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Post/Title: Consultancy for Joint Review of the Education Sector in Somalia
Program System Capacity Grant
Reporting to: Program Director -CARE Somalia
Duration 30 working days
Country background
As a result of continuous period of political and institutional progress, Somalia today is a country transitioning out of fragility and protracted crisis. There is evident commitment of the people and the leadership towards the greater good of the country. This commitment could be alluded to milestones such as the 2012 Provisional Constitution, the 2012 establishment of the federal government, and the subsequent formation of four new Federal Member States[1] and Puntland.
Federalism laid a platform for sharing resources and power from top to the grassroots albeit the constitutional questions that are still yet to be answered. This created the optimism to manage developmental imbalances between the more stable northern regions and those in the south still emerging from conflict.
The country’s private sector has shown a lot of resilience, coordination between political zones and unimaginable growth that has them explore both the national and regional markets. Somalia thus has several opportunities emanating from economy transitioning from traditional, rural pastoralism to urban, trade and services.
According to the World bank, Somalia’s exposure to multiple types of shocks such as climate and water related changes, the locust infestation, conflict and insecurity and more recently, the COVID-19 global health pandemic, presents numerous challenges to a country at a nascent stage of state-building. The effects of COVID-19 are projected to have substantial headwinds on the economy, with growth downgraded from 3.2% before the onset of the health pandemic to potentially negative 2.5 to 3.0%, as consumption falls due to lower remittances and job losses, and exports of livestock decline. A shock of this magnitude is likely to result in structural changes in the economy, with potential job losses in the formal sector and informality further increasing.
In the last three decades, Education in Somalia passed through various phases ranging from emergency education to a transitional phase and currently actors in Somalia are focused in delivering long term strategic educational outcomes while at the same time tackling to emerging needs such as recurrent floods, drought and the COVID-19.
During this decade, tremendous progress has been made in terms of expanding access to education, improving quality of education and strengthening instructional capacity. The progress made include but not limited to conducting national secondary examinations since 2015, decentralization of the education and delegation of roles and responsibilities to the federal members states, expanding access to free education, implementation of unified curriculum (Grade 1 – grade 12) and establishment of wide and decentralized EMIS system.
In 2012, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher education developed Transitional Education Plan (TEP) document which guided the education sector until December 2017. This was followed by an extensive Education Sector Analysis (ESA) in 2017 which informed the development of the 1st full-fledged Education Sector Strategic Plan (2018-2020) focused on the critical education needs of the country in the short term as well as systems and capacity development set foundations for the development of a more enhanced sector plan in the coming years.
Once the previous ESSP 2018-2020 expired in December 2020, the Federal Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education together with the Federal Member State – Ministries of Education set out in carrying out the second comprehensive Education Sector Analysis (ESA) report in 2021. The ESA report offers a snapshot of the Somali Education Sector, outlining the contextual challenges as well the opportunities across the sector. The ESA report also presents key education indicators across the various sub-sectors and provides an evidence base for the identification of policy priority areas and the development of an informed Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP 2022-2026).
Then the federal Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education together with the Federal Member State Ministries of Education developed an ESSP 2022-2026 through a consultative and participatory process with the involvement of donors, education development partners and civil society organizations. The new ESSP 2022-2026 is guided by the National Development Plan, The Education Act, and key education documents. Thus, the ESSP 2022-2026 defines six policy priorities ranging from pre-primary to higher education, with a set of objectives to be reached by the end of the plan period 2026 and corresponding strategies to achieve them. The six policy priorities of the ESSP 2022-2026 includes: Access, equity and completion in basic and secondary education, Quality and relevance of education in basic and secondary education, Access to affordable quality and relevant TVET, Access to quality of higher education, Governance and system management, Utilization and integration of ICT in education. The ESSP 2022-2026 also presents strengthening system-wide monitoring and supervision, Monitoring plan, Risks and mitigation measures.
Progress made on the sector plans is set to be assessed and reported upon through separate Annual Joint Reviews of the Education Sector (JRES) involving the Federal Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education (MoECHE), State level Ministries of Education from Southwest, Jubbaland, Galmudug and Hirshabelle, development partners, civil society and the private sector in Somalia. JRES, as part of the sector-wide monitoring mechanism in the country, will also strengthen existing monitoring efforts from a neutral perspective.
This year’s JREs will be part of the National Education Conference that will be held in late January assess the progress of the annual plan implementation of the ESSP and thereby identify achievements, and challenges and provide remedial actions.
The Federal Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education (MoECHE) will hire an external consultant to facilitate the JRES exercise. The consultant will work with the MoECHE, FMS MOEs and education partners, to assess performance of the sector of this ending year. The JRES exercise will culminate in a JRES workshop which will provide an opportunity to the MoECHE and partners to convene and jointly analyze the sector, drawing upon the assessments and the results.
