EXPRESSION OF INTEREST – LOCAL IMPLEMENTING PARTNER

About APHRC:

The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) is an African-based, African-led, international nongovernmental organization that conducts high-level scientific research in areas such as education, population, health, aging, urbanization, and the well-being of African populations. APHRC aims to bring about change in sub-Saharan Africa using reliable data analyzed by experienced African researchers. Our programs are oriented toward continental development priorities and are guided by the belief that evidence must be at the forefront of decisions about the health and well-being of populations and the development of the continent.

Background and rationale

The sustainable development goal (SDG4) is a commitment to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. SDG4 is intrinsically tied to SDG5 to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

A large part of the processes to monitor progress towards achievement of these goals so far have focused on strengthening national statistical systems that provide data for national level decision-making. However, sub-national levels of governance have been and continue to be important in not only the achievement of national level development targets, but also data generation. It is therefore important that educational data systems are just as strong at these levels where service delivery occurs.

The setup of strong educational data systems requires important investments in infrastructure and human capital to ensure sustainability, scale up and impact. Strengthened educational data systems that address contextualized data demand and supply, including novel approaches to the description, collection, storage, integration, and analysis of heterogeneous, structured and unstructured educational data sets, are needed. Moreover, the current data revolution offers unique opportunities for strengthening data systems for the education sector that can be intentional to incorporate gender, equity and inclusion (GEI) across different marginalized populations in LMICs. By taking an intersectional approach through partnerships with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), vocational training institutions, academia and the private sector, there can be intentionality to data generation, use, analysis and innovation for GEI-compliant decision-making in Africa. To tackle the data challenge effectively, it is imperative to mobilize new stakeholders, including communities and school boards, and cater for their existing needs by providing timely data for actionable insights. This necessitates transition from aggregate counts to individual learner’s records and the establishment of a sector-wide digitalized infrastructure that encourages data use innovations. Additionally, integrating data sources that were previously overlooked such as learner health and disability is crucial for gaining a comprehensive understanding of the education landscape. By embracing EMIS 2.0, cascading it to the sub-national levels, and implementing these strategies, we can collectively work towards a more data-driven approach that empowers local and national stakeholders to make informed decisions, foster accountability, equality and inclusivity, and ultimately improve educational outcomes for all.

It is in this context that APHRC with funding support from International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is looking out for partnerships to support implementation of a project that is intended to strengthen national and sub-national education sector data systems with a view to addressing the data demand and supply needs in select subnational units in Burkina Faso, Senegal and Uganda.

The proposed project aims to strengthen the existing in-country education data systems with an emphasis on improving granularity, analysis and use of educational data use in the three African countries. The objective is to adapt, integrate and strengthen the education sector data leveraging on currently existing educational data systems in selected 2 – 4 sub-national administrative units (e.g. districts) in each country . We propose to refine models to strengthen data systems by building on already existing infrastructures. We aim to generate knowledge that addresses the overall research question: How can the impact of promising or proven innovations for data systems and data use be scaled in order to support transformative change in education systems in Global Partnership for Education (GPE) partner countries?  The specific questions are:

1. What are effective strategies to adapt, scale, and implement promising innovations in equitable, and sustainable ways?
2. What factors enable, incentivize, or impede the scaling of these innovations?
3. How can these innovations promote gender equality, equity and inclusion (GEI)?

Key activities

APHRC is seeking services of a local implementing partner with considerable experiences in the education sector (e.g. a university school, department or faculty; polytechnic school; government parastatal institution; research institution etc.) in each country to lead and coordinate the implementation of the project activities at national and selected sub-national levels over a period of 24 months starting May 2024.

The following specific activities are to be implemented in 2 – 4 sub-national administrative areas to be identified jointly by the implementing local institution and APHRC, in each of the three countries.

1. Identification of beneficiary subnational areas in each country

Subnational units are usually the planning and implementation units for service delivery by government and development partners but their roles and level of autonomy differ from country to country. In this project, subnational areas refer to administrative units, such as states, provinces, regions, districts or counties depending on a country’s administrative structures. In each country, one or two subnational administrative areas will be identified through a consultative process involving the national government Ministry of Education national statistical office, sub-national governments education offices and other relevant stakeholders in the country. The selection process will be documented and lessons learned shared through a learning platform for purposes of adaptation.

Deliverables

• List of proposed sub-national units to be approved by APHRC
• Narrative report describing the selection process and actors
• Letters of support from the political leadership of the selected sub-national units
• Letter of support from the national level units e.g. sectoral ministries

Duration: 4 weeks

2. Scoping review and multi-stakeholder dialogues:

The scoping review will cover the existing educational data systems in terms of structure, data demand and supply, data integration and data use practice in selected sub-national units. The documentation will focus on best practices, data gaps and challenges spanning across the data value chain (from data generation to data use for based decision-making) at sub-national level. It will also identify gender, equity and inclusion indicators that need to be incorporated in the education data systems. In country-level stakeholder dialogues will be conducted using participatory approaches to catalyze the data-demand-supply advocacy, mainstreaming data production and use, as a routine practice in the development process at sub-national levels with inter-linkages to other governance levels within the national ecosystem. The aim is to foster coordination, collaboration and partnerships for strengthened data systems, development of human capital and prioritizing of user needs. The findings from the reviews and the stakeholder engagements will be systematically documented and published.

