TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTORS/ CONSULTANTS

Title of Assignment Development of detailed and practical resources to support

countries develop continuity of learning programmes for pre-
primary, primary and secondary level education children

Section ESARO Education

Location Remote, no travel required

Duration 40 days

Start date From: 13 April 2020 To: 26 June 2020

A. Background and Justification

In a few short months since its first emergence in Wuhan, China, the novel coronavirus has turned into a global
pandemic that has spread to more than 190 countries and territories (WHO, as of 29 March 2020). The lives of
hundreds of millions of people across the world have been disrupted as affected countries and regions close
schools, businesses, and borders in an attempt to contain the spread of this new and potentially deadly disease.
Signs show that the virus will continue to spread further globally, severely threatening the coping capacities of
affected communities and countries.

African countries have also been affected and have largely adopted a series of precautionary measures, including
for most countries on the continent closing all schools, to drastically reduce the spread of the virus and protect
populations.

For most African countries, however, managing the spread of coronavirus has led to the closure of all institutions
of learning (schools, colleges, universities). At the time of writing, only four countries in Africa have not
instituted this approach.

While school closures are an important response to mitigating the spread of COVID-19, prolonged closures
negatively impact all students and will have a disproportionately negative impact on the most vulnerable
students. They have fewer opportunities for learning at home, and their time out of school may present economic
burdens for parents who may face challenges finding prolonged childcare, or even adequate food in the absence
of school meals. For those families that struggle to supervise their children at home, children may be at risk of
violence and abuse. Furthermore, experience from countries that closed school systems due to the West African
Ebola crisis showed that the most vulnerable children dropped out of the school system altogether.

With prolonged school closures, national efforts to expand access to education could stagnate or reverse
especially if accessible alternative distance learning options are beyond the reach of all learners. The impact
will be felt at all levels from individual children and families losing hope in the promise of education to countries
experiencing a loss in human capital and diminished economic opportunities.

As such, UNICEF ESARO encourages countries to prioritise the reallocation of education resources and system
capacity to ensuring continuity of learning, with a focus on the most marginalised learners.

Learning from the experience of previous crises, and learning from countries that have already begun to respond
to COVID-19-influenced school closures, we recommend that countries in Eastern and Southern Africa
consider three dimensions to continuity of learning:

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 1) Respond
Implement an immediate response to support continuity of learning, which should include three
interlinked dimensions:
a) Broadcast and online publication of distance learning content, deploying radio, TV, podcast and
online/e-learning strategies based on an assessment of the technologies that households already
have and use in different contexts in the countries of the region (e.g. urban, peri-urban and rural
areas as well as refugees/IDPs) and for different linguistic and socio-economic communities.
b) Mass print and safe distribution of existing textbooks, learner workbooks and teacher/parent guides
for students’ home study.
c) Capacitate education administrators, headteachers and teachers to communicate with each other and
with families to support and monitor learning. This could be done by providing recorded messages
and SMS-based guidance to education professionals and subsiding mobile phone packages for
administrators, headteachers and teachers to communicate with each other to plan their distance
learning services and, critically, keep in touch with parents and students.

2) Monitor, learn and improve the response

Collect, analyse and document data on effectiveness of different distance learning modalities, learning
engagement and learning outcomes from students and parents, teachers and headteachers and education
administrators and use that data to improve the response, with a focus on improving the reach to the
most marginalised children including low socio-economic status communities, children with
disabilities, ethnic and/or linguistic minorities, refugees/IDPs and children in rural areas. If enacted
well, countries will learn about which technologies are most effective, how different components
(distance content, workbooks and teacher support) can interlink to offer an engaging learning package
for students, and capture information about the families and communities that are not accessing services,
which will be essential for targeting them when schools are re-opened.

3) Plan for re-opening

Some countries globally are already re-opening parts of their school systems, so UNICEF encourages
countries to immediately review, develop and/or enhance their procedures for re-opening schools, back-
to-school campaigns and, to mitigate against a lost period of learning, catch-up and accelerated
education strategies that can be rapidly deployed as students return to school. This planning should
commence immediately, alongside points 1 and 2 above. Building preparedness is vital as there is still
much to understand about the management of the novel coronavirus and it is possible that countries will
face waves of opening and closures (and partial opening, partial closures) to match rises and falls of
new cases globally, regionally, nationally and sub-nationally.

Ensuring continuity of learning is complex; and few countries globally are prepared at the point of closing
schools. Many countries are already seeking and receiving support from UNICEF. One of the most significant
challenges countries in Eastern and Southern Africa are facing is building a coherent package of high quality
and accessible distance content and home learning workbooks for students and parents. A critical demand from
countries is detailed guidance on how to institute distance education programmes and we want to support COs
and governments in this endeavour.

In this context, UNICEF ESARO Education Section would like to develop detailed and practical resources to
support countries develop continuity of learning programmes for pre-primary, primary and secondary level
education children to guiding countries (working in English, French and Portuguese) on establishing continuing
of learning programmes.

Thus, a distance education and learning expert is required to work immediately to develop these resources in
close collaboration with the ESARO Education Quality Education Specialist and Education Section. The expert
would be expected to be able to work at short notice and under pressure and to have high level editing, design
capability and translation capabilities to ensure the rapid development of highly valued products.

