External Procurement

ORGANISATION OF EASTERN CARIBBEAN STATES

 

INVITATION FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

 

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Consultancy Firm for the OECS Programme for Educational Advancement and Relevant Learning (OECS PEARL)

 

The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission invites interested eligible Consultancy Firms to submit Expressions of Interest (EOIs) for the provision of Monitoring and Evaluation consultancy services for the OECS Programme for Educational Advancement and Relevant Learning (OECS PEARL)

 

The Terms of Reference and Guidelines for the Submission of Expressions of Interest for this consultancy are provided below. With regard to the information presented in this document, these Terms of Reference should be read together with the Programme Description which can be accessed here. (The OECS PEARL)

 

PLEASE SEE ATTACHED FOR COMPLETE TERMS OF REFERENCE

 

 

TERMS OF REFERENCE

 

         Monitoring and Evaluation consultancy services for the OE CS PEARL

 

Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)

 

1.0 Introduction

 

The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission has received funding from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) towards support for the implementation of the OECS Education Sector Strategy (OESS). This funding is to assist the OECS Member States to achieve the goal of the OESS: Improved and more equitable learning outcomes through the provision of quality and relevant education and training in the OECS. In relation to this goal, the funding will focus on Expanded access and improved student learning in basic education. The programme will be implemented at the primary level (Grade K to Grade 6) in the nine (9) English-speaking OECS Member States with an emphasis on the four (4) Windward Islands that belong to the GPE group of developing country partners. While the Programme will directly benefit the four (4) GPE Member States^[1], the Non-GPE^[2] Member States will benefit by participating in selected areas of the Programme. Appendix A presents a matrix highlighting the specific programme areas intended for GPE Member States only and those for non-GPE Member States. The OECS PEARL will be implemented by the Education Development Management Unit (EDMU) of the OECS Commission along with Ministries of Education (MoEs) of the OECS.

 

1.1 Background

The OECS region comprises nine English-speaking territories across the chain of Eastern Caribbean islands connected through an economic union by the Revised Treaty of Basseterre (2010). The countries of this economic union collaborate at exceedingly high levels in the education field. Ministries of Education collaborate in regional governance and technical groups that yield great results from knowledge sharing and the design of collective approaches to problems that equally affect the countries of the region. However, while the similarities in the Member States are many, each territory deals with its own peculiarities and nuances in education that require approaches that may not apply to all. In addition, the economic and population size realities, among other things, require treatments in one State that may not be necessary in another. Consequently, regional initiatives like the PEARL must take into account the in-country realities and their implications for intended work. One key example is the curriculum work that is ongoing in Montserrat and St Kitts and Nevis. Every effort must be made to devise an inclusive approach through the PEARL that keeps a harmonized approach to education in the OECS.

 

The OESS, endorsed by the Council of Ministers of Education in May 2011, was accepted as the framework for educational development in Member States, with the vision: “Every Learner Succeeds”. A Mid-Term Review of the OESS was undertaken in 2019. That review provided the opportunity for reframing and reshaping education for the region. Under the theme of relevance, the key finding was that the OESS remains relevant to all of the OECS Member States. Consequently, the life of the strategy was extended to 2026. The OESS continues to serve as an overarching framework for national governments to plan and implement their own national education strategies and plans.

 

The extension of the OESS implementation period to 2026 provides the opportunity for addressing some of the outstanding issues and challenges confronting education in the region while extending the gains from major initiatives. For instance, the OECS PEARL will provide a structured, coordinated and funded mechanism for integrating the core learning standards established during the implementation of the OECS Education Support Project in 2017 – 2019. These standards will feature prominently in the revised OECS Harmonized Primary Curriculum to be developed. Similarly, this new programme will build on the gains realized during implementation of the Early Learners Programme (2015 – 2020), an intervention programme funded by USAID that focused on improving reading at the early grade level.

