A Consultant for Developing clear Examination, Assessment Guidelines and Minimum Standards for trainers for Teacher Training Institutes (TTIs) in Soma

1. Background Strengthening Capacity of Teacher Training in Primary and Secondary Education (SCOTTPS) programme is a European Community funded project to be implemented over three years by a consortium of NGOs (CARE, ADRA, Diakonia Sweden & NRC) working with Teacher Training Institutes (TTIs), Ministries of Education (MoEs) and Regional Education Offices (REOs). Save the Children Denmark (SCD) is the lead agency and its implementing the program through Save the Children in Somalia/Somaliland (the unified management of SCD, SCUK and SC Finland) in all regions of Somaliland and Puntland, and Central South Somalia. The programme is built on the achievement, lessons learnt and experiences under phase’s l&ll of the SCOTT initiative. The action is a continuation of SCOTT ll and it strengthens and expands/consolidates earlier work and progress made on teacher training. The EC has made a substantial contribution to raising the quality of education through funding teacher training. Recent studies, however, highlight the need for a more robust intervention to address the shortfall in the supply of sufficiently qualified male and female teachers, and to achieve significant and lasting levels of quality services delivery in Somaliland. A 2004 study supported by the EC called for a fundamental reform in the mode of teacher training to integrate school-based in-service training into the teacher education program, combining residential and school-based training. In addition the Ministry of Education, in a consultative exercise with community opinion leaders and education development partners, identified improvement in the quality of education as a major need for Somalia/Somaliland. The overall objective of SCOTTPS is to contribute towards the development of a sustainable, cohesive education system providing relevant primary and secondary education to all children and youth of Somalia/Somaliland. The project purpose is to improve the quality of primary and secondary education in Somalia/Somaliland through improved quality of teacher training. In order to realize this purpose, the project was designed to deliver four key results by 2012, namely: • to increase the number of qualified primary and secondary education teachers; • to increase the proportion of female primary and secondary school teachers in the trained teaching force; • to strengthen the capacity of Teacher Training Institutes to manage, sustain and deliver quality teacher training; • to strengthen the capacity of Ministries of Education to manage and sustain quality teacher training.

