TOR:  Activity Manual Development Consultant

TOR:  Activity Manual Development Consultant

Background on Save the Children

Save the Children is the leading global independent organisation for children. Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Around the world, we work every day to give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. When crisis strikes, and children are most vulnerable, we are always among the first to respond and the last to leave. We ensure children’s unique needs are met and their voices are heard. We deliver lasting results for millions of children, including those hardest to reach.

We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.

Our vision: A world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation.

Our mission: To inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children, and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.

Our values: Accountability, ambition, collaboration, creativity and integrity.

We are committed to ensuring our resources are used as efficiently as possible, in order to focus them on achieving maximum impact for children.

Background information/context

In Bosnia and Hercegovina, many children are not safe in and around school. Threats of violence are widespread, and the attitude of tolerating violence against children still prevails. The country faces significant natural disaster risks that are increasing rapidly due to climate change, and schools are largely unprepared to react adequately. Incidents occurring across the region underscore the need for systematic interventions to minimize the long-term consequences, prevent the detrimental impact of school violence on student well-being and educational outcomes, and restore public confidence in schools as safe places to learn. Finally, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic exposed many gaps in reaching all children equally, often leaving behind the most marginalized.

The overall goal of the project is to ensure that children have an opportunity to learn and thrive in a secure and protective educational environment by reducing risks related to violence against children by peers or school staff, natural hazards, and other risks in and around school through the Safe Schools Common Approach.  

The project will work with the Ministries of Education in four Cantons and 17 schools across Bosnia and Herzegovina to understand the specific needs of each school and to establish or strengthen systems and procedures that enable the school community to be aware of and take concrete actions against the prevalence of identified risks in their schools.  

By working with Cantonal Ministries and schools, the project will enable systemic change to occur through the development of policies and procedures that raise awareness, build resilience, and improve protection mechanisms for children. Furthermore, by raising awareness and strengthening the capacities of children, their families, teachers and the entire school community, the project will improve the readiness of all to recognize, prevent and respond to violence and other types of risks.

In cooperation with educational institutions in the participating cantons, an activity manual that builds teacher and student capacities on violence prevention will be developed and rolled out in the participating schools. The activity manual is designed to complement the formal curriculum and is based on the principles and pedagogy of positive discipline, through the development of soft skills and social-emotional learning in students. The aim is to create and pilot a manual that can be easily incorporated by teachers into lesson plans alongside the official curriculum and eventually scaled to all schools in each participating canton.

Overview of the Role

The purpose and goal of the engagement is to lead the development of a violence prevention activity manual, in close cooperation with the four Ministries, SCNWB and the Federal Ministry of Education. The consultant will develop a tailor-made activity manual that can be used in conjunction with the official curriculum through the insertion of complementary activities that focus on building skills that prevent violence against and between children through the positive discipline approach. The activity manual will be piloted in the scope of the project and, following evaluations, the consultant will be responsible for utilizing insights to make any necessary adjustments. Once finalized, SCNWB will advocate to the relevant Ministries to scale to all schools under their jurisdiction. Following the finalization of the manual, the consultant will deliver a two-day training to teachers in the 17 schools, to build their capacity on how to use the manual in their classrooms, including replication, evaluation, and reporting on results.

The Consultant will be responsible for:

1. Develop an activity manual to be piloted in the participating schools. The manual should:
   1. Be focused on the prevention of violence in schools and based on the positive discipline approach developed by Save the Children (found here)
   2. Include activities that focus on mental health and psycho-social support (MHPSS)
   3. Be tailored to children aged 9 to 15 (Sessions should be no longer than school class; should be in manual either Bosnia, Croatian or Serbian)
2. Evaluating the manual once piloted and making the necessary adjustments before finalizing it.
3. Conducting a two-day training for selected teachers from the 17 participating schools.
4. Working closely with school focal points and SCNWB staff in the development of the activity manual.
5. Produce the final manual
6. Preparing a final report on activities to be submitted to SCNWB in

Work methodology

The consultant is expected to use a working methodology based on a child-centred approach. The process will take place based on a defined work calendar/time frame. During the engagement, the consultant will collaborate with Save The Children staff.

In order to adequately prepare for the preparation of the methodology and action plan, it is crucial to familiarize yourself with the relevant documents in this area.

The methodology should be in accordance with the main goal of the project - to provide children with the opportunity to learn and progress in a safe and protected educational environment by reducing the risks related to violence against children by peers or school staff, natural hazards and other risks in and around the school through joint access to safe schools: strengthening the capacity of education systems in Una-Sana Canton, Bosnia-Podrinje Canton, Herzegovina-Neretva Canton and Tuzla Canton in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Bearing in mind that Save The Children has been working for a long time to improve the quality of education and provide access for all children, leaving no one behind, it is important to study all the necessary documentation on the website: http://nwb.savethechildren.net

Expected Deliverables

1. Creation of an activity manual, as described above, in Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian
2. Delivery of a two-day workshop for educational staff from the 17 pilot schools
3. Online mentoring for teachers during the piloting in the schools
4. Delivery of the final activity manual
5. Delivery of the final report

Timeline

The Consultant will be hired for a period of 5 months and 15 days period (from July 15 to December 10, 2024) to deliver the activities, in a period not longer than 30 working days. The schedule of activities can be found below.

* The time frame can be changed in consultation with the relevant staff at Save the Children

Experience and skill set required

1. At least a university degree in the field of relevant sciences
2. At least five years of professional experience in the implementation of similar tasks
3. Reference experience in working with educational institutions and schools
4. Good communication skills and the ability to communicate in a clear and precise manner (written and oral)
5. Good analytical and creative skills
6. Previous experience in developing curricular and extra-curricular activities

Payment information 

The prices are defined in the Contract.

30% of the amount is paid at the beginning of the activity, 50 % is paid after the completion of the manual and training, 20% of the amount is paid after the monitoring, finalization of the manual and the final report within 30 days after the completion of the mentioned activities.

Please find the link for application with all necessary documents:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11ip9adJHYE9pD2T3R2Bs3XQG_6lpCmZT/view?usp=sharing

No person working on any task for or on behalf of Save the Children may in no way whatsoever be involved or related to child abuse or exploitation as defined in the Save the Children's Child Safeguarding Policy. The contracting authority also requires that the personal data of all evaluation participants must be protected and stored by the General Data Protection Regulation - (EU) 2016/679 and the national law on personal data protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH Law on Personal Data Protection, Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina No. 49/06).