Evaluation of Improving The quality of basic education projectsChildFund Vietnam – Hanoi Representative Office

TERMS OF REFERENCE

TOR FOR CONSULTANCY ON EVALUATION IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF BASIC EDUCATION PROJECT

HOA BINH AND BAC KAN 2004-2006.

1. INTRODUCTION

ChildFund Vietnam is a member of ChildFund International, a group of 12 developmental child sponsorship organizations working since 1938 to improve the lives of impoverished children and families in 55 countries in Asia & the Pacific, Africa, the America and Europe.

ChildFund Vietnam has been supporting community development projects in Vietnam since 1994. The overall goal of our Vietnam program is:

“To address the basic needs of children and families at the commune level through a sustainable and participatory program facilitated through community management and control”

The program focuses on the following key sectors:

agriculture & food security health & nutrition water & sanitation education child protection

Program activities are planned on the basis of needs assessment and community prioritization, and implemented with local communities in partnership with district people’s committees, commune people’s committees, commune project implementation units and other relevant local bodies such as commune, district and province agencies and mass organizations.

ChildFund Vietnam continuously seeks to improve program quality through various strategies including development of clear program guidelines; strengthen the integration between program areas; close monitoring and evaluation; networking, and in-corporate lessons learnt from the previous projects into the new ones.

Since the projects operation, there has not been a formal evaluation conducted by independent consultant on the successes, failures of the projects. It has been hoped that a formal evaluation conducted by independent consultants will give a lot of insights and recommendations for the development, management and implementation of the next Education projects in the future, to ensure the projects are going on track and help community children to achieve the education objectives.

ChildFund’s Education Program in Vietnam 1999-2003

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Evaluation of Improving The quality of basic education projectsChildFund Vietnam – Hanoi Representative OfficeDuring the period from 1999-2003, Childfund (formally known as CCF) Education program has focused on the provision of school infrastructure (class rooms, desks, chairs, teaching equipments, textbooks and reference books etc,) as well as capacity building for school teachers within 8 project communes of Ky Son, Cao Phong, Bach Thong districts. Major works have been as follows:

1999-2000

10 primary school classrooms provided for 5 villages of Hop Thanh commune. Each classroom was equipped with chair and desks.18 preschool classrooms provided for Dan Ha commune for 362 students in 10 villages and the commune centre. Each classroom was equipped with chair and desks.

2001-2002

• Central primary school (8 classrooms, library and teacher’s room) provided for Hop Thanh commune

• Central primary school (13 classrooms, library and teacher’s rooms) provided for Tan Phong commune. Each classroom was equipped with chair and desks.

2002-2003

• Six preschools provided for Hop Thanh commune • One primary school provided for Dan Ha commune. • Providing teaching equipments, textbooks and reference books, radio cassettes, music

instruments (organ).• Providing some training on new teaching methods,

2003-2004

• Central preschool provided for Tan Phong commune• Preschool provided for Dong Song village, Dan Ha commune• Central preschool provided for Nguyen Phuc commune• Providing teaching equipments, textbooks and reference books, and other teaching

aids.• Providing training on new teaching methods, exchange visits

2004-2006• Build 4 satellite preschools in Nam Phong and Xuan Phong communes and one

satellite primary school in Can I&II village, Xuan Phong commune, Cao Phong district, Hoa Binh province.

• Build 2 classrooms of Central preschool in Vi Huong commune, playground of Luc Binh primary and wall in Nguyen Phuc preschool, Bach Thong district, Bac Kan province

• Providing teaching equipments, textbooks and reference books, and other teaching aids.

• Providing training on new teaching methods for preschool and primary school teachers (focusing on working with teachers grade 1-3), organize exchange visits

• Enhance community involvement in basic Education through communication with preschool parents and other activities.

II. AIMS OF THE EVALUATIONThe evaluation aims to:

- To assess the soundness of project design

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Evaluation of Improving The quality of basic education projectsChildFund Vietnam – Hanoi Representative Office

- To assess to what extent project outputs are achieved and analyze the reasons of success and constraints to achieve them including management mechanism, monitoring and evaluation, information flow, partnership and the participation of partners in the whole project management cycle.

- Assess the sustainability of the project outputs/ outcome- Give recommendations for new Education project in the next phase.

