Consultancy: Evaluability Assessment of the National School Safety Framework (NSSF), Pretoria, [...]

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Education | UNICEF South Africa

Due to the increase of different kinds of violence in schools, the DBE in 2014, working in close collaboration with UNICEF and in partnership with the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention (CJCP), developed the School Safety Framework (NSSF) approved by the Minister of Basic Education in April 2015. The NSSF provides an all-inclusive strategy to guide schools, districts, and provinces to establish early warning signals to violence in schools, develop school safety plans, monitor the implementation of the plans, and report violent incidents using standardized school safety indicators.

The overall aim of the NSSF is to create a safe, violence-free, supportive learning environment for learners, educators, principals, school governing bodies, and administration. The broad objectives of this NSSF are to:

• Assist the school in understanding and identifying all security issues and threats;
• Guide schools to effectively respond to identified security issues and threats;
• Create reporting systems and manage reported incidents appropriately;
• Help the school to monitor its progress over time.

The NSSF is not a duplication of existing policies and strategies but consolidates them to enable schools to respond to all forms of violence holistically.

The NSSF adopts the Ecological Risk Model, recognizing the interplay between individual, relational, community, and societal factors. Violence in schools is viewed as the result of an accumulation of risk factors operating on various levels.

The NSSF has a training manual and implementation tools that provide a detailed account of how each tool is administered, including:

• How to determine a school’s readiness to implement the framework;
• How to engage educators and non-educator staff in identifying, responding to, and assessing interventions in a school;
• How to gather information on learners’ experiences of crime and violence and their suggestions to improve school safety.

Since 2015, a series of capacity development workshops covering 44 education districts were conducted, reaching over 1,500 master trainers. At least 47,000 copies of the NSSF were printed and distributed nationwide by UNICEF.

In 2018, UNICEF supported 472 provincial and district officials, including educators, learners, and SGB members, reaching 250 schools in various provinces.

Between 2022 and 2023, the following number of schools were physically trained on the NSSF: 1,441 in North West, 3,220 in KZN, 229 in Gauteng, 535 in Northern Cape, 508 in Mpumalanga, 1,483 in Eastern Cape, 151 in Western Cape, and 18 in Free State.

The DBE and the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute further developed an NSSF digital training course for school communities, enabling access to training anywhere in the country. The course is accredited by the South African Council of Educators (SACE), and educators receive 15 Professional Development Points (PDP) for successful completion. Over 130,000 people have completed the course.

How can you make a difference?

The appointed service provider will conduct an evaluability assessment of the NSSF under the supervision of the Adolescent Development Specialist (Education and Adolescent Development) with technical inputs from PMRE and overall guidance from the Chief of Education. The assignment will be delivered in collaboration with the Department of Basic Education (Director: School Safety).

The main purpose of the Evaluability Assessment (EA) of the NSSF

No major evidence-generation effort has been conducted to evaluate the NSSF's effectiveness since its approval in 2015. The evaluation will assist in identifying the effectiveness of the intervention regarding performance levels, achievement of results, and lessons learned. The EA will assess the strategic and technical soundness of the proposed evaluation.

The objectives of the evaluability assessment of the NSSF are:

• Assess Program Design and Clarity: Evaluate the clarity of NSSF’s objectives, the logic of its Theory of Change, and the alignment of activities with intended outcomes.
• Assess Data Availability: Assess the availability and quality of data to gather insights on program implementation and the feasibility of conducting a future evaluation.
• Determine Evaluation Feasibility and Design: Develop key evaluation questions, identify suitable designs, and assess the practical feasibility of conducting a comprehensive evaluation.

Period to be covered:

The assessment will cover the period since the NSSF was approved (April 2015) to date, informed by available reports on program implementation and supporting documents.

Geographic coverage:

The assessment is intended to cover the whole country, starting with national consultation with officials from relevant government departments, provincial and district officials, and representatives from School Management Teams (SMT), School Principals, School Governing Bodies (SGB), and learners.

Programme Focus:

Evaluability assessments will focus on the technical elements surrounding program logic and measurement.

Summary of the key activities for the EA:

• Clarity of Program Objectives: Assess if the NSSF’s objectives are clearly defined and understood.
• Programme Design and Logic: Review the NSSF’s Theory of Change and assess its logical links between activities, outputs, outcomes, and impacts.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Identify and consult with key stakeholders, including government officials, educators, and learners.
• Data Availability and Quality: Assess the availability and quality of data needed for the evaluation.
• Evaluation Questions: Develop and refine key evaluation questions.
• Evaluation Design: Identify appropriate evaluation designs and methods.
• Feasibility and Resources: Assess the feasibility of conducting the evaluation.
• Sampling strategy/criteria: Develop a sampling strategy for program documents and primary data sources.
• Instrument development and validation: Develop a conceptual/measurement matrix and draft data collection instruments.
• Four distinct data analysis components are proposed for the EA:
• Stakeholder analysis.
• Desk-based review of national documents.
• Analysis of key national program activities/interventions.
• Analysis of government monitoring and evaluation systems and data.

Review and evaluability assessment questions:

The EA will answer a list of tentative questions regarding evaluability.

Evaluability Assessment Approach and Methodology:

The EA will follow the DFID Working Paper approach on Evaluability Assessment.

The assessment will be conducted using a mixed method approach:

Methods will include desk reviews and interviews with key informants.

Deliverables:

• Month 1: 12% of the budget - Inception Report (IR) developed and submitted.
• Month 1: 8.40% of the budget - Desk-top review conducted.
• Month 1: 6% of the budget - ToC/result framework developed.
• Month 1: 6% of the budget - Relevant programme activities/projects are mapped.
• Month 2: 3.60% of the budget - Sampling strategies developed.
• Month 2: 18% of the budget - Partners/stakeholders identified and analyzed.
• Month 2: 6% of the budget - Round table/workshops conducted.
• Month 2: 6% of the budget - Draft EA report prepared and submitted.
• Month 3: 12% of the budget - Feedback received and incorporated into the final document.
• Month 3: 6% of the budget - Final report submitted.
• Travel costs: 16% of the budget.

Limitations:

• Lack of systematic documentation may limit the assessment.
• Not all key informants might be available.

The final report should include the executive summary, background, progress on deliverables, monitoring and evaluation, lessons learned, challenges, recommendations, and annexes.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Social Services, Research, or Development.
• A minimum of five years of relevant professional experience in monitoring and evaluation with a proven record of conducting evaluations.
• Knowledge of how UNICEF or other UN agencies and the South African government system works.
• Excellent conceptual and analytical skills.
• Good skills in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other necessary software.
• Excellent and concise English writing skills.
• Proactive and energetic approach to the work.
• Ability to manage and supervise evaluation teams and ensure timely submission of quality evaluation reports.
• Willingness and ability to travel to different project sites and must possess a valid driver’s license.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates to apply.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, persons with disabilities include those who have long-term impairments that may hinder their full participation in society.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18) and has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations.