Job Summary

• Posted DateYesterday

• Expire Date5 days left

• CategoryAssessment/evaluation/audit

• LocationSomalia

• TypeConsultant

• EducationMasters

• Experience5 - 6 years

• SalaryUnspecified

Job Description

• Background Information

Many contexts, even where there is political will to provide educational support to children with special learning needs, often lack sufficient processes and systems to do so. While overarching teaching strategies, such as universal design for learning, response to intervention, and differentiated instruction, can help all children learn, teachers who understand each child’s needs, including the needs of children with disabilities, can better help them learn. Therefore, identification, coupled with targeted follow-up, is essential to promoting quality education for all.

Disability and poverty are deeply interrelated factors, and many with disabilities face rampant exclusion from education, the workforce, and social and civic participation. Without identification, a child may struggle to learn to read due to visual acuity problems that are easily correctable with proper eyeglasses. Children with “invisible” disabilities, such as cognitive or emotional impairments, are particularly likely to go unidentified and may be branded as struggling learners, possibly discouraging interest in school, disincentivizing continued investment in education by resource-strapped families, and ultimately leading to school dropout. Indeed, an estimated 90% of children with disabilities are recorded to be out of school in developing countries.

The need to prioritize inclusive education beyond the boundaries of the school and classroom is real. A holistic and systematic approach is critical to strengthening technical and institutional capacities of the MOEs to effectively deliver educational services to most of the marginalized groups who include out-of-school children and children with special needs. There is commitment to Inclusive Education under the broad approach of Child-Friendly Schools (CFS). However, even though the CFS approach can commendably improve teaching practices and attitudes of learners, some barriers are unique to children with special needs and cannot always be resolved through general improvements alone. There is an overall challenge to the national education system on the means to meet the education needs of children with disabilities and specifically, policy gaps which have not spelt out among other critical aspects, how to adequately address learning and participation needs of students with disabilities; qualifications for special needs education teachers; safety and accessibility of the learning environment for children with special needs.

Situation analysis

The Ministry of education culture and higher education (MOECHE) has developed and finalized the National Special Needs and Inclusive Education Policy in 2018 and Somalia has ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2019. However, children with disabilities remain invisible in Somalia and have very limited access to educational opportunities. Children with disabilities face many barriers including an inaccessible physical environment, lack of community awareness, negative attitudes and stigma as well as a lack of assistive devices and mobility aids1. Girls with disabilities in particular face a double burden due to their gender and disability. The population of children with special needs in the country is unknown. There is a general lack of accurate real-time reliable education data and in particular any data on the numbers of children with disabilities, the type of disability and their geographical location. According to the Education Statistics Yearbook (2018/2019), the number of special needs children enrolled in primary is 811 (46% girls) out of a total enrolment of 260,269 students representing 0.3 percent. Out of the special needs children that are enrolled, 10 percent have a movement impairment, 54 percent have a hearing impairment while the

rest have a visual impairment2. Eliminating all barriers to education including those related to gender, disability and special needs is a priority area in the ESSP.

Intervention

This subcomponent will focus on improving access to education for children with disabilities through (a) identification and screening/assessment of children with disabilities; (b) conducting community awareness raising and enrolment campaign; (c) provision of equipment, assistive devices and teaching materials to children with disabilities in the ESPIG supported schools.

In Year 1 of the program, the MOECHE and FMS MOEs will conduct a screening in all 690 ESPIG target schools. The FMS MOEs and MOECHE will be supported to mobilize the community and school leadership (CEC/head teacher) to ascertain the number of special needs children currently enrolled in the schools as well as to estimate the number of out-of-school children with various special needs in the catchment area of the school. The school leadership and teachers will be trained by a multi-disciplinary team to identify and recognize the different types of special/learning needs of the children enrolled in their schools. The information gathered will form a baseline data on the number, type of special needs and the kind of support required. Based on the screening result, the program will work with MOECHE, CECs and FMS MOEs to provide the necessary materials including equipment, assistive devices and teaching materials to children with special needs in the 690 target schools. In Year 2 of the program, the MOECHE and FMS MOEs will continue with the annual screening of newly enrolled children. In Year 2 of the program, schools will consider issues around disability and inclusion looking at factors affecting the enrolment of special needs children, outlining potential areas for action to ensure the enrolment and retention of those children in the schools. These priority areas for action will be captured in the school improvement plans and will be directly linked to the capitation grants and CEC mobilization and training under the ongoing ESPIG. The program will work with schools to go a step further (beyond increasing access) to devise strategies to tailor teaching and classroom instruction so that learning outcomes improves for all students.

