Thailand: Consultancy: Safe School Project’s Technical Training on pillar-one - Safe School Facilities

I.INTRODUCTION

Founded in 1937, Plan International is one of the oldest and largest children's development organizations in the world. We work in over 70 countries worldwide to create lasting change for children and their communities. Everything we do is based on our firm commitment to children and ensuring they can claim their rights.

Our vision is of a world in which all children realize their full potential in societies that respect people's rights and dignity. As one of the largest child rights organisations in the world, we use our network of country, regional and liaison offices to drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels to advance children's rights and equality for girls. And our vision of rights and opportunities for every child can only be realized by working together with communities.

We work in partnership with children, communities and other organizations to develop and run innovative program that transform lives across 8 key areas: education; water and sanitation; sexual and reproductive health; early childhood care and development; disaster risk management; economic security; child protection and child participation.

As well as our ongoing programming, we work during and after natural disasters, emergencies and conflicts to respond to children’s immediate needs and protect their rights. We also work with local and national governments and global organizations to influence policies and laws that improve children’s lives.

All our work is rooted in decades of experience of local contexts, and our understanding of the needs and challenges of children and communities. Before taking any action, we listen to and learn from children and their families.

We work to ensure that girls and boys know their rights, and have the skills, knowledge and confidence to fulfill them. This approach inspires and empowers children and communities to create long-lasting change.

II.BACKGROUND

Worldwide, approximately 1.2 billion students are enrolled in primary and secondary school; of these, 875 million school children live in high seismic risk zones[1] and hundreds of millions more face regular floods, landslides, extreme winds and fire hazards. Children spend up to 50 per cent of their waking hours in school facilities, yet all too often schools are not constructed or maintained to be disaster resilient. The deaths of children and adults in schools cause irreplaceable losses to families, communities and countries. Millions of children also suffer lifelong injuries and disabilities through disasters.[2]

As a Child-centered Organization, Plan International Asia Regional Office (Plan ARO) is, beside its many other programs and movement for children and girls’ rights[3], implementing Safe Schools Program in Asia region to support Children in the most at-risk communities have access to safer education through duty-bearers minimizing the impact of disasters on their right to the quality education, which runs in 13 countries and benefits around 1,950 schools and 264,855 school boys and girls both in urban and rural settings.

In 2017, Plan ARO is targeting to reach the Safe Schools Program in 6,038 schools and 942,343 boys and girls which requires the improvement of technical capacity of Plan staff in Asia to be a lead on technical expertise on Safe Schools at the country and regional level. Therefore, Plan ARO is forming ARO Safe Schools Taskforce which consists of representative from country offices in Asia region. The main objective of the taskforce is to build in-house technical capacity of Plan country staff in countries in Asia including ARO Safe Schools Taskforce on Comprehensive School Safety.

In order to develop Plan staff capacity on delivering DRR projects in the education sector based on the Comprehensive Safe Schools (CSS) framework, ARO Safe Schools Taskforce has developed the ToT manual on CSS. Furthermore, among the three pillars of CSS (Safe schools facilities, Safe schools management, and Education on Disaster Risk Reduction), pillar one – Safe schools facilities – is considered to be linked with more technical aspects that require thorough insight to deliver appropriate implementation. As a result, the taskforce members are expected to be equipped with further comprehensive knowledge and skills on pillar one and its associated contents, and a tailored training on Safe schools facilities is required for this purpose.

Additionally, since school girls and boys, and women educational staff are among the most vulnerable groups in disaster situations, the training on Safe facilities will also links its core concepts with gender, age, disability and cultural perspectives, which are committed to be integrated in all practices of Safe schools activities. Application of this approach in Safe schools implementation will trigger the adequate capacity building measures need for staff in managing safe school projects, as well as in designing, resourcing and implement gender-sensitive disaster risk reduction in school settings and at-risk communities.

III.OBJECTIVES

The main objectives of the consultancy service are to design and deliver a tailored training on Safe school facilities – pillar one in the Comprehensive Safe Schools Frame work (CSSF)[4]. As Safe Schools projects and its activities aim to engage all stakeholders in the process, ensuring that male and female teachers, students, parents, community members and others are aware of their different responsibilities.

The training is expected to take into account the broad approach to disability inclusion and gender equality in education relates to "Safe Learning Environments" or "Safe Schools", which is a holistic and strategic approach to the protection needs of all students.

The objective of the consultancy is to strengthen the knowledge and skills of Plan in Asia’s Safe Schools Taskforce and other Safe School Project focal points to design and implement activities to promote Safe school facilities.

