and documents are to be submitted to Save the Children Contact point persons and will remain the property of Save the Children.

8. Accountabilities and Responsibilities

• Review of the available relevant project documents i.e. project proposal, log frames, donor reports etc. Conduct an in depth desk top review of the relevant secondary data.


• Prepare and submit draft DRR modules with revised text book, Teacher training package to Save the Children for review and feedback.


• Review and approve the study tools and methodology.


• Brief stakeholders- staffs about the purpose of the consultancy


• SC will provide all the necessary support to the consultant to ensure timely completion and compliance with international consultancy standards.


• Prepare and effect payment for the consultant upon completion of the assignment.

9. Budget

The total time requirement for the consultancy including travel for the consultant will be a maximum of 40 days at a maximum estimated cost in USD to be proposed by the consultant.

All costs related to the work (visa, travel, accommodation and insurance) including consultancy fee will be covered by Save the Children.

Requirements:

5-10 Years Experience in the field of DRR and Education.

Curriculum Review experience in South Asia.

Master Degree in Education, DM or International Development.

The consulting firm/consultant will submit a proposal comprising of the following;

• Technical proposal of not more than 10 pages. The technical proposal should indicate how the consultant is going to undertake all the activities highlighted in the TOR.


• Up to three pages CV with up to two key personnel for the consultancy.


• Two to three page capability statement


• Financial budget with explanation about the line items


• Provide a brief outline of at least 3 previous engagements of a similar nature showing how the assignments were similar to this one and what the outcomes were. Include one contact person (reference) for each assignment.


• Appendices

[1] Key DRR Messages will be developed by hosting a key messages workshop which will be facilitated by the IFRC Consultant. Already there are set of key messages have been developed by Save the Children’s South Asia Regional DRR experts in coordination and collaboration with IFRC.