International Consultancy - Conducting Mid Programme Review on effectiveness of Comprehensive Sexual Education/Family Life Education in Kiribati

Level: Consultant

Contract Type: International Consultancy

Closing date: 14 November 2021 - Midnight (Fiji Time)

Duty station: Home Based (working hours required for Tarawa, Kiribati)

Duration of contract: 50 working days spread over 5 months (15 Dec 2021 – 15 May2022)

Title: Conducting Mid Programme Review on effectiveness of Comprehensive Sexual Education/Family Life Education in Kiribati

How to Apply:

§   Register your profile in the UNFPA Consultant Roster via https://www.unfpa.org/unfpa-consultant-roster and

§   Submit cover letter stating how you meet the above criteria, CV, P11 and your professional fees by email to vacanciespsro@unfpa.org by midnight on 14^th November 2021 with title: “Consultant- CSE/FLE Kiribati Consultancy”.

The Consultant reports directly to the Adolescent and Youth Technical Specialist and working in close collaboration with the country colleagues. 

Comprehensive Sexuality Education/Family Life Education (CSE/FLE) is a curriculum-based process of teaching and learning about the cognitive, emotional, physical and social aspects of sexuality and family formation. A well designed and implemented CSE/FLE program can prepare children and young people for healthy and responsible relationships throughout their lives. CSE/FLE also supports young people to safeguard their own and others’ sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRH&R). It aims to equip children and young people with knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that will empower them to:

·Realize their health, well-being and dignity;

·Develop respectful social and intimate relationships;

·Consider how their choices affect their own well-being and that of others; and

·Understand and ensure the protection of their rights throughout their lives.

Within the context of CSE/FLE, the concept of ‘sexuality’ typically includes learners’ understanding of the human body and reproduction; emotional attachment, love and mutually respectful relationships; gender, gender identity and sexual orientation; and sexual intimacy. CSE/FLE can assist young people to maintain their wellbeing, and the wellbeing of their families, as they manage a range of challenges that some of them will inevitably encounter during their youth and across their life course. These include pregnancy and unsafe abortion (particularly in settings with high rates of adolescent pregnancy), access to modern contraception when needed, violence (including sexual violence), HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), explicit media, cyberbullying and sexting, poor emotional and mental health, and use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. CSE/FLE also provides an opportunity for young people to reflect on their values and rights, and what they want in future relationships and future family life. This empowers learners to form respectful, emotionally rewarding social and intimate relationships that are a critical part of individual wellbeing and social cohesion.

Aim

To review the programme’s relevance, efficiency and effectiveness in achieving its results/outcomes (implemented in Kiribati). This will include assessing CSE/FLE knowledge, attitudes and practices among learners and teachers, which will establish progress towards impact of the programme when completed.

Objectives and focus questions

Table 1 Research objectives and indicative focus questions

 Scope of Work

A cross-sectional study collecting qualitative and quantitative data will be undertaken.

The study will focus on the knowledge, attitudes and practices in relation to CSE/FLE from the perspective of learners, teachers, and school leadership, as well as integrating broader insights from key stakeholders in the sector.

The study will include three components:

·Surveys implemented in the final 1-2 months of the school year across all schools delivering FLE in that calendar year, with all learners enrolled in FLE classes as well as all teachers responsible for delivering FLE lessons; Individual interviews and Focus Group Discussions conducted towards the end of the school year across a sample of five schools delivering FLE in that calendar year with a sample of learners in the school grade immediately preceding the grade in which CSE/FLE is first taught (e.g. grade 5),  a sample of learners enrolled/completing in FLE classes, teachers delivering FLE lessons, and school leadership; and

·Key Informant Interviews with curriculum specialists/ officers, members of FLE committees, UNFPA staff and relevant stakeholders in the sector.

Its strongly recommended that at least two staff identified from the Ministry of Education research unit are involved to lead data collection for surveys, training research assistants and interviewing/co-interviewing key informants.

Surveys

The learner survey and teacher survey will include validated age-appropriate measures that have been demonstrated to capture knowledge, attitudes and practices relevant to FLE. The purpose of using validated measures is so that results can meaningfully be compared across settings and over time. Validated measures that may be used to capture these concepts are outlined in Table 1 below.

Table 2 Indicative survey measures

Depending on the school grade(s) in which CSE/FLE is implemented, the tool for the learner survey may be adapted to ensure that its content is age-appropriate for each school grade where it is administered.

All students enrolled in FLE classes, and all teachers responsible for delivering FLE, will be invited to complete the survey.

Both the learner survey and the teacher survey will be self-administered. Students will complete the student survey during FLE classes, in the last 1-2 months of the school year. Teachers will complete the teacher survey during the last 1-2 months of the school year. All surveys will be anonymous, with some sociodemographic data collected to assist in analysis.

Development of survey tools should ensure that they can be integrated into routine CSE/FLE classes in subsequent years, following the conclusion of this study.

These tools may be used as a central reporting mechanism, for example via Education Management Information System (EMIS). They may also be used at the school level to assist teachers and school leadership in identifying student needs and any gaps in student understanding of key concepts, to inform future CSE/FLE teaching and other relevant school initiatives.