The SCOTT project is implementing an integrated in-service and pre-service teacher training model with inbuilt affirmative action to support female secondary school leavers through a two-year pre-service teacher training course scholarship. The two-year program includes: • a college-based option conducted at a TTI during the long vacation (e.g. for teachers in rural locations and female participants) • regular evening classes (e.g. for urban-based teachers); • school-based training supervised by mentors for all trainees; • tutorials held within TTIs; • Final pre-examination training at a TTI during the short vacation. 1.1. Justification for developing the guidelines and minimum standards The SCOTTPS project supports teacher training institutions that have limited capacity with challenges in low number of professional teacher trainers, educational materials and facilities as well as effective leadership. The quality of education to a great extent depends on the quality of teachers and teaching and learning process. Assessment made in all the Teacher Training Institutes (TTIs) indicated that most trainers require additional support to improve and strengthen their assessment techniques in classrooms and national examinations. In the continuous assessment (formative evaluation), it was noted that in most cases, the test items are at variance with the objectives and content taught in the course(s) and it is not standardized in most cases. Teachers are highly expected to assess pupils and make sound decisions on the bases of assessment that enables teachers to organize and monitor activities like planning and delivering instruction, determining pupils’ academic achievement and understanding pupils’ personal and social characteristics. These conditions will not be realized without collecting, interpreting and synthesizing a variety of adequate information. The identified gap in employing effective assessment techniques is mainly due to lack of standard guideline to support teachers and trainers on the professional assessment techniques. One of the concerns identified during SCOTT stakeholder meetings is lack of clarity on assessment and examination of trainees. There are no clear guidelines or common understanding on how, when, and by whom assessment and evaluation of trainees would be administered. Informed judgments on teaching effectiveness can best be made when both assessment and evaluations are conducted, using several techniques to elicit information from various perspectives on different characteristics of teaching. The TTIs will be engaged in reflective practice through ongoing assessment of teaching for formative purposes and for professional development. The unified national teacher training curriculum was revised in 2010 and in it the MoE and TTIs moved towards an outcome-oriented curriculum, which emphasizes a clear delineation of the intended learning outcomes of all programmes and subjects. A constructive alignment between intended learning outcomes, teaching, learning and achievement was achieved. This requires that the capacity of the TTIs with regard effective implementation of the curriculum is built through establishment and implementation of clear guidelines and standards especially teaching assessment and evaluation. It’s envisaged that the guidelines and the standards will provide a starting point for reflecting the teaching at the TTI level and a mechanism of feedback on the teaching practices and effectiveness as part of systematic program of teaching development. It will further provide guidance on how teaching might be fairly and effectively evaluated (characteristics and evaluation techniques). It’s expected that teacher training institutions lays out a clear policy and associated procedures for assurance of quality and standards of their programmes and awards. Through this process, the universities/TTIs will commit themselves explicitly to the development of quality culture/awareness and further develop and implement a strategy for continuous enhancement of quality. In this regard, the strategy, policy and procedures will be given a formal status and be publically available. This will contribute to improved validity and reliability of the guidelines and standards.
2. Aims and objectives of the consultancy The overall aim of the consultancy is to support the TTIs develop guidelines on the techniques and tools of assessment of trainees both in classroom and in teaching practicum. The national examination boards/councils in all three zones will be technically supported to develop clear guidelines on national examinations, certification and its related management and training. The specific objectives are to: • Asses and review; o Current practice or techniques employed by teacher trainers to assess their teacher trainees. o Training courses provided by teacher training institutes to understand their level of adequacy and effectiveness in equipping the teacher trainees with the required assessment techniques during training programme. o Current practice of national examination boards in setting, administering and analyzing different national examinations for primary and secondary students as well as for primary education teacher trainees. o education policies and strategies to understand the background, context and direction of the education system • Based on the assessment findings and other related literature, and in a participatory way develop clear examination assessment guidelines and minimum standards (minimum requirements) for TTIs and MoE. The minimum requirements developed will focus majorly on areas relating to;; o Quality assurance of the teaching and non teaching staff (qualifications, experience, promotion criteria, research, journals, publication of books, networking etc) o Students admission procedures (admission criteria/bench marks, joint admission board etc) o Curriculum based on research and learning o Objective setting and classroom teaching/ instructions e.g. lesson plans etc o Formative and summative evaluation/ teaching assessment and evaluation for example examinations (moderation, standardizing marking schemes, examination committees, weighting of tests etc) o Teaching practice o Administrative procedures o Data base management procedures o Financial management procedures o Quality assurance of the university infrastructural facilities o Research standards, procedures and policy o Procedures for monitoring procedures & review of core activities • Integrate the guidelines and standards with teaching methodology so that trainers find it easier to integrate • Develop appropriate materials for self instruction • Develop model methods and teaching session plans for the trainers • Promote gender equity by including techniques that encourage female participation and learning • Develop a plan of action for aligning the TTI training staff on the required guidelines and standards including the educational and administration management of the guidelines and standards 3. Scope The consultant will be responsible for coordinating the guideline development process, for providing technical assistance as necessary and for editing the resultant product into a cohesive document. To achieve integration, the consultants will adopt highly participatory methodologies and draw experience and practice from the respective TTIs. The tasks to be undertaken by the consultants are as follows: Task 1: Carryout a desk review and to build an understanding of the SCOTT programme and its evolving needs. This should include a review of the current examination, assessment guidelines and minimum standards currently in use at the TTI level. Task 2: Lead and manage the development of examination, assessment guidelines and minimum standards to use by the TTIs in SL, PL and CSS Task 3: Conduct a debriefing and dissemination workshop to share the findings and draft guidelines and minimum standards as per the objectives of the assignment and ensure that the final document is validated. Task 4: In consultation with the MoE, TTI and consortium technical staff collates the contributions into final document. Task 5: Ensure that the document is typed; edited and final copies are submitted in required standard. Task 6: Submit a technical report with recommendations for the future direction of the programme and the required framework.

