Home Based and Brussels - Desk Study on Expenditure on Education in Developing Countries

Lot:4 - Studies, Assessments and Presentations - EuropeAid FWC Commission 123314

DONWLOAD Terms of References

One senior level, category 1, 40 working days education economist is required with
proven experience of research and analysis of education sector financing in
developing countries.
o Education: postgraduate diploma/degree in economics or in other relevant
field.
o Experience/knowledge: at least 15 years of experience in education economics
related to developing countries and proven experience of analysis of country
situations and clear communication of findings to non-economist audiences.
o Proven ability to produce clear concise and accurate reports in English.

DURATION AND LOCATION
Duration
The time required to complete the assignment is 40 days of consultancy services these
services to be provided over a period of three months.
Starting date: On signature of contract
Finishing date of the assignment: End of September 2010.
Location of assignment: experts' home base, 2 one day missions to Paris, one day
mission to Luxembourg, and up to two trips to Brussels

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The study is aimed at having better information on which to draw conclusions
regarding appropriately balanced inter-sectoral allocations for a range of country
contexts. This analysis will assist in making more accurate and better calculations of
the financing gap that many countries experience between the available domestic
resources and the volume of resources needed to achieve universal primary
completion whilst maintaining a balanced education sector.

3. ISSUES TO BE STUDIED
The study will collect information on both the current situation of intra-sectoral
allocations to the various sub-sectors of education in developing countries and on
recent trends. It will relate these financial commitments to trends in education
outcomes in the countries studied. It will analyse (in selected countries) the
accompanying decision-making processes, including the extent to which educational
services are provided by the private sector or by other non-governmental agencies.

4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
At this stage it is proposed to launch a study with limited scope, firstly to develop and
test the methodology, secondly, to ascertain the availability of relevant data, and
finally to give an initial indication of likely indicators and suggestions of areas for
further work. A limited range of 30 countries with differing rates of enrolment across
the sector will be studied in this initial phase.

The proposed study will rely on desk research using existing data sources as the basis
of the enquiry. No field visits to developing countries are foreseen. However, up to
two, one day missions to Paris will be needed to consult with the UNESCO EFA
(Education For All) Global Monitoring Report team and through them the UNESCO
Institute for Statistics, together with a single mission of one day to Luxembourg to
consult with Eurostat. The consultants will draw upon data collected for the UNESCO
publication 'The Education For All Global Monitoring Report' as a basic data source.
This will be supplemented by other public domain publications as required.

5. REQUESTED SERVICES, INCLUDING THEIR IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES
WHEN RELEVANT.
The consultants will carry out a literature review to establish a theoretical and
conceptual framework to be used to categorise and then analyse the education sector
financing profiles of countries in two major groups: Africa, Caribbean and Pacific
countries and countries covered by the Development Cooperation Instrument. It will
be essential to include at least the sub-sectors of primary, secondary, vocational and
skills training and higher education and to ensure that biases introduced by either very
small or very large populations are addressed.

Once an appropriate set of countries has been identified (in consultation with the the
European Commission) and a methodology for their analysis agreed, the consultant
should carry out an analysis of the current situation and recent trends of intra-sectoral
allocations to the various sub-sectors of education in the countries agreed over a time
period of between five and ten years (depending on the data available. The preference
is for a longer time series, but it is accepted that this may not be possible). This
should relate these financial commitments to trends in education indicators by subsector
over the same time period.
1. Indicators related to the primary sector should include but not be restricted to
gender disaggregated Net Enrolment Rate, Gross Enrolment Rate, Primary
Completion Rate and Pupil Teacher Ratio. The transition rate from primary to
secondary should also be included and at secondary level, indicators should include
Gross Enrolment Rate (GER), Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) and pass rate of national
examinations at the end of the lower secondary and upper secondary cycle if
appropriate. If a country has participated in international testing (such as Trends in
International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS), Programme for international
Student Assessment (PISA) or regional testing (eg. Southern African Consortium for
Measuring Educational Quality (SACMEQ), “Programme d’analyse des systèmes
éducatifs de la CONFEMEN (PASEC), then these should also be included in the
analysis.

The consultant should then propose and agree with the COM a range of not more than
five countries to be studied in more depth. The in-depth study should explore the
possible decision making processes behind sub-sectoral allocation. This could
include looking at the donor involvement in the sector or sub-sector, any major policy
changes (such as the introduction of free primary education for instance) or changes
in government. The aim at this stage, of this part of the work is to begin to map out
possible influences on the decision making process for further research.

PLEASE NOTE: ONLY SELECTED CANDIDATES WILL BE CONTACTED