Terms of Reference****Consultant for Gender and Language Education for Ethnic Students’ Empowerment (GLEESE) Lao Literacy Class Handbook - Content Revision

ChildFund in Laos (CFL) is the representative office of ChildFund Australia – an independent international development organisation that works to reduce poverty for children in developing communities.

ChildFund Australia is a member of the ChildFund Alliance – a global network of 12 organisations which assists almost 23 million children and their families in 70 countries. ChildFund Australia is a registered charity, a member of the Australian Council for International Development, and fully accredited by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade which manages the Australian Government’s overseas aid program.

ChildFund began working in Laos in 2010 and works in partnership to create community and systems change which enables vulnerable children and young people, in all their diversity, to assert and realise their rights. Projects are implemented in the capital of Vientiane, as well as Huaphanh and Xiengkhouang Province, some of the country’s poorest regions with significantly high unexploded ordnance contamination.

With a focus on upholding child rights and improving access to quality education, ChildFund in Laos also prioritises projects which focus on child nutrition, sexual reproductive health and rights, media literacy and job readiness.

Background

CFL, in partnership with Ministry of Education and Sport Services (MoES) have been working hard for a decade to improve the education accessibility and quality for Lao students and its community, especially in Huaphanh Province. Currently, ChildFund Laos receives the financial supports from Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) through ChildFund Korea to further support the Government of Laos (GoL) to achieve its vision as stated in the 2030 vison statement that “all Lao population equally and equitably have access to quality education”.

The 3-year KOICA funded project called “Gender and Language Education for Ethnic Students’ Empowerment (GLEESE)” started in April 2021 and will end by December 2023. The project goal aims for all girls and boys in Sopbao and Xamneua District, Huaphanh Province to complete equitable lower secondary education. The project have targeted 10 schools and implemented partially in 20 villages of Xam Neua and Sopbao districts, Huaphanh Province at the Lower Secondary Education, in the field of gender, infrastructure improvement/renovation, and teaching-learning outcome improvement. The project has been working closely with MoES at the central level, Provincial Education Support Services and District Education and Sports Bureau at the ground level, with the technical supports from local Non-Profit Association.

The goals, the three outcomes and the performance indicators of the project are as follow:

Project Goal:

All girls and boys in Sopbao and Xamneua District, Huaphanh Province complete equitable lower secondary education.

Outcome 1:

Girls and boys have improved school facilities that are child-friendly and gender sensitive.

Output 1.1: School facilities are constructed and renovated in a child-friendly and gender-sensitive manner.
Output 1.2: School leaders and Village Education Development Committee (VEDC) members are trained on school facilities management.

Outcome 2:

Girls and boys are empowered in making choices about their education through awareness of gender equality.

Output 2.1: Government partners are engaged in project learnings on gender and other topics
Output 2.2: Teachers and community volunteers are trained on life skills curriculum
Output 2.3: Girls and boys receive training on life skills and gender topics through gender sensitisation clubs
Output 2.4: Communities and families participate in awareness-raising session on gender and girls’ education

Outcome 3:

Girls and boys have improved learning outcomes in Lao language reading and writing.

Output 3.1: Teachers receive training for supporting ethnic students who are Lao language learners
Output 3.2: Weekly Lao literacy classes, including creative writing activities, are hosted
Output 3.3: Libraries are constructed and equipped with reading materials

2. Purpose

CFL is looking to formally engage with consultant to review and revise the current Lao literacy class handbook that has been targeting after school literacy classes for Lower Secondary Schools (LSS) with high ethnic minority population in Huaphanh Province. This consultancy will look in providing technical support in order to achieve Output 3.1 in the program logic above. The current handbook has been developed in 2021 by consolidating modules from previous projects on Lao literacy and creative writing. The initial handbook was developed by project officer of CFL, with consultation from the Ministry of Education and Sports, as well as adapting the LECA School Creative Writing Handbook. After using the handbook for 2 years to conduct the weekly after school literacy classes, the mid-term evaluation identified that the creative writing component has been challenging for teachers, when targeting students with lower literacy levels. The adaptation of the current handbook would look to revise only the creative writing portion. The GLEESE project aims to support teachers to promote writing amongst students by publishing booklets containing the stories written by students by the of school year. Therefore, the revision of the handbook would need to be supporting teachers in teacher students with low literacy levels in writing.

4. Scope of Work

The project requires an external consultant to contextualise the following areas to suit the Laos Education context:

Contextualise the Lao Literacy training content based on the outline produced by ChildFund.
Revise a Teacher Guide on Teaching Lao Literacy Handbook in Lower Secondary Schools (with specific activities and lessons linked to Lao language curriculum)
Devise a training plan for ChildFund in Laos project staff to deliver to teachers
Develop appropriate student selection criteria for the Lao Literacy Class

Methodology

In completing the task, the consultant is expected to:

Review the previous handbook on Lao Literacy and Creative Writing.
Develop and submit an Inception Report and propose an outline of revised literacy handbooks, training content and tools relevant to the purpose and objectives of the consultancy. This report should be written in English. After the technical review from ChildFund in Laos Education Manager and ChildFund Australia Education Advisor, the consultant should take account on the feedback when developing the rest of the training content, tools and relevant materials in Laos language.
Based on the agreed inception report, develop appropriate tools, training content and materials to be utilized by ChildFund in Laos project staff. These materials should be delivered in the Lao language and wherever relevant, be culturally representatives of the ethnic minority in Laos (e.g. graphics used presents ethnic minority, sentence examples reflects ethnic minority daily lives) and presents gender equality principles (e.g. not all teachers in example sentences are female, not all leaders in the story are male).
Prepare to train the ChildFund in Laos project staff to deliver the training content, including guidance on student selection criteria (e.g. prioritizing non-Lao-Thai students, students with low literacy outcome, students with language difficulties).
Submit a final training report (in English), including training manual and tools developed (in Lao language). The report and relevant working documents must be provided in an electronic format (Microsoft Word for future edits).
Observe Child Safeguarding policy and procedure and core values of ChildFund in Laos.
Ensure confidentiality in every step of the procedure.
Deliverable and Indicative Timetable

