Expression of interest to prepare a case study on aid to skills development (Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, China or Brazil)

The 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report will focus on skills development, emphasizing strategies that expand employment opportunities for marginalized young people. It will examine what types of skills development programmes are best equipped to support the development of economically dynamic and socially inclusive societies.

Within the context of this thematic framework, the 2012 Report will highlight and critically examine the effectiveness of donor’s approaches to aid for skills development. It will include analysis of programmes supported by aid donors that have historically given a high priority to skills development, as well as aim to shed light on the activities of a number of ‘new’ donors.  Some of these donors have prioritized skills development within their own country’s growth strategies, and this experience might have an influence on their support to recipients of their aid.

Given the limited public availability of information and data for a few donors, the GMR is looking to commission individual case studies on aid for skills development programme and projects funded by Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, China and Brazil. The intention is to use a common framework for all case studies, but each TORs will be adapted to the country’s context.

For the purpose of the case study, the researcher should be based in the donor country, or in exceptional cases outside but with demonstrated in-depth knowledge of the country and the national language(s) as well as connections to the relevant aid agencies.

Interested researchers should send an expression of interest of no more than one page to 2012skills.efareport@unesco.org (with ‘EOI aid’ in the subject line) before Friday April 15^th 2011, briefly outlining the approach and coverage suggested for the case study, as well as a clear demonstration that he/she can have access to new or hard to get information or data, ideally directly from government agencies. In addition interested researchers should send their CV including a list of their own publications relevant to the topic of the background paper.

Please note that the GMR team will also be reviewing programmes of other aid donors, and welcome suggestions of literature and evaluation documents to support this. The analysis of aid programmes is one part of the research being undertaken for the Report. See the note for further information: http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/ED/pdf/gmr2012-note.pdf

DRAFT TERMS OF REFERENCE

2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report

Background paper on aid to skills development--Case Study on donor X’s foreign aid programme

Background to the 2012 EFA Global Monitoring Report

The 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report will focus on skills development, emphasizing strategies that expand employment opportunities for marginalized young people. It will examine what types of skills development programmes are best equipped to support the development of economically dynamic and socially inclusive societies.

The Report will aim to identify ways to address the chronic misalignment between the education system and labour market that is evident in many countries. It will identify the types of skills that employers are seeking (including basic literacy, transferrable skills, life skills, as well as specific vocational skills), and the types of training programmes needed to support these. It will assess the contribution of programmes that can help to extend the opportunities of marginalized young people, including ones beyond the education sector (for example apprenticeships, firm-based training, and second-chance programmes).

The skills-employment mismatch is exacerbated in many of the world’s poorest countries by a ‘youth bulge’. A growing number of young people aged 15-24 are seeking work in urban areas, while opportunities for decent, productive employment are not increasing at the same pace. As a result, increasing numbers of young people are working in low paid, insecure jobs in the informal sector. Despite widespread rural-urban migration, young people in low-income countries continue to live and work predominantly in rural areas. The Report will also look at the types of skills development training programmes that can help to improve the livelihoods of those working in the agricultural sector as well as those involved in off-farm work in rural areas.

The Report will explore the public policy approaches needed to extend employment-relevant skills training to vulnerable young people such as early school leavers, young adults who never attended school, those who left school lacking the cognitive and life skills needed to thrive in literate societies, and those who have succeeded in gaining higher levels of education but lack the relevant skills to get access to decent, productive work. It will look at the approaches to provision, governance and financing of skills training programmes that can play a role in extending opportunities.

Purpose

The background paper will provide a clear and concise case study of donor x’s foreign aid programme in the field of education and skills development. The purpose is to critically evaluate skills development programmes and projects in light of the report’s focus on strategies that expand employment opportunities for marginalized young people.

Objectives

 1. Briefly review the donor’s approach to aid for skills development:

·      What are the main objectives of the donor’s approach to skills development (for example, to promote economic growth, enhance competiveness and trade, reduce the skills-labour market mismatch, address vulnerability and disadvantage)?

o   How does this approach link with the donor’s own economic development experience and its approach to skills development at home?

o   Are there links between skills development aid programmes and larger trade and investment relations between the donor and recipient?

o   Is the approach favoring state-led industrial development and corresponding training strategies, or a private sector-led model?

·      To what extent is skills development a priority for the aid donor?

·      Outline the various ways in which the donor is providing aid to skills development in developing countries eg. Support to: catch-up programmes for early school leavers, technical training institutions, apprenticeship programmes; scholarships to study in the donor’s institutions etc.

2. Estimate the size, share and scope of skills development programme and projects:

·    Estimate the size of the entire aid programme and its expansion over time,

·    Within this, identify:

o   the share spent on the education sector

o   relative importance of skills development programmes (whether within the education sector, or in other areas of the aid budget)

·      Estimate the relative importance of the different types of support to skills development within the programme

3. Provide 2-4 more in-depth examples of skills development programmes funded by the donor, focusing on their approach and potential impact. Programmes to be identified in consultation with the GMR team should ideally include ones that aim to strengthen the link between skills and employment for marginalized young people. They should seek to answer the following questions:

·      What are the main objectives of the programmes?

·      What types of skills do they programmes aim to support (for example life skills, basic literacy, transferrable skills, specific vocational skills)?

·      Who are the target beneficiaries, and why? To what extent are the programmes targeted at youth and/or marginalized groups? Is there any special focus on skills development in urban slums, or enhancing agricultural productivity in rural areas?

·      What are the arrangements for delivery of skills development programmes in terms of:

§  provision (including the role of the education providers and employers; how learning is certified)

§  finance (including the extent to which beneficiaries, the private sector and government are expected to contribute to the costs of provision)

§  governance (including who is responsible for monitoring and regulating provision, which ministries or other agencies are involved in provision)

·      How effective are the programmes/projects?

Scope and approach

The paper should provide clear value-added over already existing research into the donor’s foreign aid activities. References should be documents and evaluations from the various agencies within the donor’s government that are involved in foreign aid, and include interviews with key officials. It is essential that this case study go beyond the general overviews of the donor’s foreign aid already publicly available.

Outputs and timing

The final output should be no longer than 4,000 words, plus an executive summary and a full list of references. The researcher will work closely with the GMR to ensure that the final version will be suitable for the purpose required.

Indicative timing: final version of the paper expected by early June 2011