Consultants - Research and Analysis at Save the Children Nigeria

Save the Children is the world leading independent organization for children. We strive to give children and environment in which their human rights and needs are respected and protected so that they can realize their full potential. We are committed to ensuring that children realize the right to survival, protection, development and participation which they are entitled to under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

We seek to employ qualified candidate for the position below:

Job Title: Consultant - Research and Analysis of the Education Financing, Investment and Budgeting in Borno State

Job ID: 190003QQ
Location: Maiduguri
Employee Status: Fixed Term
 
Terms of Reference for Research into Borno State Education Financing For EU Support to Early Recovery and Resilience Project

• Save the Children supports access to inclusive quality education from a safe and protective learning environment for children affected by the conflict in Northeast while at the same time strengthening coping mechanisms and resilience for children and teachers affected by the conflict through provisional of psychosocial support and Social and Emotional Learning all aiming at reducing the negative impact of the crisis on the wellbeing of children and their teachers.
• Save the Children (SC) in consortium with Plan International and GEPADC is implementing the three-year (2019-2021) EU Support to Early Recovery and Resilience in Borno State: The Education component is aimed at increasing resilience of the education system and services in conflict affected Borno State, Nigeria. The project is being implemented in the 9 underserved Local Government Areas of Jere, Mafa, Damboa, Biu (Save the Children) and MMC, Monguno, Gwoza, Magumeri and Konduga (Plan International)

The project is guided by the following strategic objectives:

• Access to safe inclusive and quality primary and secondary education(formal) for both boys and girls in particular (aged 6-18yrs) in areas of displacement or return/resettlement is restored and improved for 80,000 children in 123 schools
• Increased relevant and flexible non formal Education (NFE) opportunities for out of school adolescents and youths (female and male)
• Strengthened capacities of public administration and community engagement in management and delivery of safe inclusive education services.
• The project is implemented through existing government systems and community structure to build capacity and responsiveness within the education service delivery structure, as well as food security and livelihood. This approach leverages on the resources and local expertise and promotes sustainability by strengthening capacity and structures-systems

Purpose of the Consultancy

• The Eu Borno Project Consortium is seeking to hire a consultant with experience in public sector financing analysis to conduct an in-depth research analysis of the Education financing, investment and budgeting in Borno State.
• The financing and budgeting analysis will provide an in-depth overview of the allocation and expenditure trends in Education sector in Borno state from all sources including domestic and external donors. The result of the analysis and recommendation will advocate and guide policy decision regarding how to make available more financial resources and budget for investment in Education.
• The core recommendation will support advocacy activities with relevant ministries in the identification and removing public finance related bottlenecks and barriers to education financing so that all children have access to quality education services

Objectives
This research will be guided by the following objectives:

• To conduct a public finance analysis to asses spending and allocation to education sector for the last 4 years.
• To examine the current education financing framework
• To determine the trends and resource gaps in education financing and propose recommendation
• To determine challenges in financing the education sector.
• To determine the sensitivity of the education budget to girls, persons with disability and other marginalized groups.
• To have a comparative analysis and determine level of donor and direct state’s contribution to education financing in the past four years.
• To ascertain the level of citizen’s participation in education Budget process.

Methodology:

• The research will focus on the whole spectrum of the education service delivery in Borno state; Primary, Islamic schools, Junior and Secondary Secondary and Vocational training sub-sector.
• Research will include education sector budget allocation and expenditure on annual basis including budget allocation to state agencies and support from other non-government or donor sources.
• The methods for gathering the required information may include:
• Interviews, focus group discussions, key informant interviews and/or questionnaires with national, state and local authorities whose roles are related to dealing with children in situations of vulnerability. These can serve both to gather data and to discuss existing or potential modes of collaboration.
• Interviews, focus groups discussions, key informant interviews, and/or questionnaires with representatives of Education MDAs, non-governmental organizations and local associations that provide direct essential services in the area of education.

The consultant will give specific attention and provide in-depth analysis on the following areas:

• Primary Education
• Junior secondary Education
• Senior Secondary Education
• Non-formal Education
• Teaching, instructional and reading materials(books)
• Islamiyah/Islamic education
• Teachers skills and professional development
• Inclusive education
• Gender sensitivity of the budgets and implementation
• Construction and rehabilitation of education facilities
• School furniture and equipment
• Procurement of teaching and learning aid materials
• Recurrent and Capital Expenditure
• Percentage of provision at different levels of education structure
• Knowledge of the citizens about the budgetary process, including its content and implementation
• State level assessment of the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEC) fund

The research analysis will be guide by the following questions:

• What is the policy framework guiding allocation to public-education sector?
• What is the overall state allocation to education through the different ministries in relation to the overall state budget in a financial year?
• What is the distribution of budget/expenditure by recurrent and capital expenditure and sub-sector?
• What is the average spending per child? And what is the cost of quality education per child?
• How can financial planning be improved in the education sectors for effective education service delivery?
• How are spending decisions made within the school? Do schools have functioning financial records?

Scope:

• The research into Education Financing in Borno state is a full spectrum analysis of the education system focusing on the Basic education (Primary – Junior Secondary), secondary education, vocational and non-formal education sectors.