The key objective of the JRES exercise is to review performance of the sector for the period against the ESSP targets and government policy documents. Specific objectives include:
This consultancy of which this contract will be a part, is aimed towards contributing to the enhancement of the capacity education sector by supporting the Ministry of Education, Culture & Higher Education (MoECHE) in Somalia in leading and coordinating the seventh Joint Review of the Education Sector (JRES), leading to the institutionalization of annual Joint Reviews of the Education Sector.
JRES will principally be a consultative process involving major stakeholders and the members of the Education Coordination Committee, the Federal Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education (MoECHE) as well as extensive consultation with State level MoEs in Jubbaland, Southwest, Hirshabelle and Galmudug. The main focus of the field visits will be to assess the progress on the ten priority programs under six priority objectives of the ESSP 2022-2026. The key priority programs of the ESSP would be:
Additional cross cutting areas to explore will be progress made on: Enhancement of the organizational capacity of the MOECHE to manage/regulate the education sector, Development of learning materials based on approved national curriculum framework; Attainment of equity and parity in educational system for girls, Strengthening of in-service teacher training systems for all subsectors, Establishment of a system-wide monitoring and supervision system, establishment of system-wide use of EMIS data, Supporting of decentralization of education service delivery, and Higher Education, and Financial Plan and Domestic Financing; the Monitoring Plan, and the Risks and Mitigation Measures.
The consultant will assess the performance of the education sector against ESSP. The purpose of this assignment is to provide technical input to the JRES in Somalia, to facilitate discussions on key issues that have arisen in the education sector within the last year, and, subsequently, update an Education Action Plan 2023 of the ESSP 2022-2026 based on the JRES findings. The consultant is expected to draft JRES synthesis report, synthesis presentation, an Aide Memoire that identifies priority actions and milestones to address performance issues in the coming year as well as final JRES Report which among other things captures reflections from the implementation of the ESS, lessons learned, recommendations and way forward for the future.
Geographical area to be covered
Federal member states consisting of Jubbaland, Hirshabelle, Southwest, Galmudug and Banadir Region.
Target Groups
The JRES process will involve the MoECHE, including its decentralized structures, development partners, civil society organizations, the private sector and school communities. The process should be consultative involving all major stakeholders of the education sector in Somalia. The Review will be coordinated by the MoECHE in collaboration with the Education Sector Committee.
The consultant will support Federal MOECHE to undertake a technical and financial review of the ESSP to gauge the level of implementation for the past year while also identifying gaps, priority actions and milestones for the coming year. In addition, all existing relevant project documents, reports, studies, evaluations and legislation will be reviewed in cooperation with the target MoECHE and development partners.
Federal MoECHE will take a lead role in the consultations. The consultant will meet and discuss with officials from the federal MoECHE, State level MoEs, the education partners, and other relevant stakeholders to gain further insight into the education sector, in general, and critical issues, in particular.
The consultant in close coordination with the federal MOECHE, State level MoEs and partners will ascertain the level of implementation of the action plan. This will be collaborated through field visits. In this regard, the consultant will prepare a sectoral report reflecting progress on the key indicators in each sector, reporting on implementation of the 2022 action plan and an assessment of the findings, financial reporting and follow up of the recommendations of the previous JRES.
The consultant in close coordination with the federal MOECHE and State level MoEs will provide a sectoral/synthesis report and a PowerPoint presentation covering an overview of the current state of the education sector in Somalia in relation to the Education Sector Strategic Plan, based on data and statistics, documents, field visits and meetings. The synthesis report will include data analysis, graphs and charts, as well as a narrative portion. The synthesis report will be circulated a few days prior to the JRES and provide the basis for discussions during the JRES workshop. A Power Point of the report will be presented at the JRES workshop.
The consultant will assist the Federal MoECHE and State level MoEs to plan for and implement a two-day JRES workshop from in Mogadishu, Somalia late January. The workshop will be an analytical and collaborative process that will provide a platform for education stakeholders to review the education sector, as well as the implementation of the ESSP, including forward planning. A ToR of the JRES will be developed and distributed to the ESC for input. An Agenda for the JRES will be sent to ESC before JRES.
f) Education Action Plan for 2023
The consultant will develop an Education Action Plan for 2023, ensuring that the activities proposed in the plan will incorporate priorities and key strategies, and be in line with the ESSP 2022-2026. The consultant will work closely with the Federal and State Ministries of Education, Culture and Higher Education and partners to prepare a financial plan as well as a monitoring and evaluation framework for the Education Action Plan for 2023.
g) Aide Memoire
The consultant will provide a report on all stages of the Joint Review of the Education Sector, on issues raised, key findings and recommendations.
Key requirements for this position include:
Applications should be submitted to: som.consultant@care.org. no later than 26/12/2022
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