The strategies to improve learning outcomes will be captured in the school improvement plans and linked to the capitation grants.

• Identification, Screening and assessment for children with disabilities/special needs in schools.

• CEC/schools mobilization to develop priority areas for action in the school improvement plans.

• Conducting community awareness and enrolment campaign targeting children with disabilities.

• Provision of equipment and assistive devices for children with disabilities in the supported schools.

1. The Gap in Special Education Needs and Disability

Education for All (EFA) is a global goal. Providing education as a right is an obligation of all governments and requires that they translate their national commitments into legislation. This goal will only be achieved when the universal right to education extends to individuals with special needs and the marginalized in their different distributions. Provision of quality education that addresses the unique learning needs of the child occasioned by their impairment need to be complemented by an accessible and accommodating environment that enables learning to take place. This in part includes promoting learning activities for persons with special needs in mainstream schools; rethinking infrastructural facilities for children with disabilities; provision of teaching and learning materials that are effective to teachers and learners and proper engagement of inclusive education assessors to determine the quality of learning outcomes.

Inclusive education seeks to transform schools and other centers of learning to cater for learning needs of all children who include boys and girls, rural populations, children from ethnic minorities, children with disabilities and difficulties in learning and to provide learning opportunities for all youth and adults as well. Inclusive education aims to eliminate exclusion that is a consequence of negative attitudes and a lack of response to diversity in race, economic status, social class, ethnicity, language, religion, gender and ability. Inclusive education is central to the achievement of high -quality education to develop more inclusive societies founded on social equity. Attention therefore need to be paid to learners who attend school and excluded from learning that they do not only complete the full cycle of primary education but also miss out on quality education.

Despite children with disabilities being readily identifiable, the statistics of such children is not readily available. This therefore means that this group of children among other marginalized children are largely excluded from formal learning

opportunities. It is therefore imperative that policy instruments are needed to initiate action and advocacy for inclusive and special needs education. Responsive policy will help guide the reforms agenda through robust regulatory framework

that safeguard against overt or covert barriers that block children’s access to quality education and retention in the

school. It is important that in the interest of meeting educational needs for all, we seek to facilitate conducive learning environment for all children including learners with special needs and disabilities to have equal access to quality and relevant education and training.

1. Rationale for Special Education Needs and Disability Interventions

Children with disabilities are still combating blatant educational exclusion. The number of such children remains undocumented in Somalia. Working children, children in rural populations, nomadic children and orphans are among other vulnerable groups. In all these cases of vulnerability, the issue of gender remains to be very significant. It is of crucial importance that all children and young people have access to education and fully participate in school life to achieve the desired outcomes from their learning experiences. Learning opportunities need to be provided to adults as

well simply because the ultimate goal of inclusion in education is premised on an individual’s effective participation in the society and harnessing their abilities to reach their full potential.

The availability of a comprehensive assessment process for young children with delays or disabilities is an integral component of high-quality early intervention (EI) and early childhood special education services for children from birth. To implement recommended assessment practices, early childhood and education practitioners must consider the purposes of assessment, guidelines for conducting appropriate assessment and strategies for linking initial assessment with program planning, implementation, and progress monitoring. Therefore, the characteristics of assessment for the purposes of screening, eligibility determination, program planning and implementation, and progress monitoring is critical to educational needs of the child. The assessment processes must be designed to meet the individual needs of children with disabilities as well as provide children with optimal learning experiences.