 

Following the conclusion of the OECS Education Support Project (OESP) in 2019, a final evaluation report highlighted the need for a strengthened monitoring and evaluation approach for future programmes and projects based on detailed feedback from Member States. Some of the key recommendations highlighted in the Final Report suggest a more coordinated approach to monitoring and evaluation beyond the duration of the project to include all the relevant actors within the Member States. Therefore, the OECS PEARL incorporated a Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Learning sub-component to ensure full integration of M&E procedures across the Programme. It is expected that the OECS PEARL will duly consider these and other contextual realities throughout programme implementation.

 

2. Purpose and Objective of Consultancy

 

The OECS Commission is seeking to engage a Monitoring and Evaluation Consultancy Firm (M & E Firm) to provide the services described below to the beneficiary OECS countries. The overall objective of the consultancy is to strengthen the capacity of persons within the education systems of participating Member States in monitoring, evaluating , reporting and learning as a means to improve coordination of activities and communication with key stakeholders across Member States during and post implementation. More specifically, the M&E firm will devise strategies to harmonize implementation of the OECS PEARL to existing M&E structures at the OECS Commission and at Member States levels.

 

This consultancy requires due attention to the new demands placed on Education Planners, other Ministry of Education officials, Principals and teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic due to increased incidence of home learning and the introduction of online learning in ways that never existed previously in pre-primary and primary schools of the OECS. Key to this consultancy will be augmenting capacity to collect and use data for teaching and learning improvements as well as for evidence-based decision-making. 

In addition, the firm will provide technical, advisory and support services to the project teams at the regional and national levels through various means of communication and through periodic in-country/office visits, for training and consultations. Capacity building is required of both regional and national teams to enable adequate meeting of monitoring, evaluation and reporting requirements of this and future programmes in education.

 

3.0 Requirements of the Consultancy

 

For this assignment, the M&E Consulting firm should undertake the following:

1. Alignment of the OECS PEARL to the draft OESS Performance Management Framework.  Upon review of the draft OESS PMF, the firm should submit a completed PMF with the confirmation of all baselines and targets (to include intermediary targets).
2. Monitoring progress of the OECS PEARL against its overall MERL Framework, Work Plan/WBS and Theory of Change by providing an overview of progress on activities and implementation of Theory of Change;
3. Monitoring of the OECS PEARL activities by Implementing Partners, with particular focus on the Member States across the four (4) Program Components against their planned activities as detailed in their respective Annual Work Plans.  This includes but is not limited to monitoring of outputs, budget/expenditure, procurement of goods and services and disbursements at the country level (4 GPE countries and 5 Member States); by working closely with:

1. National Coordinators;
2. National Monitoring and Evaluation Teams;
3. National Focal Points; and
4. Component Focal Points

Therefore, the architecture for the MERL System must take into account the activities as detailed in the OESS PMF, OECS PEARL Program Document and associated M&E documents, the Project Implementation Manual, Country Work Plans and Reports as well as any other related documents. The Firm should also consider the Final Evaluation Report on the OECS Education Support Project (2017 - 2019).

 

4.0 Scope of Work

 

The Consulting Firm will adopt a results-based approach whereby the desired outcomes are the critical measure of success for the OECS PEARL. This will include establishing baselines and targets to facilitate measurement of key results in the OESS Performance Management Framework and the OECS PEARL Monitoring Framework. This is expected to be connected to Quarterly, Bi-annual and Annual Progress Reports which will reflect linkages between the inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes at the Regional and National levels.

 

The Consultant is expected to provide monitoring and evaluation (M&E) services primarily for four (4) GPE Developing Country Partners (DCPs) in the context of the OECS PEARL; however, the monitoring system will be required to include the other five (5) OECS Member States (bringing a total of nine (9) Member States).  The system will augment capacity to collect and use data for teaching and learning improvements as well as for evidence-based decision-making. The Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting & Learning (MERL) system will take into consideration the OECS Commission’s M&E Policy Manual, which provides an overarching M&E framework and gives the policy context for managing program and operational performance data and information. Additionally, focus will be on ensuring sufficient capacity at regional and national levels to efficiently manage the program as well as implementing change management strategies and plans tied to communication for  effective implementation.

