Project External Evaluation At Terre des Hommes Italia

Call for EOI for the selection of an External Evaluator

to carry out the final evaluation of the project

“Ta’lim lil-Jami’a: inclusive education intervention for East Jerusalem children” (ENI/2019/408-198)

Co-funded by the European Commission (main donor), UEFA Foundation for Children and Terre des Hommes Italia

1. Background information

1.1 Nature of the intervention

Terre des Hommes Italia (TDH It) is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting children against all forms of violence or abuse and guaranteeing their right to health, education and life. TDH It, which is part of the TDH International Federation, is currently working in 21 countries worldwide, carrying out humanitarian interventions and development projects in the sectors of education, mother and child health, income generation, water and sanitation, child protection and rehabilitation, to the benefit of thousands of children, their families and communities.

TDH It works in Palestine since 2000, and it has implemented several educational, health and psycho-social interventions together with its National Partners and with Local Authorities in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.Within the frame of its activities, TDH It is implementing a 3-year project called ‘Ta’lim lil-Jami’a: inclusive education intervention for East Jerusalem children, which focuses on 14 Awqaf schools located in East Jerusalem that expressed the willingness of adopting a more inclusive approach. The project also targets preschool age children through the establishment/enhancement of KG classes within primary public schools, as well as Italian students of an Italian public school who have been engaged in a twinning with their peers.

1.2 Area of intervention

East Jerusalem, Palestine (Old City, Wadi el-Joz, Jabal Mukabber, Silwan al-Thoury, Beit Safafa, Sheikh Sa’ad and Za’ayyem, Nabi Samwil, Beit Hanina)

1.3 Duration of the project

01/09/2019 – 31/12/2022

1.4 Direct beneficiaries

2.300 students of 14 Awqaf schools involved in the project activities and children living in different areas of EJ (Old City, Wadi el-Joz, Jabal Mukabber, Silwan al-Thoury, Sheikh Sa’ad and Za’ayyem, Nabi Samwil, Beit Hanina), their families and the community members involved in awareness and extra-curricular activities, 190 school personnel (teachers, principals, counsellors and supervisors), the MoEHE Counselling and Special Education Department officials and the IE Counsellors and Supervisors, schools involved in networking activities, Palestinian and Italian schools involved in the twinning (50 students, 20 educators and their families) and in the networking.

1.5 Overall objective

Contribute to preserve the Palestinian identity of occupied East Jerusalem.

1.6 Specific objective

To increase quality, opportunities and inclusiveness of the educational offer provided by public schools adopting the Palestinian Curriculum in Jerusalem

1.7 Expected results pursued by the project

The project addresses structural issues such as staff training and works in partnership with schoolteachers and principals to support the students learning process and the quality of the educational service provided. In addition, the project promotes the participation of students and school/family interaction, creating a community where people cooperate to the growth and education of the child by implementing adaptations of the curricula and of the school environment which all students will benefit from.

The project aims to achieve the following results:

Op1.1 At least 190 MoEHE/JDoE technical staff and educators of target schools (teachers, principals, counsellors and supervisors) enhance their inclusive educational strategies/practices

Op 1.2 At least 2100 children aged 5 to 18 years attending school in the target areas have access to inclusive educational services

Op 1.3 Children, youth and adults of the target schools/neighbourhoods benefit from awareness raising and structured inclusive extra-curricular activities

Op 1.4 Target schools adopt a participatory whole school approach towards planning and identifying priorities and enhance networking with public and private schools operating in East Jerusalem

Op 1.5 50 school children of grades 7th and 8th (30 Palestinians and 20 Italians) and 20 teachers and educators (10 Palestinians and 10 Italians) benefit from twinning activities and exchanges of experiences and educational practises

2. Methodology of the intervention

The reference framework for the development of an inclusive educational environment that has been adopted for the project is that of the Index for Inclusion. The Index is a resource to support the inclusive development of schools in which inclusion is about the development of all children. Inclusion starts from a recognition of the differences between students, and of the need to build on such differences. Labelling children for ‘having special educational needs’ shifts the focus on the individual child: it lowers the expectations placed on them and ultimately condones any shortcomings of the educational system. The work to be done with students who experience difficulties should instead be connected with changes that are beneficial for the entire school: the school should address the sources of difficulties and look at how its relationship, cultures, curriculum, teaching and learning approaches, policy and school organization can be improved to impact on the entire student community, so that barriers to learning and participation be reduced for any student.