Note: this is subject for negotiation with the Consultant

Indicative dates

Outputs and Activities

18-29 September 2023

Review previous handbook on Lao Literacy and Creative Writing
Revise the handbook to consist of
- Teaching of the Writing process: pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing
- Assessment students writing: rubric or checklist, sample writing with scoring guidelines
- Tools and materials for learning and teaching (to be used by teachers)
- Training plan for teachers

2-8 October 2023

Prepare and deliver training to CFL staffs

9-20 October23

Support CFL team to deliver trainings in 2 target schools

23-27 October 2023

Prepare and deliver training report

7. Management and Reporting Arrangements

The Consultant will report directly to Education Program Manager, while keeping the Sydney Education Advisor and the Head of Program copied to the communication chain. Additionally, Education Advisor based in Sydney will be involved to support reviewing of the tools and reports. All tools created and data collected for this project is expected to be provided in an electronic format that allows future editing.

8. Confidentiality

All discussions and documents relating to this Terms of Reference will be treated as confidential by the parties.

9. Child Safeguarding

The Consultant will undertake the Services to a high standard; use its best endeavors to promote the best interests of ChildFund; protect the reputation of ChildFund and work in a manner consistent with the mission, vision and policies of ChildFund (see Child Safeguarding Policy/Child Safeguarding Code of Conduct PSEAH policy and Employee Code of Conduct). ChildFund Australia has a zero-tolerance policy to abuse, exploitation and harassment in all its forms.

10. Counter-Terrorism and Anti-Money Laundering

ChildFund Australia acknowledges its obligation under the Australian laws relating to counter-terrorism and anti-money laundering. In order to meet its obligation, the consultant is obligated to provide information required for ChildFund to undertake counter terrorism screening before engagement. The consultant’s name, date & place of birth and ID number will be checked against Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) consolidated list, National Security Australia list, World Banks listing and the Asian Development bank listing to ensure not engage with entities or individuals appearing on the lists.

11. Conflict of Interest

The Consultant must declare any financial, personal, family (or close intimate relationship) interest in matters of official business which may impact on the work of ChildFund

12. Fraud and Corruption prevention and awareness

ChildFund Australia has a zero approach to fraud and corruption act. The successful consultant will be required to comply with ChildFund Australia’s fraud and corruption prevention and awareness Policy and act against any form of fraud or corruption and not offer, promise, give or accept any bribes.

13. Insurance

The successful applicant will be required to have in place insurance arrangements appropriate to provision of the requirement in this TOR including (without limitation) travel insurance.

14. Acknowledgment and Disclaimer

ChildFund, its Board and staff make no express or implied representation or warranty as to the currency, reliability or completeness of the information contained in this ToR. Nothing in this ToR should be construed to give rise to any contractual obligations or rights, expressed or implied, by the issue of this ToR or the submission of Expression of Interest in response to it. No contract would be created until a formal written contract is executed between ChildFund and a selected consultant.

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Selection Criteria for Consultant

Core Competencies:

Commitment to ChildFund Australia’s values, vision and mission;
Teamwork;
Communication;
Accountability and integrity; and
Adaptability and flexibility.

Essential Qualifications and Experience:

University degree in Education or related disciplines. Master’s degree and doctorate degree are preferred.
Demonstrated experience in writing training content and language development in the education sector.
Minimum 5 years’ experience working on education sector, preferably related to Lao language. Desired skills include experience working with ethnic minority communities in Lao.
Demonstrated experience working in a multi-cultural environment with high-level cross-cultural skills and understanding especially with ethnic minorities.
Excellent written communication skills in English.
Fluent in both Lao and English to be able to read and speak in both languages.

Submission Procedure:

Applications can be made by email to Bamboo HR (linked will be identified when the announcement is launched); all other applications will be rejected. In addition, ChildFund will ONLY accept applications that include a CV, a cover letter describing their suitability based on the above required qualifications and experiences and a brief concept note of this project baseline survey that address the criteria above including a financial report. Please upload as one document. Applicants should consider and explain the necessary adjustments to the mode and cost of delivery due to possible restrictions from Covid 19 in their application.

NOTE: The financial proposal should specify a total lump sum amount and a breakdown of a daily professional fee and communication costs etc. Applications without a financial proposal will be regarded as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

APPLICATIONS SHOULD ONLY CONTAIN A CURRENT CV AND A COVER LETTER IN ENGLISH ADDRESSING THE CRITERIA OUTLINED FOR THE POST AND FINANCIAL PROPOSAL.

ChildFund in Laos does not require interested candidates to submit copies of certificates, ID cards or any other information.

ChildFund in Laos is an equal opportunity employer and encourages people from all backgrounds, abilities, and identities to apply for any vacancies. ChlidFund in Laos has a strict child protection policy and background checks will be undertaken prior to any offer of employment. All candidates should submit two professional referees including their current or most recent employer.

For enquiries, please contact

Please submit your application https://teamchildfund.bamboohr.com/careers/414 before 4:30 pm of 08 September 2023.