Call for Proposal (Organization/Firm) Development a Joint Response Framework 2025-2028 for Myanmar’s Education

The education sector in Myanmar faces several challenges, including disparities in equitable access to quality education for all children and youth particularly in conflict-affected and marginalized regions. The Joint Response Framework (JRF) 2022-2025 was developed to facilitate collective efforts through addressing a range of educational challenges in Myanmar’s education sector during COVID-19 pandemic and political instability. The overall objective of the JRF 2022-2025 for the education sector in Myanmar is to ensure that children and youth in Myanmar (re)engage in quality, meaningful, inclusive and gender responsive learning in safe, protective environments, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable learners such as children from IDPs, migrant communities, and ethnic minority and girls and boys with disabilities or developmental delays and adolescent girls.

The JRF 2022-2025 is underpinned by three main programs:

– Ensuring safe and equitable access to learning for all children and youth in Myanmar

– Ensuring quality teaching/learning for all children and youth in Myanmar by strengthening the capacities of education staff and fostering context-responsive, equity-focused learning resources and modalities adapted to the evolving situation

– Ensuring systems strengthening, management, coordination and monitoring

Work Assignment

The UNESCO Antenna Office in Yangon is looking for a national or international firm, or a firm of mix of national and international experts to develop the JRF. Under the overall authority of the Director of the UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok, the direct supervision of Head of UNESCO Antenna Office in Yangon, the contractor is responsible for carrying out the JRF development. The contractor will be responsible for the following tasks:

Conduct a comprehensive desk review to analyze the current educational landscape in Myanmar, considering the ongoing socio-political crisis and economic challenges impacting equitable access to quality education at all levels. This review will integrate ongoing situational assessments of Myanmar’s education system, expected to be completed in May 2025. The desk review also includes a conflict analysis to provide strategic guidance to inform policy formulation. Additionally, the review will benchmark educational framework against international standards and best practices from similar contexts that have faced significant educational disruption, while ensuring alignment with global frameworks and strategies such as SDG4, Education Cannot Wait, the Global Partnership for Education, and relevant national strategies. Insights will also be drawn from the endline review of JRF 2022-2025, which is expected to be completed in April 2025.

Facilitate in-depth consultations with broad range of stakeholders, including humanitarian and development partners, as well as a diverse range of education service providers including non-formal, faith based, ethnic education across the regions while engaging teachers, parents and students with a focus on vulnerable children and children with disability to gather comprehensive insights and foster collaboration.

Develop adoptive and flexible JRF 2025-2028, responding to the evolving educational needs of Myanmar, with a particular emphasis on marginalized populations. Policy formulation will center on setting critical priorities and strategies to address existing gaps, especially in conflict-affected regions and for vulnerable groups such as children from internally displaced persons communities, children with disabilities, and ethnic minorities. The framework may also establish a theory of change that outlines how the proposed interventions will lead to tangible improvements in education outcomes.

To ensure effective implementation, incorporating a M&E framework, defining specific indicators and methods for periodic monitoring progress and assessing impact will be designed. A detailed action plan will provide clear timelines, roles, and responsibilities, while a robust coordination and partnership mechanism will be set up to align efforts across all stakeholders, ensuring that the strategy is inclusive, collaborative, and sustainable.

Validate the draft strategies and disseminate the final JRF to key partners, particularly those directly involved in implementation and operational roles, ensuring alignment and providing action-oriented roadmap for the stakeholders to foster ownership and collaborative engagement.

*It is important to highlight that the expected scope of the consultancy outlined above will evolve in response to emerging needs from stakeholders over the course of consultancy period.

1. Expected Tasks, Deliverables and Timeline

Inception (March): Provide comprehensive technical strategies and approaches, including but not limited to, key guiding questions to steer the development of the JRF, establish foundational principles for its design, and outline a clear methodology, approach, and timeline. This should encompass stakeholder mapping, a detailed work plan, and the development of appropriate consultation tools to ensure inclusive and effective engagement throughout the process.

Deliverables: Draft and final Inception report, including consultation tools

Consultations (April): Conduct a series of consultations in forms of workshop, focus group discussions, individual interviews, and consultations across various regions, ensuring a balanced representation of both urban and rural perspectives. Special attention will be given to engaging directly with a diverse range of stakeholders, including teachers, parents, students, and education providers.

Deliverables: Emerging findings from consultations

Desk review and draft the JRF (May-June): existing situational assessments, analyzing barriers to equitable access and quality education. In parallel, benchmark Myanmar’s education system against global standards and best practices from similar post-conflict contexts, focusing on SDG4, Education Cannot Wait, and Global Partnership for Education.