Interviews and focus group discussions – school-based

Interviews and focus group discussions will be conducted at five schools that have delivered at least six months of FLE classes, selected for maximum diversity (i.e. purposively sample schools with more vs. less supportive leadership). At each school, the following data collection activities will be conducted:

·8 individual interviews with learners (expected duration 45-90 minutes), comprising:

o   2 girl and 2 boy learners enrolled in CSE/FLE classes; and

o   2 girl and 2 boy learners in the school grade immediately preceding the grade in which FLE is first taught e.g. grade 5

·4 focus group discussions with learners (60-90 minutes), comprising:

o   1 discussion with girl learners and 1 with boy learners enrolled in FLE classes; and

o   1 discussion with girl learners and 1 with boy learners in the school grade immediately preceding the grade in which FLE is first taught e.g. grade 5

·1-2 individual interviews with teacher(s) delivering FLE (45-90 minutes)

·1-2 individual interviews with school leadership (expected duration 45-90 minutes)

Topics to be addressed with each sub-group of participants are outlined in Table 2 below.

Table 3 Suggested topics for qualitative data collection

Data collection at each school should be over a 2-3-day period and should be led by a team of locally based researchers fluent in local language(s), including at least one female and one male researcher.

Data collection with learners and teachers should be conducted by field researcher(s) of the same sex as the participant. Ideally, focus group discussions should be managed by two field researchers – one to lead the discussion and another to take notes and manage the administrative aspects of the discussion. Where required, interviews and focus group discussions may be conducted in Q3 2022, to allow sufficient time for analysis and write-up by the end of the 2022 calendar year.

Key informant interviews

With regard evaluation criteria of Relevance and Efficiency, various key informants will be identified for assessment and stakeholders who are able to provide insight into how TA and other relevant programs influence delivery of school-based FLE will also be interviewed as key informants. While additional key informants are likely to be identified during initial scoping for the research, a preliminary list of key informants in Kiribati is provided below:

-          Associate lecturers

-          Leadership at Kiribati Teacher College

-          Representative from MOE- Curriculum Development & Resource Centre (CDRC)

-          CDRC FLE Coordinator – Supported by UNFPA

-          UNFPA Kiribati Program Analyst managing FLE work

-          Representative from Kiribati Education Improvement Program (Helen Stannard)

-          Adolescent and Youth Technical Specialist/UNFPA (Brian Kironde)

-          TA International Programme Coordinator/UNFPA (Kathleen Taylor)

-          Representatives from Family Planning NSW, IPPF, and any other Regional Implementing Partners tasked with contributing to FLE curriculum development or related work

Data analysis and interpretation

Data collection will be conducted in language(s) spoken fluently by the participants. Survey responses will be entered into a secure electronic database (e.g. REDCap/Kobo) for rapid analysis. Interviews and focus group discussions will be audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and then translated verbatim to English if required.

Survey data will be analysed using SPSS or a similar quantitative analysis support software, taking clustering effects into account. Descriptive statistics will be reported at the national level and school level, as well as subnational level if desired. Data will be disaggregated by sex, and by age where relevant. Scores for validated measures will be calculated according to the methods used in the relevant validation study. No individual respondent will be identifiable from the reported data.

Data from interviews and focus group discussions will be analysed using NVivo or a similar qualitative analysis support software. Data analysis will be defined by the research questions / lines of enquiry, as well as expediting progress towards subsequent round(s) of analytical coding.

Throughout analysis, responses from female and male participants will be considered separately to identify gendered patterns in the data.

Preliminary findings will be shared with country and regional stakeholders for validation. Feedback will be incorporated into the final version of the findings.

Key deliverables:

The activities between 2021-2022 are:

ü  Design research study and data collection tools; write protocol and seek in country approval for KIR (Q4 2021 – Q1 2022).

ü  Identify, recruit and train local research assistants to collect data on the ground for KIR (Q1, 2022 5-7 days)

ü  Coordinate data collection for KIR, including quality assurance (Q1, 2022 for 15 – 20 days)

ü  Analysis and report writing for KIR (Q2 2022 for 15 days)

Expected Travel

While traveling, consultant will provide his/her own computer or other equipment (e.g., tape recording technology for focus groups) needed for work. In country mission is subject to lifting of COVID-19 travel restrictions should the consultant reside outside Kiribati.  Where the consultant is required to travel, UNFPA Pacific will provide: Sample tools for adaptation and utilization; travel support.

Requirements and Qualification

·Relevant Master’s degree in Public Policy, Public Health, Education etc. with at least 10 years of professional experience in education, government policymakers, including designing, supervising, monitoring, evaluation of education programmes required.

·Experience coordinating and conducting in-depth individual interviews; secondary research (desk reviews); policy assessment; program planning or evaluation.

·Knowledge and good understanding of education learning outcome assessment frameworks.

·Familiarity with the Pacific Islands region & recent experience in use of SERAT20 tools

·Professional knowledge of UNFPA’s global and regional programme frameworks, including the ICPD Programme of Action;

·Ability to work under pressure and deliver high quality results on time;

·Excellent oral and written communication skills

·Experience in policy analysis