III. Consultancy Objective

The objective of the assignment is to gather information for decision-making and intervention in the following four areas:

1. Identify, Screen and Asses at least 300 children living with disability across four federal member state and Banadir region in the program target schools

2. Provide in-depth information (Data) and needs to stakeholders to inform decision such as the kind of equipment and the type of assistive devices needed for intervention

• Individual program planning and implementation

1. Provide recommendations and way forward to improve and support the access of educational opportunities for children living with disabilities

2. Duration of the assignment is 50 days

3. Scope of Work

The consultant should consider the purpose of each assessment and gather initial information at the onset of the

process. The following are some general considerations, which will vary depending on the purpose of the assessment.

• Identify and Conduct screening of at least 300 special needs students in the program supported schools across four federal member states (Jubbaland, Hirshabelle, Galmudug, Southwest) and Banadir region. The

• Identify the characteristics of the children living with disabilities (for example, age, physical abilities, communication skills, temperament, delay or disability)

• Coordinate with deferent stakeholders (for example, early childhood special educator, physical therapist,

speech–language pathologist, orthopedic, audiologist optician and physiatrist)

• Visit homes, childcare centers, classrooms to gather information needed and identify different type of

disabilities children are facing

• involve the assessment, parents, other family members, early childhood special educator, related service practitioners), and clarify what roles will these individuals assume (for example, facilitator, observer, assessor) are to play in the assessment

• Employ different methodologies, formal testing, observation, interview that suit best the child

• Prepare in-depth report the detail and provide information’s needed to address challenges with recommendations of the type of assistive devices, equipment and materials needed to be supported on each child

• Identify the skills or behaviors are important to the child’s family, and what are the family’s priorities (for example, walking, talking, social skills, eating, toileting, literacy)?

• Identify and document skills or behaviors that are important to the child in his or her environment (for example, communicating, toileting, turn-taking, following directions)?

• Document the adaptations are necessary for the child to display optimal skills (for example, use of an alternative communication system, adaptive seating, assistive technology)

1. Methodology

• The led consultant should be required employ experts that are able to provide detailed identification ,screening and assessment of children living with disabilities

• the assessment methodologies will vary depending on the type of the disability of the child

1. Deliverables

The following services and outputs are expected:

1. Detailed technical financial proposal

2. Detailed work plan for undertaking the assessment

• Assessment Report and Debrief on the findings

1. Conduct dissemination workshop for MOCEHE and other stakeholders on the findings of the assessment

2. Workplan on the way forward

3. Contract Management and reporting arrangements

In close collaboration with MOECHE, SC will contract a potential consultant or Firm with special needs background to conduct the screening of children with special needs.

On the other hand, the consult or Firm will work closely with respective FGS and FMSs officials of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education. He/she will closely work with special needs education department and the overall direction from the Director of Policy and Planning.

Skills and Qualifications

How to apply

Applications can be submitted by either:

Electronic Submission via ProSave (Recommended)

• Submit your response in accordance with the guidance provided in the below document:

• Bidders are encouraged to apply via Ariba system. Please request the Ariba link via email sending your company profile and Business registration certificate/CV. Please address your request to apply via ProSave to css.logistics@savethechildren.org

Electronic Submission via Protected Email box (Optional)

• Email should be addressed to somalia.sstenders@savethechildren.org

• Note – this is a sealed tender box which will not be opened until the tender has closed. Therefore, do not send tender related questions to this email address as they will not be answered.

• The subject of the email should be “PR150848- Identification ,Screening ,Assessment, and intervention for inclusive educational wellbeing for children with special needs – ‘Bidder Name’, ‘Date’’.

• All attached documents should be clearly labelled so it is clear to understand what each file relates to.

• Emails should not exceed 15mb – if the file sizes are large, please split the submission into two emails.

• Do not copy other SCI email addresses into the email when you submit it as this will invalidate your bid.

Your bid must be received, no later than 7th November 2022

Bids must remain valid and open for consideration for a period of no less than 60 days