 

For Component 2 - Curriculum and Assessment, an information management system to support the OECS Harmonized Primary Curriculum (OHPC) is expected to be developed under a separate consultancy.  The M&E Firm will be required to integrate this system into the MERL. Furthermore, during the implementation of the OECS Education Sector Project (OESP), a package of resources was developed across key project components (among them: Curriculum & Assessment, Professional Development and Leadership & Accountability). These resources, namely, data collection tools, monitoring plans, process maps, quality checklists and reporting templates should be reviewed, adapted or further developed where necessary and scaled up to meet the requirements of the new MERL System being developed.

 

Another critical aspect of the process of monitoring and evaluation will be the establishment of a MERL system for providing regular information on students’ progress and related activities. The MERL system will, among other things, enable schools and Ministries of Education to manage and use data on teaching and learning to guide decisions to improve student learning. Furthermore, the Firm will facilitate gender-sensitive and gender-disaggregated monitoring and evaluation in accordance with the Gender Equality Mainstreaming Policy for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission. 

 

Specifically, the consultancy is expected to achieve the following deliverables:

1. An Inception Report detailing the Consulting Firm’s approach to the Assignment to include a detailed Desk Review of relevant documents which will be made available by the EDMU, including, among others:

1. Mid-Term Review of the OESS (2019)
2. OECS Data Quality Assessment Report (2019)
3. OECS Data Governance and Management Framework
4. Draft OECS Education Initiatives Sustainability Framework

2. A Reviewed and completed Performance Management Framework for the OESS, with due consideration to the recommendations from the Mid-Term Review of the OESS and the OECS Education Statistics Code of Practice and Interim Plan for the Development of Education Statistics to produce revised OESS indicators to monitor the implementation of the OESS.
3. A revised Performance Monitoring Framework with regional and national baselines, and intermediate and final targets for the OECS PEARL, such targets being determined through an evidence-based approach. The PEARL is one of the initiatives supporting the implementation of the OESS.
4. Baseline and endline reports based on instructional lesson observations using a specified, established tool such as Teach developed by the World Bank. These lesson observations will help inform the interventions provided through the OECS PEARL as well as serve as a basis for measuring teacher growth over the life of the programme. The firm will lead the selection and adaptation or development of the tool for the observations.
5. Identification and assessment of existing reporting structures to inform the development of an innovative and transformational Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting & Learning (MERL) System for the OESS including related procedures for the OECS PEARL and other programmes and/or initiatives under the EDMU. The MERL system should include a component for the Ministries of Education in Member States to provide regular reports on student progress and to assist in the management and utilization of data for evidence-based decision-making. The proposed MERL System should be web-enabled and serve as the repository of data and information on education in the OECS. It should establish a sound Performance Management Framework for the OESS of which the OECS PEARL is one implementing arm for the accomplishment of targets. The MERL should allow access for the tracking of status and performance information on all activities as implementation advances. The proposed system should accommodate usage by approved personnel across the OECS Commission and Member States for data collection, reporting purposes and informed decision-making. When designing this system, the Consulting Firm should go beyond the orthodox data collection approaches to design processes that meet the demands of a distributed learning model.
6. Strengthened M&E capacity of staff of the OECS Commission and the OECS Member States on the established MERL System utilizing training and learning resource manuals and other evidence-based training approaches for sustainable implementation of the MERL.
7. M&E Country manuals and other resources which will include an implementation plan with specific activities to operationalize the system (goal, baseline, timelines, frequency of measurement, responsible actors, required resources, etc.)  and ensure compatibility with the Programme Implementation Manual (PIM).
8. Prepare Annual Progress Monitoring Reports based on the program’s expected results.

 

PLEASE SEE ATTACHED FOR COMPLETE TERMS OF REFERENCE