Situational Analysis on Myanmar’s Education Sector

1. Background

United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization Antenna Office (hereafter UNESCO Office) in Yangon is committed to a holistic and humanistic vision of equitable, inclusive and quality education in Myanmar, the realization of everyone’s right to education, and the belief that education plays a fundamental role in human, social and economic development. UNESCO is the only United Nations agency with a mandate to cover all aspects of education and is committed to supporting Myanmar towards the realization of the SDG-4 Education 2030 Framework for Action.

The UNESCO Office contributes to the education sector and analysis in collaboration with its partners, and with leadership as the grant agent for the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and its Education Sector Plan Development Grant (ESPDG). A project funded by ESPDG focuses on the following priority areas.

• Priority 1: Understand and disseminate education situation analyses and compile the data for dissemination
• Priority 2: Facilitate and coordinate development partners to develop and revise the joint programs of the Joint Response Framework (JRF), other relevant documents and its monitoring and evaluation system
• Priority 3: Coordinate Development Partners in the Education Sector Group (ESG) to implement and monitor the joint programs and projects under JRF.

The Joint Response Framework (JRF) 2022-2025 facilitates collective efforts among humanitarian and development partners1 to address a range of educational challenges in Myanmar’s education sector. Together, they play a crucial role in joint efforts to meet immediate needs and advance the humanitarian-development nexus in alignment with the JRF, enabling the partners to ensure equitable access to quality education for all children and youth in Myanmar. Looking ahead, the necessity for a new JRF for the next cycle of 2025-2029 has become increasingly apparent amidst ongoing educational crises. Prior to do this, comprehensive situation analysis as a preliminary will be conducted to unveil Myanmar’s education sector to inform a new JRF.

2. Objectives and Uses

Given the impact of COVID-19, the political instability and socio-economic factors on Myanmar’s education sector, the purpose of this situational analysis is to assess the current state of the education system vis-a-vis these challenges and education systemic resilience. The objectives of the Myanmar’s education situation analysis are:

• To assess how COVID-19, the political instability and socio-economic factors directly and indirectly have impacted on the education sector in Myanmar.
• To understand the specific challenges experienced by demographic groups, especially those who are marginalized and vulnerable groups, and girls and boys, and children and youth with disabilities.
• To assess overall effectiveness of the responses and adaptations made by educational institutions, development and humanitarian partners in light of these challenges.
• To identify immediate needs and gaps in the current sectoral situation to inform design of future interventions specifically development a forthcoming joint response framework 2025-2029 scheduled to the fourth quarter of 2024.
• To provide actionable recommendations backed by evidence for education institutions, educational development and humanitarian partners to effectively mitigate the impact of these crises to ensure effective quality and equitable service delivery in Myanmar’s education

3. Assignment

The UNESCO Antenna Office in Yangon is looking for a national or international firm, or a firm of mix of national and international expert to commence the study. 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 analysis. In case, use of subcontractors for specific elements of this work is required to carry out the study, the contractor with UNESCO as primary contract will be ultimately responsible for contracting and the quality of the work of any subcontractors.

4. Scope of Analysis

This analysis will explore how Myanmar’s education has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the political instability with a particular emphasis on how these crises have impacted various aspects of education, not limited to system-wide, access to schooling, quality of instruction, and student well-being. It will assess the disruptions across different educational levels and regions, paying special attention to the unique needs of vulnerabilities of marginalized groups. Notably, the analysis mainstreams gender consideration, equity and inclusiveness approach to address challenges experienced by girls, and children and youth with disabilities, and other vulnerable and marginalized groups’ right to quality of education.

The following is a set of prompt questions to guide to scope of the analysis. It is important to note that questions will be further discussed and finalized in consultations with relevant stakeholders in the inception stage.

• Impact Assessment: How have the accessibility, quality, and equity of education2 been affected in relation to across region and different educational levels3? Specifically, how have gender disparities, and challenges experienced by children and youth with disabilities and other marginalized groups, been affected by these crises in relation to accessing to quality of education and advancing educational outcomes? What are other immediate and long-term impacts of these crises on different educational levels regarding enrollment, attendance, retention and academic performance?
• Institutional Response: What measures have institutions4 and educational development and humanitarian partners adopted to ensure access to quality of education and advance students’ academic progress for all? What gaps exist in the current response to the crises, and how can these gaps be filled for better support for the education sector?
• Immediate Needs and Challenges: What are the most pressing immediate needs of students, with a focus on girls, and children and youth with disabilities, and other marginalized and vulnerable groups, educators, and educational institutions resulting from the crises? How have the crises affected students’ mental health and well-being, and what support systems have been in place and how relevant and effective are the systems to address these issues?
• Best Practices and Future Strategies: What best practices or successful measures can be identified from the response efforts? What lessons can be drawn from the experiences of educational institutions and stakeholders? What immediate and medium-term measures can be taken to address the pressing needs and challenges, and what long-term strategies can be considered to strengthen resilience within the education system? How can the education authorities, education institutions, educational development and humanitarian actors, and international partners improve their response and coordination for the education sector during and aftermaths these crises?