The consultant will be expected to:

• Conduct desk review of the existing education sector financing framework.
• Conduct key informant interviews with the relevant stakeholders at local and State level including selected relevant development partners.
• Conduct trend analysis of the education financing in Borno states for the last 4 years
• Development of education financing analysis tools for both qualitative and quantitative data (interview guides, questionnaires)
• Collection of data from diverse population in the target locations through focus group discussions and key informant interviews.
• Conduct review meetings with field data collectors to ensure in depth accuracy and understanding of data collected
• Prepare a comprehensive report with detailed specific findings and implementable recommendations
• Undertake validation of draft report findings with project consortium teams and incorporate inputs in the final report

Required Outputs and Timelines:

• Desk review of project document (Activity) - (2 day Timeframe) - Lead consultant (TA involved)
• Inception report (Activity) - (2 day Timeframe) - Lead consultant (TA involved)
• Meeting Project consortium  team (Activity) -  (1 day Timeframe) - (Maiduguri - Location) Lead consultant (TA involved)
• Training of enumerators for data collection (Activity) - (2 day Timeframe) - (Maiduguri - Location) - Lead consultant (TA involved)
• Data collection (Activity) - (8 day Timeframe) - (Maiduguri - Location) - Enumerators (TA involved)
• Data cleaning and analysis (Activity) - (4 day Timeframe) - (Maiduguri - Location) - Lead consultant (TA involved)
• Feedback/presentation and learning session with project consortium  team (Activity) - (2 day Timeframe) - (Maiduguri - Location) - Lead consultant/MEAL Manager (TA involved)
• Incorporation of feedback into the final report - (3 day Timeframe) - Lead consultant (TA involved)

Consultant Profile

• Postgraduate university degree or equivalent with relevant work experience in Accounting, Finance or Audit and adequate knowledge and capacity on economic literacy and political economy.  
• At least seven years’ experience in finance/accounting or other elated field and adequate knowledge and capacity on economic literacy and political economy.  
• Experience in research and consultancy in public  financing and budget processes.
• Demonstrated sensitivity to diverse opinions from differing social and cultural perceptions.
• Experience of working in Nigeria is essential, other field experience being desirable;

General professional experience:

• Previous experience of conducting related analyses, programme evaluations, and action oriented research in conflict and post-conflict situations
• Extensive experience working on national public sector financing policies in developing countries;
• Experience in the design and use of participatory methods for analysis and evaluation in a field-based setting
• Sound knowledge of public sector in Nigeria, especially from a conflict-development nexus perspective
• Knowledge of North Eastern Nigeria and more specifically Borno State

Planning:

• The assignment will take place in relevant ministries, departments and Agencies, selected LGAs, Communities of EU Borno Project intervention in Borno State for a foreseen duration of 28 working days.
• In addition, a briefing and a debriefing meeting will be held at SCI Borno Office at the beginning and end of the mission involving the consultant and Consortium members.
• Throughout the work, the Consultant is required to remain in close consultation with the MEAL Manager and provide regular feedback (at least once a week) on the progress of the Assignment.
• The MEAL Manager could be consulted as a source of guidance on the process and data sources.

Reporting
Content/submission/comments timing:

• Inception Report of maximum 10 pages to be produced after one week from the start of implementation. The report should include the table of content, initial findings, methodology and process of collecting data, any difficulties encountered or expected in addition to the work programme. The Consultant should precede to the next phase of his/her work unless the Contracting Authority sends comments on the inception report.
• Draft final report of maximum 70 pages (main text, excluding annexes) in the format provided above for the inception report. The draft report shall be subjected to comments from SCI. The report shall contain a sufficiently detailed description of the different options to support an informed decision on the use of the education financing analysis.
• Final report with the same specifications as the draft final report, incorporating any comments received from the parties on the draft report. The deadline for sending the final report is 10 days after receipt of comments on the draft final report.

The final report (as well as previous reports) must be of very high quality, including language. The findings, analysis, conclusions and recommendations should be thorough and the link between them should be clear. The recommendations should be concrete and realistic and presented in a logical structure following on their importance and level of details.

Costs related to the agreement:

• All costs related to the analysis which are to be covered by SCI would be detailed in the contract.

Application Closing Date
31st October, 2019.

How to Apply
Interested cand qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Application Procedure

• Interested and qualified candidates should submit their applications (CV, and technical proposal detailing survey methodology, work plan and budget).
• Copies of relevant previous evaluation reports (to be kept confidential) or reference from organization they have done similar work for.

Note

• Save the Children is committed to ensuring that all our personnel and programmes are absolutely safe for children.
• We undertake rigorous procedures to ensure that only people suitable to work with children are allowed to join our organization and all candidates will, therefore, be subject to this scrutiny.
• We need to keep children safe so our selection process reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.
• Applicants are advised that Save the Children International does not require any payment or expense during the entire recruitment process. Any request in this direction should be immediately reported as it is contrary to the values and practices of our organization.
• Due to the volume of applications received, Save the Children may not provide feedback to all applicants. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
• Qualified candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible, as applications will be reviewed as received. Save the Children reserves the right to change the closing date, if considered necessary.