Key tasks of the consultancy:

· To bench mark peer organizations training materiel in regards to Safe School facilities and construction to tailor a training on pillar one of the CSSF

· To study the related content of Safe school facilities -Pillar 1 of the CSSF- and to coordinate with Plan’s regional Safe Schools specialist to design a tailored course outline and training materiel for safe school facilities, relevant to Plan’s regional Safe Schools programme

· To conduct one three-days Training on Safe School facilities - pillar one in CSSF - for 20-25 Plan staff

IV.METHODOLOGY AND SCOPE OF THE TRAINING

Methodology

The recruited consultant(s) will be expected to propose a detailed timelines to develop a training agenda and deliver the training content to meet the objectives of this assignment.

It is expected that the training agenda and content will have focus on Safe school facilities with considering holistic and sustainable perspectives for addressing cross-cutting issues such as gender inequalities and disability inclusion in school settings.

The consultant will be expected to review project documentation and relevant existing guidelines and frame works for background information of this mission. The consultant(s) would discuss with Plan’s project focal staff and experts, and may carry-out a quick training needs assessment to form the agreed detailed training agenda and content. The consultant(s) should design the training on safe school facilities with consideration to ensure gender equality and disability inclusion as well as other exclusion factors like age, language , social status in safe schools implementation. After the delivery of the tailored training, the consultant(s) will be requested to provide a narrative training report to Plan, with documentation of training agenda and content.

Scope of the training

The training is expected to be delivered to 20-25 safe school taskforce members and key safe school project staff coming from different Asian countries. It is suggested that the training takes place in Bangkok city, Thailand, with duration of maximum 3 days.

V.EXPECTED Timeframe and deliverables

The assignment consists of desk work and site training.

Proposed timeline:

This consultancy assignment is expected to be delivered during September and October 2016, and the training facilitated by the consultant(s) can be rolled out in September or October 2016.

Expected deliverables from the consultant(s):

· A proposal with timeframe and budget for the training on Safe school facilities-pillar-one in CSSF.

· Detailed training agenda and content, including a detailed sessions plan and training materiel (videos, power point presentations, instructions for group exercises etc). All materiel should be with Plan logos and on Plan’s templates.

· Delivery of the training to Plan staff.

· Final training report and documentation of training content and agenda.

VI.Management

The precise time frame and reporting dates will be agreed with Plan ARO’s focal staff in charge of this training based on approval of the consultant’s proposal and work plan but completion of the deliverables are expected to be completed by end of September 2016.

The consultancy service will be carried out by consultant(s) or consultant firm/team. Plan ARO will be responsible for the overall management of this consultancy. Designated staff from Plan ARO will be in charge of monitoring the services and provide consultants with instruction and assistance if required. Consultant(s) will closely work with these designated Plan ARO staff for the agreed plan, but the timeline should not later than the suggested time frame.

Plan ARO will support with the organisation of the training, including relevant cost for Plan staff and the consultant(s) to participate in the training in Bangkok, Thailand.

VII.Consultant requirements

The consultant will design an appropriate process to deliver the training in consultation with Plan ARO’s designated staff. The following qualification will be considered during the hiring process:

Education

· Academic Degree in relevant field (Development Studies, Sociology, Anthropology, Safe School Engineering or rural development).

Knowledge:

· Participatory approaches in training

· Knowledge of Safe School construction

· Experiences of working with child centred NGOs

· Knowledge of rural development issues in Asia

· Knowledge of child rights and governance

· Knowledge, clarity and understanding of gender equality and disability inclusion in disaster risk reduction as well as other exclusion factors like age, language , social status and many more

Skills:

· Participatory Training, Excellent workshop facilitation skills

· Excellent reporting, writing, communication and facilitation skills

· High level of English proficiency

· Very strong analytical and communication (verbal and written) skills

Experience:

· At least 5-years experiences in Safe Schools or Disaster Risk Reduction Programming

· Facilitation experiences

· Experience in safe school construction

Attitudes and Behaviors:

· Humility/humble & mature individual

· Approach work interdependently

· High self-esteem and respect of others

· Gender sensitivity and support team work

To apply for this consultancy service, please submit:

· Detailed CV of consultant(s)

· Three professional references

· Daily consultancy rate in USD

· Estimate of number of days required for the assignment and proposed timeframe and availability of consultant(s)

· Outline of the methodology and work plan to undertake the assignments

Please send the full package of proposal to emails: malou.cajot@plan-international.org with copy to lingling.liu@plan-international.org and nghia.trinhtrong@plan-international.org

Closing date to apply for this consultancy service: COB of *29^th August 2016*. The short-listed consultant(s) will be contacted for interviews. Please no telephone contact after submitting the application. For further information please contact: nghia.trinhtrong@plan-international.org