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B. Scope of Work

1) Purpose of assignment: Development of detailed and practical resources to support countries develop
continuity of learning programmes for pre-primary, primary and secondary level education children.
2) TA details/reference to AWP areas covered: Activity 8: Produce and disseminate guidance on Education
roles and responsibilities within Infectious Disease preparedness, response and recovery phases in
collaboration with HQ

3) Major assignments/Responsibilities:

The consultant will develop guidance in two parts:

Part A: Rapid development of resources

• Review and assess evidence and experiences from similar crises and from other countries’ education
responses to COVID-19, focusing on pre-primary, primary and secondary level education.
• Present options for detailed and practical resources that COs and governments would benefit from
• Draft the resources, which should include detailed and practical tools and guidance on the continuity of
learning areas identified above and on how to use and monitor the resources
• Finalise, edit and design a version 1 of the resources incorporating feedback from UNICEF and focused
on the immediate response that countries need to provide.

Part B: Refinement and translation

• On an ongoing basis improve the resources to incorporate:
o feedback from UNICEF (ESARO, Country Offices, Headquarters) and external partners
(UNESCO, Ministries of Education and other partners as identified in the course of the drafting
process)
o new evidence and experiences from countries
• Expand the resources to meet the needs of COs and governments
• Translate the guide to French and Portuguese.

4) Work relationships/Reporting to: The supervisor will be Shiraz Chakera (Education Specialist, Quality),
and the consultant will be expected to work with other members of the ESARO Education section.

5) Expected Deliverables and timeline, which will be linked to the payment schedule:

Est Payment
duration Completion scheduled (and
# Deliverables
(40 days date (COB) % of total
total) contract)
Desk study report on evidence and experiences from
similar crises and from other countries’ education
1. 4 days 13 April
responses to COVID-19, focusing on pre-primary,
primary and secondary level education
Part A

Presentation on options for detailed and practical

resources that COs and governments would benefit
2. 1 day 14 April
from and agreement with UNICEF ESAR
Education Section on resources to develop
3. First draft of resources 3 days 17 April

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 Version 1 draft incorporating UNICEF feedback, 1 (27.5%)
4. 3 days 20 April
finalised, edited (1 day) and designed (1 day)
Updated review of evidence and experiences and
5. 10 days 11 May
feedback from internal and external consultation
Part B(i)

Version 2 incorporating new evidence, experiences and

consultation feedback finalised, edited (1 day) and
6. 6 days 18 May
designed (2 days). Version 2 would include all elements
of the continuity of learning framework.
7. Version 2 translated into French and Portuguese 5 days 25 May 2 (52.5%)
Updated review of evidence and experiences and
8. 3 days 01 June
feedback from internal and external consultation
Part B (ii)

Version 3 incorporating new evidence, experiences and

9. consultation feedback finalised, edited (1 day) and 2 days 01 June
designed (1 day)
10. Version 3 translated into French and Portuguese 3 days 05 June 3 (20%)

C. Payment Schedule

The consultant will be paid in three instalments and based on the completion of the deliverables outlined in
the table above.

D. Desired competencies, technical background and experience

• Advanced University degree in education, development or social science

• At least eight (8) years of progressively advanced experience in the areas of education with a focus on
distance education
• Advanced skills in writing and editing in English is a must, especially writing compact and concise
publications from complex information.
• Full working knowledge of MS-Word (including using Style, References and Review functions)
• Advanced graphic design skills to generate user-friendly publication quality materials following
UNICEF’s style guide
• Advanced French and Portuguese translation language skills to translate the step-to-step guide.
• Previous working experience with a UN and/or international organization desirable
• Experience of working in low and middle income countries is a must, and experience in Eastern and
Southern Africa desirable
• Experience of working independently and at distance (ie remotely).

E. Administrative issues

The assignment will be supervised by the Education Specialist (Quality Education) in the Eastern and
Southern Africa Regional Office, Education Section. The consultant will be able to complete the assignment
remotely, no travel is expected.

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F. Conditions

As per UNICEF DFAM policy, payment is made against approved deliverables. No advance payment is allowed
unless in exceptional circumstances against bank guarantee, subject to a maximum of 30 per cent of the total
contract value in cases where advance purchases, for example for supplies or travel, may be necessary.

The candidate selected will be governed by and subject to UNICEF’s General Terms and Conditions for
individual contracts.

G. Risks

Facing this rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic, countries are confronted with unprecedented challenges in
maintaining learning continuity in the context of mass and prolongued school closures. A key support request
from UNICEF Country Offices and their government partners is detailed support on how to build an effective
continuity of learning programme. This contract seeks to provide this support. Risks associated with the contract
are securing an individual that has the complex and diverse skills set for this assignment. The skill set to be
prioritised for this skill set is expertise on distance education, konwledge of working in low- and middle-income
countries and excellent English writing skills.

H. How to Apply

Interested candidates should provide by email to the supervisor (Shiraz Chakera, schakera@unicef.org):
• A cover letter / email that specifies how you meet the desired competencies, technical background
and experience (no more than 1 page)
• A short CV (no more than 4 pages)
• A lump sum fee, with breakdown of your daily rate and any other costs.