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The Roma Education Fund seeks a Consultant to carry out An external evaluation in the Czech Republic

07 November 2014
4 minute read

The project “Together to Pre-school” has been implemented by the Roma
Education Fund and Municipal Government of Ostrava and is in its second year of
implementation.

Background of the project

In the Czech Republic there is extremely low preschool enrolment rate among
Roma. Since early development programs are particularly beneficial to children
from disadvantaged backgrounds, this “Together to Pre-school” project focuses on
equalizing access to preschool education for disadvantaged Roma children aged
3-6.
In a period of three years, the given project in close cooperation with the
Ostrava municipality intends to concentrate on two deliberately selected
localities of “Poruba” and “Mariánské Hory – Hulváky” with Roma children age
3-6.

Overall objective

  • To ensure Roma children aged 5-6 increased enrollment to mainstream
    preschool and elementary schools in a desegregated school environment (and
    hence avoid streaming Roma children into both practical and de facto
    segregated elementary schools);
  • To support the socialization and development of the necessary skills of
    Roma children aged 3-5 attending mothers club and prepare them for later
    enrolment into mainstream kindergarten;
  • To empower Roma mothers (and families in general) when participating in
    the Mothers club activities under the guidance of experienced teacher.

The purpose of the external evaluation

The external evaluation should evaluate the short and medium term outcomes of
the project and summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the model. It should
consist of the following:

  • Summative evaluation, assessment of the progress made towards achieving
    project goal based on the current log frame, design and monitoring data;
  • Impact of the project on attendance rate, retention rate and learning
    outcomes of children participating in the project;
  • The impact of the preschool education on further education.

The evaluation should document the overall project outputs and major outcomes
not only against original plan but based on the actual results.

  • Assessment of the parental skills and early childhood education of
    children;
  • Assessment of monitoring tools and documentation of progress;
  • Assessment of organizational structure and the capacity of staff and
    partners to achieve the expected results, ways of cooperating with other
    actors and recommend any improvement;
  • Assessment of the quality of preschool education provided by the
    program;
  • Identification of main obstacles to project achievement and
    recommendation on their overcoming;
  • Identification of critical issues that should be considered for the
    remaining period of project implementation;
  • Provision of specific, attainable and practical recommendations.

Evaluation Methodology

To accomplish the objectives, the consultant will combine qualitative and
quantitative research methods: document analysis, literature review,
questionnaires, statistical analysis, individual and focus group interviews, and
case studies. The consultant will conduct the evaluation of activities
implemented by all stakeholders involved in the evaluation process.

The tasks will include: desk review of project documentation; analyzing
school documents, tracking and analysis of attendance of Roma children in
preschool programs and primary schools; assessing the skills of children in
groups; comparing skills of children involved in the project with non-beneficiaries;
interviews/surveys with preschool teachers; interviews with parents to explore
their attitudes to preschool and primary education; class observation.

Field visits and contacts with the stakeholders will be organized by REF in
agreement with the consultant. The consultant will be provided with reading
materials, documents and all necessary background information by project
implementer and REF staff.

The consultant shall propose work plan and appropriate methodology and
instruments to answer the assigned requirements.

Deliverables and Timeline

The deliverables include final methodology design with interview, focus group
questions and work plan, data collection, draft report and final report. All
deliverables will be reviewed and proved by REF staff.

The time frame for accomplishing the tasks is six weeks.

The consultant is expected to:

  • Present the findings of the evaluation in a draft evaluation report of
    approximately 30 pages, including a two or three page executive summary,
    plus annexes in English (Times New Roman, font 12, single line spacing) to
    be submitted to REF.
  • Consult with REF staff on the draft evaluation report, revising it
    according to the comments received and within 10 working days of receiving
    those comments.

Required competencies and skills for the consultant

  • At least a Master’s degree related to pedagogy, education, education
    psychology or related discipline;
  • At least three years of work experience in evaluation and/or social
    research as well as at least two years of work experience in the field of
    social inclusion and development;
  • Strong analytical and research skills with sufficient understanding of
    survey design and interview techniques
  • Quantitative and qualitative methods and data analysis;
  • Experience in the evaluation of Early Child Development projects;
  • Familiarity with the region and the country is strongly preferred;
  • Familiarity with REF goals and projects will be an asset;
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and Czech.

Submission of applications

Qualified candidates may submit their application including the following items:

  • A letter of interest;
  • A financial offer with all costs included
  • A complete Curriculum Vitae
  • A draft evaluation proposal, including detailed methodology and timeline

Please send your application to Ms. Nevsija Durmish, Program officer for Czech
Republic and Slovakia at ndurmish@romaeducationfund.org and Mr. Marius Taba,
Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at
mtaba@romaeducationfund.org,
no later than
14th November 2014
. In the subject of email please refer to “Consultant External
evaluation – Czech Republic”.

Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.

Qualified Roma candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

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