Validate and finalize JRF (July): Organize meetings or feedback sessions with key stakeholders to gather their input on the draft framework and revise the draft feedback with all valid inputs and finalize the framework.

Disseminate/Learning session on JRF (August): Organize a virtual, in person or hybrid meeting to present the final JRF to key partners, walk them through the key strategies, and offer any necessary resources and additional supporting session to ensure the education sector partners can effectively implement the strategies laid out in the JRF.

1. Qualifications, Experience and Competencies

The contractor is expected to have specialized knowledge and research expertise in education economics (policy analysis), a country-wide scale and country or regional experience in the context of international development. The following are desired experience and qualifications.

1. Organization

Required Qualifications

• at least 10 years experiences of demonstrated success in education sector planning, such as national education sector plan, education transitional framework, education transition plan, particularly within lower middle-income countries or in crisis setting.
• Proven record in policy analysis and design through analyzing educational policies and propose strategic frameworks, taking into account local needs and global best practices.
• Practical experience working in education ministries, educational NGOs, or multilateral organizations, or think thanks. Solid experience in the design, implementation, or evaluation of education policies or plans at national or regional levels is essential.
• Expertise in conflict resolution and crisis management, particularly in the context of education during and after conflict.
• Expertise in designing systems to track the progress and impact of education plans or responses, ensuring that they are adaptive and responsive to changing conditions.

Desirable Qualifications

• Understanding of Myanmar Context**:** Deep understanding of Myanmar’s socio-economic and political context, specifically related to education policies, challenges, and opportunities.
• Multidisciplinary Approach: Ability to integrate perspectives from education policy, economics, sociology, and other relevant disciplines into the analysis.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Experience in effectively engaging with diverse stakeholders in the education sector, including United Nations, educators, civil society, and international organizations.
  1. Individual/Lead Specialist who will lead the implementation of the activities

Required Qualifications

• at least 10 years experiences of demonstrated success in education sector planning, education transitional framework/plan.
• PhD in education Policy, Public Administration, or Development Studies or or a related field such as educational policy, management, or administration provides a strong grounding in the core principles of education systems
• A background in managing or contributing to education sector reforms, whether at the national or regional level, is valuable
• Familiarity with M&E frameworks to track the progress of the education sector plan, adjust strategies as needed, and demonstrate impact.
• Adaptability and Innovation: Capacity to adapt methodologies and approaches to address unique challenges in the education sector, demonstrating innovative thinking and problem-solving skills.

Desirable Qualifications

• Stakeholder Engagement: Ability to effectively engage with a wide range of stakeholders in the education sector, including United Nations, educators, civil society organizations, and international agencies.
• Analytical Skills: Strong analytical skills for interpreting educational data, identifying trends, and generating evidence-based recommendations to inform policy and decision-making.
• Communication Skills: Excellent written and verbal communication skills to articulate complex findings and recommendations clearly and persuasively to diverse audiences.

How to apply

Qualified Organizations/Institutions/Firms should submit the following to UNESCO clearly referencing.

• Technical proposal: Outline methodologyfor undertaking this assignment, as well as, a detailed work plan showing a timeline for completion of activities, the assignment’s important activities/deliverables and milestones/deadlines.
• Financial proposal: Detailed quotation in USD showing all necessary costs in detailed budget breakdown.
• Two relevant examples of previous work transforming data into a relevant policy text or report to inform decision making, preferably from development and/or education context or documented evidence of previously conducted learning assessments.
• References: The names and contact details of 3 references for whom you undertook prior work should be provided.
• A profile/description of your company with evidence of your company’s capacity to perform the services required, the organizational structure, company registration and CVs of the technical, management and implementation support personnel proposed to work on the project should also be included.

UNESCO places great emphasis on ensuring that the objectives of the work assignment, as described in the Terms of Reference, are met. Accordingly, in evaluating the proposals for the assignment, attention will focus first and foremost on the technical elements. From those proposals deemed suitable in terms of the criteria in the Terms of Reference, UNESCO shall select the proposal that offers the Organization best value for money.

In line with UNESCO’s overall gender mainstreaming strategy, the Contractor is expected to integrate a gender perspective in all activities and apply gender analysis and mainstreaming concepts wherever feasible.

Your application should reach yangon@unesco.org by email no later than 18:00 Hours (Yangon time) on 28 February 2025.

Only short-listed individuals or organization will be contacted.