V. METHODOLOGY

Hanoi:

Review of key project documents and clarification of the nature and scale of completed and proposed project activities

Development of the Evaluation program and schedule

Hoa Binh and Bac Kan Interview and group discussion

o Interview project staffs o Group discussion with different related stakeholders: PMB, District

education officers, parents, teachers, children Field visit

o Visit schools constructed, see classrooms and school environment, see the facilities equipped and used in the classrooms.

o Study the record books of schools and children’s workbooks/ notebooks

Focus should be made under each objective as the following: Project design

⇒ Soundness of objective and output setting⇒ Consistency between the specific objectives with the general objectives⇒ Completeness and logic of project design.⇒ Feasibility of project design:

- The soundness of intervention selection including - Resource mobilization (especially from partners and beneficiaries)- Adequacy in financial planning - Changes/adjustments (both activities and finance) taken during project

course

To what extent project outputs are achieved and analyse the reasons of success and constraints to achieve them

⇒ Teachers training: - Appropriateness of training contents & Training handouts/ exchange visit- Appropriateness of training delivery including time of conducting the

training, method and the use training aid as well as length of each training course

- The application by participants after training/ exchange visit- Reasons of success and constraints to achieve them- The change in teaching and learning quality as well as management has

been created

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Evaluation of Improving The quality of basic education projectsChildFund Vietnam – Hanoi Representative Office

⇒ School Facilities: Suitability with local conditions, relevant to age groups and use of teachers and children, participation of beneficiaries into decision making what and how facilities are procured.

- The appropriateness of whole process including participation of different stakeholders

- Appropriateness of provided facilities in term of quantity, quality, relevance with age and local context/ conditions as well as skill of teachers

- The use and management of provided facilities - Reasons of success and constraints to achieve them- The change in teaching and learning quality has been created

⇒ Construction: ) - Processes, participation of beneficiaries in the whole construction process

(investment report, design, monitoring the construction)- The appropriateness and comfort of school and other supported parts- Issue concerning with construction quality (during construction and current

status) - The appropriateness of school location - Reasons of success and constraints to achieve them- The change in teaching and learning quality as well accessibility/ rate of

attendance of children etc. has been created⇒ Community communication: Quality of activities, delivery mode, etc.

Assess the sustainability of the project outputs/ outcome⇒ Financial⇒ Institutional⇒ Political

To draw the lessons learnt for the next program ⇒ The lessons drawn⇒ The ways to implement/ adapt such lessons

Importantly, the evaluation will address the question “Do the projects help to improve the children’s learning outputs and support them to develop to full potential?”

As the children will have summer vacation during the evaluation process, one important activity may be missed out during this evaluation is classroom observation during teaching hours to assess the application of teacher training courses on practical teaching. However, the evaluation team should try their best to assess the teacher training component through interviews, group discussions with related stakeholders such as teachers, district education officers and children. By the time children and teachers resume for the next school year, this project component will be assessed again, and more recommendations will be fed in the new project by adjustment plans or variation forms.

VI. LOCATION

• Literature review will be carried out in Hanoi• Travel to 10 project communes for field visits

VII FINAL PRODUCTS

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Evaluation of Improving The quality of basic education projectsChildFund Vietnam – Hanoi Representative OfficeA report is developed within agreed timeframe. The report should be concise and limited to significant issues. The main text should focus on the findings, conclusions and recommended actions, supported by relevant summaries of data collected and citations for any references used in interpreting those data. Detailed or un-interpreted data or other supporting materials should not be included in the main text, but may be included in an annex where appropriate.

The report should be organized according to the outline as follows:1. Table of content 2. Executive summary 3. Project/ program background information 4. Evaluation content and processes5. Findings 6. Conclusions 7. Recommendations8. Appendices9. List of References

The report should be separated for two projects in Hoa Binh and Bac Kan provinces, either in English or Vietnamese.

VII. TIME AND DURATION

The evaluation team will comprise of 2 people with relevant expertise. The dates of the evaluation will be as following

ACTIVITIES # DAYPreparation for evaluation (including gathering of all necessary documents, development of questionnaires, plan for field trips etc)

2 day

Study the relevant documents 1 dayAssess the soundness of project design 3 daysField trip (each commune 1 day) 10 daysReport writing 7 daysFeedback meetings with 2 provinces 1 dayTravel 1 dayTOTAL 25 days

VIII. MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISION

The Consultancy will be managed by the Vietnam Country Director. Childfund’s Program Team Leader and Education sector staff will work closely with the Consultant for day-to-day coordination, introductions and other supports.

Project Documents list

1. Program documents2. Reports

Consultant Specification

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Evaluation of Improving The quality of basic education projectsChildFund Vietnam – Hanoi Representative Office1. Degree in Educational –related field, social science, community development or

related disciplines2. Academic specialization and/or significant work experience in the area of quality basic

education in Vietnam’s rural upland areas3. Experience working with Government authorities and INGOs in a development context

(preferably in Vietnam)4. Demonstrated experience with and understanding of issues related to gender and

ethnic minorities 5. Excellent working knowledge of English and/or Vietnamese6. Experience in Log frame approach in project design.

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