Deliverables / expected results

• Local research permit
• Mapping of stakeholders at national and sub-national levels
• Multi-stakeholder engagements report
• A publication/documentation of the scoping review findings and recommendation of the improvements that are needed to improve data use from the education data systems

Duration: 5 months

3. Scaling of exemplar data systems in the education sector

This will involve integrating educational data and indicators from the scoping review with EMIS to help fill data gaps and ultimately inform action areas for improving learning outcomes for all. In addition to effective data management, sharing and use, integrating data sources requires collaboration between EMIS units and other departments and functions, such as planning, policy, teacher training, gender, social inclusion, civil registration, and health. To gain a comprehensive understanding of learners, it is important to integrate measurement and capture of new characteristics such as age, geography, language, gender and disability among others. This will allow deeper analytical cross-referencing which will provide valuable insights that shed light on the diverse intersectional experiences and needs of various groups of learners. Sample data and indicators of interest may include the following:

1. Data on the developmental status of early learners, which remains sporadic through national and subnational household surveys (e.g. demographic and health surveys) and or Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICs).
2. Identification of youth and adult learners – including those not currently enrolled is critical. This includes those that are likely to have transitioned into employment, vocational training, or the informal sector.
3. Disaggregate data of learners by vulnerability, both within and outside of the school system. This entails capturing data on learners who face socio-economic disadvantages, disabilities, gender, conflict or other marginalized backgrounds, to ensure targeted interventions and support to ensure gender, equity and inclusion.
4. GEI indicators

Deliverables / expected results

• Identification of exemplar data system to be scaled up
• Creation of country platforms to support and coordinate project delivery to sub-national levels
• Development of road map to integrate the identified indicators to the system
• Data system integration report at sub-national areas – progress, lessons, challenges

Duration: 18 months concurrently with other activities

4. Capacity strengthening, implementation of data systems and data analysis and use

This will involve activities for ensuring ownership and sustainability. Subnational teams will be guided to implement the specific data system model that responds to their actual needs. Activities will include assembling a data team within the sub-national unit, linking them up with the national partner selected to provide hands-on support for data collection, management, analysis and curation of education related datasets. Further, participatory approaches will be used across national and sub-national units to conduct a needs assessment to identify learning needs. The needs assessment will include aspects relating to data science and artificial intelligence. Using the findings of the needs assessment, hold different training forums targeted at improving capacities in data generation, processing and visualization, and using evidence for decision-making. Sub-national data teams will also be capacitated to analyse the data and present them in formats that enhance data use for decision making.

Deliverables / expected results

• Subnational data system implementation plans
• Assembling data teams and setting up subnational data units
• Continuous monitoring and capacity strengthening for subnational teams
• Quarterly progress reports on the achievements and challenges

Duration: 18 months concurrently with other activities

Duration

The implementation of the project will be for 24 months effective May 2024.

Process

This is a closed invitation to a pre-selected list of country institutions to submit an Expression of Interest (EoI) demonstrating their capabilities for the assignment. We invite applications from interested local institutions/organizations from each of the three countries with experiences in the education sector (e.g. a university school, department or faculty; polytechnic school; government parastatal institution; research institution etc.) to submit an Expression of Interest (EoI) demonstrating their capabilities for the assignment. The selected institutions (that have submitted an EoI) will be then invited to submit a full proposal package including 1) a technical narrative describing how the prospective work will be delivered; 2) a budget of maximum USD150,000 over the implementation period, including costs for personnel, activities and indirect costs using a template to be shared by APHRC.

Criteria for selection of lead country institution

To implement this project, a collaborative effort will be needed from multiple actors and mechanisms at regional, national and subnational levels.

A legitimate African led institution fully registered in local University, polytechnic school or research institution) will be identified and be sub-granted by APHRC to lead the work in each subnational area.

Institutions will be selected based on criteria such as:

1. established links and relevant track record with government bodies in the education sector. Institutions with letters of support from the Ministry of Education will have added advantage;
2. experience in education data systems management;
3. availability of human resources to leverage on and administrative management capacities;
4. capacity to work with and transfer skills to lower level services and partners; and
5. a financial proposal that match the activities to be implemented in the proposed/selected sub-national units.

The proposal will be evaluated by at least three independent reviewers. We encourage the proposals to be submitted in English.

Evaluation Criteria

How to apply

Interested applicants should submit their expression of interest to consultancies@aphrc.org on or before 8^th March 2024. Please use “Local Implementing Partner” as the subject title of your email. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted. For inquiries or clarifications regarding this EOI, please write to dmwanga@aphrc.org

Special Notice

APHRC is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. All employment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications and organizational needs. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process.