Education Advisory Services

Detailed description of project Back

The purpose of the assignment is to provide advisory and capacity building services as well as support with a view to:

• Improve the quality of the EU assistance projects and programs for education reforms in partner countries through adequate support at the key steps of the project/programme cycle;
• Support the continuing definition and/or adaptation of EU policies for education reform in developing countries;
• Support the EU to improve the global education assistance governance, architecture and mechanisms, with the aim to increase coherence as well as complementarity between interventions at bilateral and global levels;
• Enhance the EU education assistance communication, visibility and accountability framework including through adequate resource tracking and impact monitoring; and communication thereof to relevant stakeholders.

The contractor will carry out activities which aim at supporting the achievement of the following results:

• Result 1: High quality and timely support, advice and capacity building on key aspects of the design and implementation of EU education reforms support programs is provided to education reform stakeholders EU HQs, EU Delegations and partner countries:

Proactive and upon demand advice and support, and build capacities, skills and knowledge: of DEVCO B4 education sector, EUDs and possibly beneficiary country education operators, with regard to the following: (i) all aspects regarding the full cycle of EU-funded education support programs (country based and thematic), (ii) issues related to education policy dialogue, monitoring, indicators, policies, instruments, financing including budget support, systems and practices, political economy of education in partner countries, harmonization and information/expertise sharing with other donors, (iii) improvement of beneficiary country education strategies, policies, projects, systems and practices aimed towards achieving national and universally defined education goals, (iv) identification of needs for further work and (v) other as requested.

• Result 2: EU policies and strategies aimed to assist partner countries in reforming their education system are informed by best available knowledge and based on relevant evidence:

Undertake analysis; provide proactive and upon demand advice and support including drafting and editing of briefings, policy documents, correspondence etc; build capacities, skills and knowledge; and support knowledge management, evidence base and networking of the DEVCO education sector, EUDs and possibly beneficiary country education operators, with regard to the following indicative non-exhaustive list of topics: Policies aimed to achieve post-2015 education targets; Key obstacles and enablers of progress towards achieving global education goals in developing countries, including those related to equality, equity, quality, learning outcomes; key sector issues such as access, completion and quality of education, education financing, education sector governance and education system strengthening; innovation in education; evidence base for sector policies; Inter-sectorial approaches; higher education and programs such as Erasmus+ as a tool to promote overarching development goals; Education in fragile states and under emergency conditions; Formal and non-formal education; inclusive education; learning assessments, language of instruction.

• Result 3: The complementarity and coherence of the global education assistance architecture is strengthened:

Addressing topics such as: Consensus among stakeholders (EU MS, CSO, other development partners) on priorities, concepts and actions to be proposed and implemented; international education policy dialogue; harmonization, alignment and result orientation at country level, particularly in the areas of education financing, education aid deployment modalities and education results reporting; quality of global and regional education reform initiatives such as GPE, ADEA, TTF, INEE; EU voice in and impact on global, regional and thematic education reform processes; EU relations with UNICEF, UNESCO and other international organizations involved in the sector; complementarity between education sector support at country level and global education initiatives; education sector aid effectiveness; EUD and partner country experiences with global education initiatives’ operations;

• Result 4: Tracking, monitoring and accountability of EU assistance for education reforms in partner countries and for global and regional initiatives and processes is enhanced:

Methodology, Framework and mechanisms (including EU Development and Cooperation Results Framework) to identify, collect and regularly report on results of EU education assistance, as part of DG DEVCO’s public accountability;

• Result 5: Communication and visibility of EU assistance for education reforms is increased:

Communication and visibility actions and products aimed, among other, to inform other stakeholders inside and outside the EU about EU support and involvement in education for development (Websites, virtual networks and platforms such as Capacity4Dev; communication events, seminars and workshops; knowledge management products such as best practices, lessons learnt, case studies, reference documents; Briefings on all sector related issues; sector related publications).

Type of services provided

The services are provided by a team of 3 key experts:

• Team leader/Deputy TL, Education Specialists (598 m/d);
• Education Specialists (489 m/d);
• Coordination expert (550 m/d);
• Junior Communication & Coordination Support Expert (607 m/d);
• And complimented with a pool of STE (402 m/d) and one Administrative Assistant (240 m/d) responsible for knowledge management, web-learning, pedagogy and communication.

A dedicated office has been set-up in Brussels, staffed by the Coordinator, the Administrative Assistant and the Communication & Coordination Support Expert.

PROMAN as lead company is responsible for overall contract management and quality control. All key experts are contracted by PROMAN. Non-key experts are provided by both partners.