5. Methodology

The contractor must consider the contextual challenges, including political landscape, scarcity of literature on the topics, and limited access to sites when designing the situational analysis. Given these constraints, the contractor will propose most pertinent approaches and a robust methodology taking into account these limitations. The analysis is likely to rely on secondary data and information analysis, and the followings are potential methodologies for the situational analysis for Myanmar education.

• Desk Review of Existing Literature and Report: Review nationally and internationally available data and evidence from reports, research papers, evaluation reports, assessments, and project/program documents. This includes documents collated by UNESCO Office and other relevant sources.
• Analysis of Secondary Data: Utilize existing secondary data source as national and international databases, statistic reports and educational indicators to analyze trends and patterns in Myanmar’s education
• Policy and Document Analysis: Analyze relevant policies, legislation, and strategic documents related to Myanmar’s education. This includes reviewing available strategies, budget allocation and expenditure for education.
• Qualitative Remote Data Collection Methods: Key informant interviews and focus group discussions could be considered to draw relevant stakeholders’ perspectives on educational efforts, challenges and concerns.

6. Expected Tasks

The work is expected to be carried out up to 50 working days within the period of September – November 2024, following a phased approach.

• In Inception phase: The contractor will conduct preliminary desk review and consultations with UNESCO Office (and other relevant stakeholders if necessary) to refine objectives, questions, scope of the analysis, and develop overarching approaches, detailed methodology, sampling strategy, quality assurance, workplan and broad approach towards learning session.
• Data collection phase: The contractor will design primary data collection tools, and conduct data collection, and collate secondary data/information. This includes a debrief session on primary data collection with the UNESCO Office at the end of the primary data collection.
• Analysis and reporting phase: The contractor will conduct in depth analysis of desk review and secondary and primary data collection. Additionally, there will be a validation of emerging findings and co-construct recommendations session with UNESCO Office (and relevant stakeholders if necessary). Draft report and revision of the report will be done in alignment with UNESCO and other relevant stakeholders’ insights to finalize the report.
• Learning and dissemination phase5: The contractor will focus on sharing the findings, lessons learned and fostering recommendations with relevant stakeholders

Below lists expected deliverables, estimated share of day and timeline in phased processes.

Inception

• Draft inception report
• Final Inception report (25 pages exclusive annexes)
• 15 working days by September 2024

Data collection

• Data collection tools
• 10 working days by October 2024

Analysis and reporting

• Presentation slides of emerging findings
• Draft of report
• Final report
• 24 working days by November 2024

Learning and dissemination

• Presentation slides for learning session
• 1 day
• November 2024

7. 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.

Organization

Required Qualifications

• Proven Track Record: Minimum 5 years of demonstrated success in conducting similar analyses or research projects, particularly within lower middle-income countries or similar contexts.
• Data Collection and Analysis Skills: Proficiency in qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, robust sampling strategy, and data analysis techniques, and interpreting educational data.
• Experience in managing large-scale education projects, particularly those related to international development, overseeing comprehensive analyses

Desirable Qualifications

• Expertise in Education Sector Analysis**:** experience and specialized knowledge in conducting comprehensive situational analyses within the education sector.
• 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.
• Evidence-Based Recommendations: Track record of generating evidence-based recommendations and actionable insights to inform education policy and decision-making

Personnel/Staff who will lead the implementation of the activities

Required Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of demonstrated success in conducting similar analyses or research projects, particularly within lower middle-income countries or similar contexts.
• Expertise in Education Policy and Analysis: Master’s in Education, Economics, Social Science
• Technical Proficiency: Proficiency in qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, data collection techniques, and statistical analysis relevant to education sector analysis.
• Cross-Cultural Competence: Sensitivity to cultural contexts and diversity, with experience working effectively in multicultural and international settings.
• 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

• Experience and specialized knowledge in conducting comprehensive situational analyses within the education sector.
• Expertise in Education Policy and Analysis**:** Doctorate in Education, Education Policy, Educational Leadership, or Education Administration, Economics, Public Policy, Political Science, Sociology, Social Science
• Experience in Contextual Analysis: Proven experience in conducting situational analyses or research within diverse educational contexts, preferably in lower middle-income countries or regions facing similar challenges to Myanmar with think thanks, research institute, government entities and United Nations.
• 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.