3. Expected output of the consultancy

Purpose of the evaluation

The consultancy aims to deliver a final evaluation of the project. The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the extent to which the project objectives have been met and its broader theory of change has been realized. It will assess the project against the OECD-DAC criteria (relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, impact, sustainability) and the project log-frame. The evaluation should also provide recommendations and draw lesson that can inform current and future programming.

Methodology

The consultant is expected to propose rigorous and appropriate methods for final evaluation, which will include, but not necessarily limited to desk review of key documents, data collection (including interviews and focus group discussions), analysis, reporting and a finding sharing workshop.

The evaluator is encouraged to triangulate data sources where available, mix qualitative and quantitative data and methods and propose innovative and participatory methodologies for qualitative data collection.

All the data and evaluation findings should take into account (and be disaggregate by, when appropriate) the general cross-cutting issues (gender, age, education needs), geographical areas, providing a good understanding of the differences among the related groups.

Deliverables

The consultant is expected to provide the following deliverables as a minimum requirement: Inception report, to outline the proposed evaluation framework, including evaluation questions, methods, data collection tools and work plan; final evaluation report; finding sharing workshop; copy of original and cleaned dataset (both quantitative and qualitative) and of the data collection/research tools adopted. The final report shall include timesheet, list of people met, bibliography, findings, recommendations. All documents and reports to be produced as part of this consultancy, as well as any email exchange and other communication related to the consultancy, shall all be written in English. All meetings, focus groups and field visits shall be done in Arabic.

Timeframe

The data collection is expected to be delivered by the first half of October 2022 and the final report should be completed and approved by end of November. In case of extension of the project implementation period, the schedule of the final evaluation could be postponed.

Skills and qualification required

· University degree in Social Science, Education, Development, or any area relevant to this assignment

· Demonstrated experience in leading and managing complex evaluation assignment

· Demonstrated experience in working in development and/or emergency interventions

· Demonstrated experience in quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis

· Demonstrated experience in conducting evaluation of education projects

· Experience in the Middle East

· Experience with EU funded projects

· Excellent analytical and reporting skills

· Availability to move within the West Bank and East Jerusalem

· Fluency in written and spoken English required, Arabic is a much appreciated plus

· Knowledge of the Palestinian school curriculum, the Palestinian school system, and inclusive approaches (including the Palestine Inclusive Education Policy) is also a plus

· Strong commitment to protect children and respect TDH values, Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy, PSEAH Policy and Code of Ethics

Either individuals, teams and companies are allowed to apply.

4. Selection process

The selection process will be conducted as follows:

· by or before July 31st, 2022, candidates should express their interest to Terre des Hommes Italia to participate to the selection process.

· by August 11th, 2022, Terre des Hommes Italia shall select a maximum of five eligible candidates among the applicants, who will be invited to submit their proposal and financial offer by August 25th; applications received by the deadline will then be analysed by a committee.

· TDH will then communicate the final outcome of the selection by means of an e-mail between the end of August and the beginning of September.

5. Privacy and disclaimer

Data and information provided by the applicants and/or acquired by Terre des Hommes Italia during the selection process of the EE, and afterwards in the course of the consultancy, will be solely processed for the purpose of evaluating the proposals, selecting the EE and facilitating his/her work, according to the principles of correctness, legality, transparency and in full respect of the privacy and individual rights of the applicants. No information shall be transferred to any third party with the exception the financing institutions.