Consultancy Opportunity

Name of Project: Reading for All (R4A), Disability Inclusive Education for Nepali Children 

Title of action:  Consultancy to conduct Knowledge Attitude and Practice (KAP) study for Reading for All Project. 

Handicap International (HI), operating name Humanity & Inclusion is an independent and impartial not for profit organization working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. Since 2000, HI has been working in Nepal with Persons with Disabilities and vulnerable populations, focusing on their essential needs, improvement of their living conditions and promotion of their dignity and fundamental rights. HI Nepal’s Country strategy (STRATOP) for 2018-2020 has three main pillars which are as follows:

a) Rehabilitation and Health: Physical rehabilitation, provision and accessibility of rehabilitation services and sustainability of rehabilitation service

b) Inclusive Education: Implement projects related to inclusive education, with much focus on girls and children with disabilities

c) Resilience: Support people with disability and vulnerable communities to adapt to both their environment and their socio-economic situation and provide livelihood opportunities 

CONTEXT

This Term of Reference (TOR) sets out the general scope of work, responsibilities and anticipated outputs/deliverables for a consultant / consultancy forms  to conduct KAP study in selected samples among 16 project districts of Reading for All (R4A) project led by HI Nepal. S/he will closely work with Humanity Inclusion (HI) and World Education (WEI) team working for R4A during the execution of this assignment.  

In May 2018, USAID/Nepal launched the R4A, a three-year project implemented by HI and WEI with the aim of contributing to the goal of improving reading outcomes for children with disabilities in grades 1 –3 in the 16 defined National Early Grade Reading Program (NEGRP) districts (Banke, Surkhet, Bhaktapur, Kaski, Dhankutta, Parsa, Saptari, Rupandehi, Manang, Mustang, Dolpa, Dang, Bardiya, Kailali, Kanchanpur and Dadeldhura). The program will emphasize capacity building so that teaching and curriculum personnel have the skills to improve and sustain long-term educational outcomes for children with disabilities in Nepal.

R4A project partners will work in close collaboration with the Center for Education and Human Resource Development (CEHRD), National Center for Educational Development, Curriculum Development Center and the Education Review Office, relevant non-governmental organization (NGO) and Disabled Peoples Organizations (DPOs) partners for the following three specific objectives:

1. Improve data quality on children with disabilities;
2. Enhance institutional and technical capacity at various levels to deliver quality reading instruction and support to children with disabilities;
3. Test inclusive instructional models that can be scaled for specific groups of children with disabilities. 

The KAP study is planned to measure the knowledge, attitude and practices of key local, subnational and national level stakeholders towards education for children with disabilities in at a sample of 6 project districts. Stakeholders include: students without disabilities, school teachers, head teachers, parents/guardians, community, municipality (rural/urban) officials and local education unit officials at project’s working districts and central level education stakeholders. This will allow HI and its consortium partner to have a fuller understanding of the perceptions of key education actors and leaders linked to the children with disabilities with regards to inclusive education and thereby allow the project to adapt RFA’s project implementation strategy accordingly. This KAP study will be a baseline study and an end line KAP study will be conducted at the end of the project implementation to measure the change in the knowledge, attitude and practices of the key stakeholder. 

1.       DESCRIPTION OF THE REQUIRED SERVICE PROVISION :

The consultant will lead to conduct KAP study with support from R4A team in the project districts. The consultant will be responsible for finalizing the study design together with project team and CEHRD, finalize study tools and training manual, hire local enumerators and   conduct training for enumerators and carryout field study in the sample project districts as per the study design. S/he will also be responsible for data analysis and preparation of study report in close collaboration with R4A project team members   MOEST, Consortium members, and donor. 

ØBeneficiary/Beneficiaries :

Teacher and children with disabilities is primary beneficiary from this study .Findings from this study will be used by HI/WEI , CEHRD  and other technical partners to improve program design revise teachers training and community mobilisation interventions to address barriers that hinder education and learning opportunities for children with disabilities due to knowledge attitudes and practices. 

ØOverall and specific goals

The key goal of this study is to identify the knowledge, attitudes and practices of stakeholders specially parents, teachers, peers, government officials and policy makers towards children with disabilities. 

