Terms of Reference (ToR) – Schools2030 Digitally Enabled Platform

TERMS OF REFERENCE

1. Introduction

The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a group of private not-for profit, non-denominational international development agencies, institutions and programmes that work primarily in the poorest parts of Africa and Asia to improve the quality of life of communities in remote and resource poor areas. In East Africa, AKF works with partners to improve the quality of life by promoting and developing innovative solutions to challenges of development in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Reflecting the complex and multi-faceted nature of development, AKF programmes in the region encompasses education, health, Early Childhood Development, Rural Development and Civil Society Strengthening. AKF is seeking a consultant work as part of a diverse team of ECD, Education, adult learning, and Civil Society specialists to design, pilot, iterate, and complete a capacity development package for Civil Society Organisations to integrate learning through play into their Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programming.

2. Background

AKF, in partnership with a global consortium of private foundations, is co-launching Schools2030 a new, globally informed, locally rooted 10-year longitudinal learning improvement programme working with 1000 pioneering pre-primary, primary and secondary schools and youth organisations across 10 countries. Schools2030 is searching for positive deviance about ‘what works’ in equipping children and young people with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values needed to successfully navigate uncertainty and become contributing members of society. In Kenya, Schools2030 will work with 100 pioneering sites in Mombasa and Lamu Counties. The sites include 30 pre-primary schools, 30 primary schools, 30 secondary schools and 10 youth development partners/civil society organisation.

As part of its COVID-19 response plan, a team of AKF partners developed a solution to address the challenge faced by most parents in supporting their children’s learning while at home. The solution envisions a digitally enabled collaborative space/platform set-up to build the capacity of parents as they support their children’s learning. The platform will give parents (the primary users):

• Access to an academics feature with subject content and progress updates that would be uploaded by their respective teachers
• The ability to set up a health diary for keeping track of their children’s health and tips on safety and health practices (a template may be provided)
• The ability to create a personalised checklist for COVID-19 safety, using the World Health Organization (WHO), government and school guidelines as a reference point
• Forums to provide parents a supportive community from fellow parents and the ability to connect directly with their children’s teacher; and
• Celebrations, a platform that highlights and celebrates achievements and milestones.

3. Consultant scope of work

It is expected for the consultant or organisation to:

• Collaborate with AKF design team to map out the user flow for the digitally enabled platform to support the functionalities described above
• Ideate and design the User interface of the platform
• Illustrate and create icons, artwork, and any other visual mediums to be used (Re-Used) on the platform
• Test the UI experience with the specific stakeholders (at least 10 households in Mombasa and Lamu County)
• In collaboration with the AKF design team, prototype the digital platform, collect feedback, and iterate the platform based on learning
• Provide technical support to AKF design team and users for up to three months after platform pilot launch.

In addition, the consultant should consider the following:

• The platform will be in English, but users can engage with other languages
• Provide a long-term, cost-effective solution to managing the platform
• Security features to protect all user data
• Data management features, including back end data tracking to support the team in tracking the usage of the platform; how many people/groups are interacting with the platform
• Develop small exportable reports linking to AKF digital M&E system

4. Key deliverables

• Draft the user flow for the digitally enabled platform
• Design the user interface of the platform and input features on it. Including uploading different user pages which will be generated collaboratively with the AKF team
• Test the user interface with intended users (AKF, teachers, parents)
• Finalise the digitally enabled platform
• Final implementation and management strategy (including operation manual and troubleshooting option).

5. Work Plan Activity and Deadline

Introductory meeting with consultant – 7^th December 2020

Draft the user flow and design the user interface for the digitally enabled platform – December 2020

Submit draft digitally enabled platform for review – 8^th January 2021

Test the user interface with intended users – 18^th January to 12^th February 2021

Submit learning report from the test phase – 26^th February 2021

Submit finalised digital platform – 12^th March 2021

Submit final report and management strategy – 26^th March 2021

6. Criteria for selection

All submissions will be assessed on the following criteria

• Technical proposal 40%
• Technical experience 30%
• Value for Money 30%