TERMS OF REFERENCE – Individual
Short Term Technical Assistance for the developing and quality
assuring out of school curriculum and teaching and learning
materials including assessment tools as part of the Out of School
for Children project
Assignment
Short Term Technical Assistance for the developing
and quality assuring out of school curriculum and
teaching and learning materials including
assessment tools as part of the Out of School for
Children project
To support the UNICEF and Ministry of Education and
Skills Development (MoESD) team in Botswana develop
the Out of School Education for Children Programme to a
high standard. The focus of the terms of reference (ToRs)
is on supporting the development of outcomes based
education (OBE) standard curriculum resources.
Location
Gaborone, Botswana
Duration
11 months
Estimate number of
working days
160
Start date
14 April 2014
End date
31 March 2015
Reporting to
Deputy Representative, UNICEF Botswana
Closing date for
proposals
Sunday 06 April 2014
1.
Justification/Background
UNICEF and the Ministry of Education and Skills Development (MoESD) are working together over a
three-year period to develop a national education and training programme for out of school children.
The out of school education for children programme (OSEC) will serve many communities and
children: from those in conflict with the law to those involved in work, from caregivers to those with
disabilities. The programme aims to secure a high quality basic education for all out of school children
between the ages of 6 and 19 who are:
 long-term out of school and require alternative basic education and training
 short-term out of school and require bridging and accelerated learning programmes to reintegrate
them into school
 at risk of dropping out of school and require supplementary education services to prevent
dropout.
The mandate of the project is to:
 Complete a baseline study and map stakeholders
 Develop the Out of School Education for Children (OSEC) policy
 Draft the OSEC curriculum, assessment strategy and teaching and learning materials
 Test the strategy and materials in sites across Botswana
 Evaluate the field tests and develop all the policies and materials for launch
 Launch the OSEC programme.
The baseline study and stakeholder map has been completed, the policy framework has been
approved and the OSEC outcome based curriculum is drafted with the teaching and learning guiding
materials due to be developed in the first quarter of 2014.
From April 2014, the project will move into the field testing stage. The field testing stage is to test the
strategy, curriculum, learning materials and various processes to inform the development of the
OSEC programme. Field tests will be conducted in all parts of the country. The field tests will be
small scale focusing on specific communities – e.g., street children in Gaborone, farming communities
in Central, children involved in work due to tourism in Kasane, minority language and ethnicity groups
in Gantsi. For each field test site a team of supervisors, teachers, adult educators and community
members will be appointed to lead the educational provision and run the project.
Central to the project is the quality of the curriculum, the teaching and learning materials and the
assessments that accompany them. These materials shape the educational experience for the
children and the guidance for the educators; a significant amount of curriculum development work has
already been completed by UNICEF, Basic Education and the Curriculum Development and
Evaluation departments at the MoESD. However, it has been identified that additional capacity to
focus on the evaluation of the current materials and production of the final curriculum and related
products is necessary. The work thus far has drawn on outcome based education (OBE) principles
and methodology and this needs to continue with full fidelity to the OBE approach.
As such, a curriculum specialist technical assistance is sought in order to support the review and
development of the OSEC curriculum, the OSEC teaching and learning materials and the
accompanying assessment strategy and tools.
2.
Scope of the Work (Work assignment)
The technical assistance required will be in four phases where each phase will require different skills
and time commitments. Specifically what is required is:
1) Rapid review and development of the OSEC curriculum framework and the teaching and
learning materials
This will include three steps:
a. Reviewing the curriculum framework and the teaching and learning materials
b. Providing detailed structural and editorial feedback to the OSEC team (UNICEF and
MoESD core project staff) on the quality of materials and how they fit in with the OBE
approach, promote learning competency and flexibility through a modular structure
c. Updating the documentation according agreed changes prior to the field tests start.
2) Train educators and supervisors on using the curriculum materials
This will involve:
a. Running a training workshop for all the educators and supervisors who are
implementing the curriculum materials
b. Providing on-site coaching and development for educators and supervisors that need
additional support (no more than 5 sites).
c. Providing support to educators and supervisors at points throughout the field tests.
3) Provide advice to develop M&E tools for evaluating the effectiveness of the curriculum materials
This will involve:
a. working with the contracted M&E technical assistant and the OSEC team to ensure the
M&E tools being developed and will generate data on the quality of the curriculum and
associated materials at the end of the field tests
b. participating in review meetings throughout the field tests
4) Finalise curriculum documents based on outcomes from the field tests
This will involve
a. Reviewing the data from the M&E (and any other data collected)
b. Reporting findings in collaboration with the contracted M&E technical assistant
c. Finalising the documentation according agreed changes so that the curriculum
materials are ready to print.
3.
Expected Deliverables
This section provides the detail of the work expected from the individual. It sets out the activities to be
undertaken and the outputs to be delivered against the timeline of the field tests. (The table below is
draft and will be finalised with the successful individual.)
Phase
Activity
Outputs / deliverables
Complete
by
1. Rapid
review and
development
of the OSEC
curriculum
framework
and the
teaching and
learning
materials
a. Reviewing the curriculum
framework and the teaching and
learning materials

Annotations on the curriculum
framework and teaching and
learning materials
End-April
2014

Report evaluating quality of
documents
b. Providing detailed structural
and editorial feedback to the
OSEC team (UNICEF and
MoESD core project staff) on the
quality of materials and how they
fit in with the OBE approach,
promote learning competency
and flexibility through a modular
structure.

Workshop with OSEC team
Mid-May
2014
c. Update the documentation
according agreed changes prior
to the field tests start

Re-drafted documents
End-May
2014
a. Running a training workshop
for all the educators and
supervisors who are
implementing the curriculum
materials

Workshop
April and
May 2014
b. Providing on-site coaching and
development for educators and
supervisors that need additional
support (no more than 5 sites)

Field workshops
May and
June
2014
c. Providing support to educators
and supervisors at points
throughout the field tests.

Field visits
June to
December
2014
a. Working with the contracted
M&E technical assistant and the
OSEC team to ensure the M&E
tools being developed will
generate data the quality of the
curriculum (and associated)
materials at the end of the field
tests

Advice provided to M&E
technical assistant
incorporated within M&E tools
End April
2014
2. Train to
educators
and
supervisors
on using the
curriculum
materials
3. Provide
advice to
develop
M&E tools
for
evaluating
the
effectiveness
of the
curriculum
materials
b. Participating in review
meetings throughout the field
tests

Preparation for and
participation in 3 week long
review workshops
June,
August
and
October
2014
4. Finalise
curriculum
documents
based on
outcomes
from the field
tests
a. Reviewing the data from the
M&E (and any other data
collected)

Report on the M&E data as it
bears upon the curriculum
materials
Dec 2014
b. Reporting findings in
collaboration with the contracted
M&E technical assistant

Workshop presenting findings
with the M&E technical
assistant
Jan 2014
c. Finalising the documentation
according agreed changes so
that the curriculum materials are
ready to print