The scope of the study is on two specific objectives:

1. Provide an overview of the current position regarding knowledge, attitudes and practices of a range of stakeholders towards disabilities and Inclusive education in R4A’s working districts.

2. Identify both achievements and barriers in existing provisions for inclusive education, and to make recommendations for future development for R4A project interventions. 

Sample Size: 

 2.    Services requested

Ø  Finalize  KAP study design document  

Ø  Refine study methodology or process

Ø  Finalise KAP study tools

Ø  Selection  and hiring  of  local  enumerators

Ø  Develop enumerator training manual

Ø  Conduct training of enumerators

Ø  Conduct data collection

Ø  Supervise data collection process

Ø  Ensure quality of data collection

Ø  Conduct data  analysis

Ø  Prepare report of the study in the format provided by project

Ø  Sharing of the report to HI and its Consortium members, MOEST and donor. 

3.    Anticipated results and indicators to facilitate acceptance and validation of final outcomes

·         Final KAP design document in line with project objectives

·         Final  KAP study tools both in English and Nepali  developed

·         Enumerator training manual developed

·         Training of the enumerators  conducted

·         Dataset of the study used for data analysis and reporting- First version and final cleaned version 1st draft  report  developed  and shared

·         First Draft of report prepared  and  shared  with R4A team

·         Final report in provided format (with incorporated feedbacks from team) 

4.       CONSULTANT’S PROFILE 

Essential Profiles:

• A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in the field of research and evaluations  in the education  sector is  a must
• Experience of   designing and  conducting  KAP study  in social sector
• Have sound knowledge on the program and policy provision for children with disabilities in Nepal.
• Have strong presentation, training, workshop development and facilitation skills.
• Have excellent verbal and written Nepali and English skills, particularly communication and presentation skills for diverse audiences. 

Preferable Profiles:

• Strong  experience  in  working in disability issues is preferable
• Ability to coordinate with concerned government authorities and relevant stakeholders working on inclusive education
• Prior experience of Nepal Health Research Council’s approval process for conducting study/assessment will be an added asset. 

5.       SERVICE DURATION AND LOCATION

The time frame allocated to this consultancy is 2 months from study design to first draft of report submission. The assignment will commence from 31st January 2019 and will end on 28th March 2019 with final report submission by 10th April 2019. The timeline may be affected by time taken for NHRC’s study approval process. 

The consultant will be working from HI office, Monday to Friday during design phase and can work from home on Sundays and carryout field visits at Project districts for enumerator training and data collection as per approved plan. The field survey for data collection will be a maximum of 3 days for each selected district. KAP survey will be  conducted in  6  districts out of  16  program  districts .( Banke , Surkhet , Kailali, Kanchanpur, Dadeldhura, Dolpa, Rupandehi, Kaski, Manang, Mustang,  Bhaktapur, Parsa, Saptari and  Dhankutta? 

6.       WORK SCHEDULE

Tentative work plan for the consultant

(The timeline with be affected by the time taken for NHRC’s study approval process)

 7.    REPORTING

The consultant will report to Program Manager for R4A but work with Sr. Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for R4A. The consultant during the assignment period is expected to work closely with R4A team based in Kathmandu and in the field offices and collaborate with consortium and implementing partners, as and when required. The report has to be prepared in the format shared by project. 

8.    BUDGET

ØCost of service provision: The Consultant is requested to submit the financial proposal for total assignment, including hiring and training of enumerators and all taxes. 

VALIDATION 

 9.    REQUIRED DOCUMENTS 

Firms:

•              Concept  note  and financial proposal

•       Evidences of related service provision as required Consultant’s profile specified in article 3 with sample of past study and reports

•       Updated CV

•              Copy of VAT Registration Certificate

•              Latest Tax clearance certificate 

Individuals:

•              Concept  note  and financial proposal

•       Evidences of related service provision as required Consultant’s profile specified in article 3 with sample of past study and reports

•       Updated CV

•              PAN Registration Certificate. 

Please send a cover letter and required documents to e-mail: m.bhatta@hi.org  the last date for submitting the application is January 17th, 2019. Please indicate the consultancy title while applying for on the subject of your cover letter.