Professional videographer and Photographer for the Schools2030 program At Aga Khan Foundation

Terms of Reference

Short Term Arrangement for a professional videographer and Photographer for the Schools2030 program.

Aga Khan Foundation

The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), founded by His Highness the Aga Khan in 1967, is a member of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), one of the world’s leading poverty solutions networks. AKDN’s integrated approach makes long-term investments, builds permanent institutions, and cultivates an active civil society, impacting tens of millions of people annually in 30 countries. Alongside its sister AKDN agencies, AKF implements innovative, community-driven solutions that are based on decades of experience, learning and evaluation. In Uganda, AKF is managing a robust and expanding portfolio of multi-sectorial initiatives that includes investments in education, early childhood development, sustainable economic development, and civil society strengthening.

Schools2030

Schools2030 is a ten-year participatory learning improvement program based in 1,000 government schools across ten countries. Using the principles of human-centered design and focusing on the key transition years of ages 5, 10 and 15 years old, Schools2030 supports teachers and students to design and implement education micro-innovations. These low-cost innovations will inform and transform education systems to improve holistic learning outcomes for the most marginalized learners worldwide. In Uganda, AKF will partner with 100 school sites in Arua and Kampala to drive classroom level innovation to enable teacher generated solutions to identify and inform ‘what works in education’. The sites include 30 pre-primary schools, 30 primary schools, 30 secondary schools and 10 youth development partners/civil society organizations.

The goal of the intervention is that by 2030, Schools2030 will have contributed to 10 country governments to accelerate their progress in achieving SDG4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Ultimately, the project will ensure that 500,000 (50,000 in Uganda) marginalized children and youth in ten countries over ten years are equipped with the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values to help them interact effectively with the world and become contributing members of a pluralistic society.

AKF, as the Global Secretariat of Schools2030, will be leading the delivery of Schools2030 in Uganda and be representing all the Founding Partners through the Schools2030 Coordinator. Therefore, the Reporting Partner will be accountable to AKF in Uganda through signing a fixed term Service Agreement Contract with possibility of renewal.

Our goal is to raise holistic learning outcomes and to equip young people with the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values they need to become contributing members of their communities and to thrive.

1. Scope of work.

Communications and the programme’s visibility are a central part of the schools2030 program strategy to scale micro-innovations around the world and encourage worldwide systems change by advocating Schools2030 methodology. Videos help to play a crucial role in our storytelling abilities and can support the creation of a wide range of communications products, from our website and news articles to our reports, to our monthly newsletters and more.

We are therefore seeking a videographer-photographer to help capture the work of our teachers, staff and school communities that will help us tell compelling and human-centred stories and demonstrate our impact.

1. Key activities:

• Film all aspects of Schools2030’s work within selected schools and community learning sites (as well as on-location workshops, events, and other activities), keeping in mind sensitive culture issues, gender, and other diverse sensitivities.
  • These are including but not limited to: teacher workshops with AKF staff (Assessment, HCD and showcasing preparation); teachers and students in school settings; teachers and students using or interacting with micro-innovations; individual teachers and students; teachers and students in groups; close-ups of innovations; teachers using Schools2030 HCD or Assessment tools; teachers showcasing their work and events and fora.
  • The footage should be usable for diverse audiences and have universal appeal. They should always demonstrate optimism, energy, inclusivity, and enthusiasm and must never show images of sickness, sadness, fighting, anger or other negative or inappropriate imagery.
• Demonstrate a client-oriented approach, tact, and ability to work with people of different cultural backgrounds.
• Work alongside the Schools2030 country team to determine a suitable workplan of activities and filming opportunities.
• Ensure effective and efficient provision of services, full confidentiality in all aspects of the assignment, management of information flow and follow-up on deadlines and commitments made.
• Ensure dignity of subjects, particularly in the context of children and vulnerable groups.
• Ensure all footage is labelled with time, date, location, and translation and that we capture all subjects’ names, location, and job title (or age in the place of children). This can be shared separately as a word document.
• Always ensure alignment to AKF’s global safeguarding policy.
• Ensure informed consent forms are signed by parents, teachers, and subjects as appropriate and submit these consent forms to AKF along with images.
• Work in close coordination with the assignment National Coordinator and / or the Schools2030 team on the ground, as well as the Schools2030 Global Communications and Advocacy Manager.

4. Deliverables

• Film, edit and finalize 2x 5-minute films:
  • Film 1 Showcasing how young former sex workers in Uganda are upskilling and learning tailoring, crocheting and business skills through their work with Schools2030. Following 2-3 women involved in the project. Where they came from, how they got involved, what their hopes and aspirations for their involvement, what impact are they seeing in their own lives so far.
  • Film 2 Showcasing how improved teacher agency can positively impact student learning outcomes and teacher confidence, and demonstrate the butterfly effect that through one teacher, we now have a mentor who is sharing her newfound knowledge of the innovation process to others, even those outside the program Following the story of teacher Justine. How she came to be involved in the program, her experience going to the first Global Forum, how her own professional approach has changed due to involvement, what she is doing now that is different to before, what are her hopes for the future.
• Capture 5 key types of shots to help tell a visual story of the Schools2030’s work: a mixture of landscape (including showing the context of the schools and communities), architectural (houses, schools, villages), action (workshops, teaching, learning, reading etc.), portrait (subject looking into camera), group portraits and detail (close ups of innovations, books, learning materials etc.) shots.
• Film a mixture of b-roll based on the above guidelines, as well as interviews with all appropriate stakeholder groups
• Visualize positive, people-centric, engaged, active participants as per the AKF visual communication strategy.
• Provision of edited photos in large JPEG format as per the minimum specified per shoot;9Minimum of 300 Photos that will be shared in edited format)
• Final HDs with all footage shot during the assignment to be provided to Schools2030 team on the ground as well as uploaded to a specified cloud folder.
• All footage and final products taken during a shoot should be delivered to teams within one month of the shoot ending.
• Consent forms signed by subjects, and parents in the case of children as per AKF guidelines.

The Aga Khan Foundation retains copyright over all footage shot during an assignment. Copyright will appear as name of AKF Country/Year/Videographer. The consultant may be required to travel to remote, hard-to-reach areas to capture the required images.

5. Qualifications and Experience Required

• The videographer/photographer team must possess demonstrated international expertise in film and video creation, with at least 5 years of relevant working experience in videography in similar field.
• Bilingual skills (English/local language) is preferred;
• Work with Media Agencies, International Organizations, NGOs an asset
• Availability and willingness to travel to different selected locations where the project sites.

6. Procedures and Logistics

• Schools2030 will provide funds for all in-country travel.
• The Schools2030 team will regularly monitor the progress of the consultant’s work.
• Consultant will work from her/his private space.
• Consultant will use her/his computer and other equipment if necessary.
• Consultant will submit final report in an electronic form.

7. Conditions

• The nature of the contract will be temporary, and the timeframe will be decided by the Schools2030 National Coordinator.
• The consultant is expected to conduct all work independently, in accordance with professional standards.
• The consultant will be required to travel within Uganda as part of the assignment.

8. Payment Terms

• Payment is linked to receipt and satisfactory acceptance of deliverables.
• Full payment upon completion of the assignment and subject to approval by Schools2030 National Coordinator and Schools2030 Global Communications Manager