Short-term Consultant: Education in Emergencies Syria – Mid-term review and lessons learnt on consortium set-up

Please note that this is a short version of the Terms of Reference (ToR) for this assignment. The full version incl. application procedure can be found Terms of References. According to UN OCHA, 97 per cent of children in Syria and an estimated 6.9 million people in absolute numbers are in need of humanitarian education assistance. 94 per cent of school-aged children live in areas with severe, extreme or catastrophic education conditions. The number of children that has dropped out (2.45 mil) or is at risk of school drop-out (1.6 mil) is alarming.Key barriers preventing children from accessing education include remoteness or unavailability of schools, financial barriers to education including high costs related to education or the need for children to support with the family income instead of attending classes. Further challenges include the lack of adequate infrastructure with many school premises being damaged, poorly insulated or unsafe. The low quality of education in public schools resulting from a lack of teachers and adequate capacity building activities is another challenge. Several periods of closure of schools and educational facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 and the first half of 2021 with almost no access to remote learning opportunities have further hampered children’s educational outcomes. Finally, needs for special PSS are overwhelming.

To respond to these needs and challenges, Caritas Switzerland (CACH) in cooperation with Caritas Austria (CAUT) and through the local partner Caritas Syria (CS) have since April 2020 been conducting the project “iHOPE: Innovation & Holistic Protection and Education in Eastern Ghouta”. iHOPE contributes to the continuous education and protection of vulnerable children affected by the conflict in Syria via the i) rehabilitation of two public schools, ii) implementation of a non-formal education program, iii) provision of PSS activities, iv) conduct of teacher training and parental engagement activities, and v) distribution of cash assistance to most vulnerable households.

The objective of the consultancy is to conduct a mid-term review of the project to demonstrate the consortium’s achievements and capacity to implement EiE in Syria, but at the same time reviewing the project’s design and work plan. At the same time, a separate lessons learnt exercise shall provide the consortium with a thorough analysis of internal challenges and problems during project design and implementation and to assess the management and implementation structure of the iHOPE project.

Qualifications

• 5 years of professional experience in education in emergencies and child protection programming;
• Academic background in EiE, humanitarian/development studies, international relations, etc.
• Experience with Cash and Voucher assistance interventions;
• Experience in the conduct of project evaluations demonstrated by at least 3 evaluations conducted.
• Experience working with quantitative/qualitative data collection, strong analytical/research skills;
• Experience in the Middle East region and familiarity with the context of the Syria crisis;
• Excellent oral and written English language, Arabic is an asset;

Deliverables and Timeframe

The assignment is planned to start in October 2021 and to be finalized in November 2021. A maximum of 40 working days for the MTR and lessons learnt exercise are foreseen. Deliverables (in English) include an inception report, a MTR report, a lessons learnt exercise report and workshops.