1. Proposed methodology The consultant will work closely with the steering committee chaired by the Director General which includes technical officers from the Ministry especially the teacher education unit. The approach should be strongly participatory with particular emphasis on the key stakeholders particularly the TTI and education technical teams. The methodology
2. Deliverables The following out puts should be presented in three printed copies each together with one electronic copy (in MS word format on CD): • A clear examination, assessment and minimum standards for use by the all TTIs • A technical report detailing activities undertaken, findings and recommendations
3. Time frame Activity Person days Planning and desk review 3 Field assessment 10 Drafting the guidelines and standards 5 Debriefing and validation workshop 1 Incorporation of comments and reporting 4 Wrap up 2 Total allowable days 25
4. Management and supervision of the consultancy The consultants will report to SL Area Representative with day to day supervision by the SCOTTPS Programme Manager. The consultant shall also liaise frequently with the steering committee.
5. Terms and conditions a. SC will be responsible for the professional fee and other costs arising from the contract. It will provide logistical support as required by the consultant and necessary stationery. b. This task will be undertaken by one consultant with support from MoE and consortium partners. c. The consultants shall be paid professional fee for 25 days d. The first 40% of the professional fees shall be paid upon the signing of contract for both lead consultant and consultant. The final payment of 60% shall be contingent upon the consultants submitting all outputs to a standard deemed satisfactory by SC. e. Travel for the lead consultant’s domicile to project work areas, and within project work areas as well as reasonable costs incurred with respect to travel, accommodation and subsistence in relation to execution of agreed tasks pursuant to fulfillment of this consultancy will be met or reimbursed by SC. f. The consultants shall assume responsibility for all tax obligations and liability resulting from this consultancy. Further, the consultants shall lay no claim whatsoever upon SC regarding immunity to legal action, or legal representation for contravention of existing legislation during the execution of this consultancy. SC shall not be held liable for any health or security risks incurred by the consultants during the execution of this contract or thereafter. g. The consultant will follow Save the Children guidelines on the ethical participation of children and all participants will be fully informed about the nature and purpose of the survey and their requested involvement. h. The MoE will own the intellectual property rights to all materials submitted by the consultant (s) under the contract. The consultant must therefore ensure that they have possession of any materials provided to the MoE as a part of the deliverable. The MoE will be free to reproduce the materials at will and to grant reproduction rights. The rights to reproduce the reports will fall to the MoE and its contracted agents and the REOs and TTIs in Somalia/Somaliland.
6. Consultant qualifications

Lead Consultant • An advanced degree in education, specializing in curriculum development, teaching methodology, assessment/evaluation of learning outcomes and development of development of standards particularly at the university level. • At least five years of relevant experience in curriculum implementation and development of university level examination guidelines, assessment and minimum standards for tertiary institutions. • Experience as team-leader in relevant assignments. • Demonstrable knowledge of pastoral/nomadic education, preferably in the context of Somalia. • Demonstrable experience in developing and implementing gender sensitive educational programmes in the context of complex socio-cultural challenges. • Ability to assess critically the review activities and results. • Previous work experience with Somali or other pastoral communities is essential.
Assistant consultant • Advanced degree in education, specializing in organizational development and management at the University level. • At least four years of relevant experience setting up policies and guidelines at the university level. • Experience in review activities related organization development at the tertiary institute level. • Demonstrable knowledge of pastoral/nomadic education, preferably in the context of Somalia. • Demonstrable experience in reviewing gender sensitive curriculum and educational programmes in the context of complex socio-cultural challenges especially Somalia. • Ability to assess critically the review activities and results. • Previous work experience with Somali or other pastoral communities is essential.

1. Application procedures

All applicants must meet the minimum requirements described above. Each application should include the following: • Technical and financial proposal • Cover letter including the applicant’s suitability for the position and current contact information • CV, including detailed work experience, education/degrees etc. Application Procedures: All interested candidates please forward your applications to: vacancies@scsom.org, the deadline of the applications submission is on 10th November, 2011

How to apply: 

All interested candidates please forward your applications to: vacancies@scsom.org,