Curriculum Framework,
Assessment strategy,
Teaching and learning
materials and assessment
tools drafted
March
2014
4.
Payment Schedule
Payments shall be based on agreed deliverables on the following basis:
 20% at end of 2nd month upon receipt of satisfactory key milestones
 20% at end of 4th month upon receipt of satisfactory key milestones
 20% at end of 6th month upon receipt of satisfactory key milestones
 20% at end of 8th month upon receipt of satisfactory key milestones
 20% at end of 11th month upon receipt of satisfactory key milestone
5.
Desired Background and Experience
This section provides the expected knowledge, skills, attitudes and experiences of applicants. Please
only apply if you are able to meet all the essential criteria.
Area
Criteria
Reason for inclusion
Essential /
Desirable
Knowledge
Knowledge
of
the
education
system
in
Botswana and major trends
in international education
issues
and
research,
particularly as it pertains to
marginalised and out of
school children
To find it easy to
understand the technical
aspects of the research
Desirable
Advanced knowledge of
curriculum development,
teaching and learning
material development and
assessment approaches
and tool development
To be able to identify,
develop and implement
on
the
appropriate
research tools for the
complex project
Essential
Skills
Attitudes
Experiences
Advanced knowledge of
Outcomes
Based
Education as it pertains on
curriculum,
assessment
and learning materials and
knowledge of developing
flexible
and
modular
materials for learners
To be able to develop
OBE materials for out of
school children.
Essential
Strong interpersonal and
communication skills in
English
To generate clear and
concise
reports
and
communicate
content
effectively orally.
Essential
Strong
computer
management
skills
including
database
maintenance and basic MS
Office applications
To operate effectively in
IT-enabled
working
context
Essential
Effective
organizational
skills and ability to multitask and handle work in an
efficient
and
timely
manner.
Demonstrated
ability to coordinate tasks
to
meet
deadlines
necessary.
To be able to understand
the context of the project
quickly and work within
the tight project timescale
and to show ability of
working effectively in
complex
organisations
such as government and
UN organisations
Essential
Effective communicator in
a variety of contexts,
including communicating
complex information simply
To train team members on
M&E practices.
To
participate effectively in a
collaborative
environment.
Essential
Strong analytical skills
To review and interpret
the M&E findings
Essential
Committed to working to
time, to high quality and to
budget
To produce the best
results within the contract
Essential
Open to asking questions
To
ensure
instructions
are
understood
that
fully
Essential
Confident in suggesting
new ideas or solutions to
issues through the project
To ensure that the
delivery of the project can
be as effective as possible
Essential
Minimum of 5 years of
progressively responsible
professional
work
experience in curriculum
development
and
Experience in programme
implementation
and
monitoring.
Essential
implementation. Practical
experience in management
of
social
protection
programmes an asset
Education
qualification
6.
Experience of working with
national
government
ministries and UN agencies
or the NGO sector
To show ability of working
effectively
with
government
and
UN
organisations
Desirable
Experience of being agile
and creative in developing
curriculum, learning and
assessment materials for
the out of school and/or
informal sector, applying
OBE
principles
and
methods.
To
show
ability
of
developing
appropriate
curriculum materials in a
changing environment.
Essential
Advanced University
degree in Social science
Sciences, Development
Studies, or relevant field
experience.
Proven evidence of high
level of technical and
expertise in the area of
the subject matter
Essential
Call for proposals
Individuals are invited to complete the P11 form attached and provide a brief response to this document
that includes:
 A fully costed response to the “Expected Deliverables” section. Please provide information on
the time, daily rate and total cost you expect for each phase and activity.
 Statement of how you meet the knowledge, skills, attitudes and experience as set out in the
“Expected Background” section. Where possible provide examples of meeting the
requirement.
Deadline for responding is 06 April 2014. Depending on the responses, individuals may be invited to
provide further information and/or invited to an interview. The ambition is to select an individual and
complete ToR negotiation so that the individual can commence working from 14 April 2014.
7.
Evaluation weighting
__70___% technical
__30___% financial
100% total
8.
Conditions
- The contractor will work on its own computer(s) and use its own office resources and materials in the
execution of this assignment. The contractor’s fee shall be inclusive of all office administrative
costs
- Local travel (outside Gaborone) and airport transfers (where applicable) will be covered in accordance
with UNICEF’s rules and tariffs.
- Flight costs will be covered at economy class rate as per UNICEF policies.
- Any air tickets for travel, will be authorized by and paid for by UNICEF directly, and will be for the
attendance of meetings and workshops outside of Gaborone
- Please also see UNICEF’s Standard Terms and Conditions attached.
Enquiries:
Interested and suitable candidates should ensure that their applications are to be accompanied by the
attached completed and signed Personal History form (P11 Form), CV with a clear reference of the
individual consultancy assignment being applied for. Applications are to be sent on or before Sunday,
06 April 2014 to the following email address: cmekandi@unicef.org
Botswana Nationals/candidates who have permanent residence/temporary residence and/or valid work
permit for the duration of the contract will be considered
Only short listed candidates will be contacted and regret emails will only be sent to interviewed
candidates.