RFI- Post-Pandemic Equitable Education.pdf

NOTICE TYPE: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

PROGRAM NAME: LAC Regional Support for Post-Pandemic Equitable Education

RFI ISSUANCE DATE: September 29th, 2023

SUBMISSION CLOSING DATE AND TIME: October 29th, 2023, at 4PM EST

TO: ALL INTERESTED PARTIES

The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Bureau is seeking public comments and feedback to assist with its design of a new regional basic education activity.

This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a Request for Applications (RFA), Annual Program Statement (APS), Request for Proposals (RFP) or any other type of funding opportunity. Responses to this RFI shall not be portrayed as concept papers or applications and will not be accepted by the U.S. Government (USG) to form a binding agreement. This RFI is not to be construed as a commitment by the USG to issue any funding opportunity, or ultimately Award a Contract or Assistance Agreement. At this time, a decision has not been finalized as to whether a new potential regional activity will be Acquisition or Assistance. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. USAID reserves the right to modify the RFI. This RFI is issued solely for planning purposes. Please review attachment one (1) for instructions.

This RFI offers the opportunity for individuals and organizations to provide the USAID/LAC Bureau with context, data, and recommendations specific to the questions asked in this RFI. This RFI is open for comments from any interested U.S. and/or Non-U.S. organizations and universities. We especially encourage responses from organizations that are either run by or have direct experience working with one or more of the marginalized groups described below. USAID reserves the right to (or not to) incorporate any and all comments into a funding opportunity or ultimately an award. Additional information, if any, on this RFI will be posted on both SAM.Gov and Grants.Gov. Submitting a response to this RFI does not give respondents any advantage in applying for any future funding opportunities with USAID.

Thank you for your interest in this USAID initiative.

Sincerely, Ms. Ousay Wahaj Supervisory Contracting Officer

M/OAA/RM/A

INTRODUCTION:

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is the most unequal region in the world according to key socioeconomic measures.1 This socioeconomic inequality is also reflected in education systems. For example, in 21 countries across the LAC region, the richest 20 percent are five times as likely as the poorest 20 percent to complete upper secondary school.2 The World Bank3 notes that socioeconomic segregation continues to be associated with achievement gaps between schools; however, there are even larger gaps in learning outcomes within classrooms. In fact, 60 percent of the variation in learning outcomes measured in the Comparative and Explanatory Regional Study (ERCE), a LAC regional primary-grade learning assessment, is due to factors within classrooms.4 Therefore, efforts to increase access to quality education for marginalized groups should not only focus on where children and youth are, which remains important, but also what disadvantages exist within classrooms. Education stakeholders and policy makers must consider the identity, background, and ability of children and youth within classrooms.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the pre-existing educational inequities in LAC. Schools were closed in LAC for longer than anyone else in the world, at an average of two years, which is estimated to have set learning outcomes in the region back by ten years.5 Learning poverty, 10-year-old children who cannot read and understand a simple story,6 is projected to have increased from 51 to 79 to 81 percent of students (they provide a range since these are projections).7 The evidence suggests that children from more marginalized and vulnerable backgrounds, such as those living in poverty and rural areas, Indigenous children, and learners with disabilities, have been disproportionately affected by the learning losses because of limited access to internet, electricity, and other means of effective remote education during the pandemic.8 However, USAID commissioned an Education Trends study (attached) in 2022, which showed that more evidence is needed to fully understand the impact of COVID-19 on the education outcomes of marginalized groups.

Despite the gaps in disaggregated data for marginalized and vulnerable groups, it is clear that certain groups continue to face deep educational disadvantages that are now (post-Pandemic) even more of an emergency. Table 1, below, provides an illustrative list of educationally marginalized and disadvantaged groups in LAC, developed from a preliminary review of sources from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 1 UNESCO (2020). Global education monitoring report, Latin America and the Caribbean:

https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000374790 2 ibid 3 Ramirez, et al. (2021). “Latin American classrooms face a learning crisis,” World Bank Blogs:

https://blogs.worldbank.org/latinamerica/latin-american-classrooms-face-learning-crisis 4 ibid 5 World Bank, UNICEF, UNESCO (2022). Two Years After: Saving a Generation;

https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099512306222222251/pdf/IDU00d6b64030a55e0423b0913 f0f2ef3f764417.pdf 6 Learning poverty is defined as the percentage of 10-year-old children who cannot read and understand a simple story.

7 Saavedra et. al., (2022). The State of Global Learning Poverty:

https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/e52f55322528903b27f1b7e61238e416- 0200022022/original/Learning-poverty-report-2022-06-21-final-V7-0-conferenceEdition.pdf 8 World Bank, UNICEF, UNESCO (2022). Two Years After: Saving a Generation.

https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000374790 https://blogs.worldbank.org/latinamerica/latin-american-classrooms-face-learning-crisis https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099512306222222251/pdf/IDU00d6b64030a55e0423b0913f0f2ef3f764417.pdf https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099512306222222251/pdf/IDU00d6b64030a55e0423b0913f0f2ef3f764417.pdf https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/e52f55322528903b27f1b7e61238e416-0200022022/original/Learning-poverty-report-2022-06-21-final-V7-0-conferenceEdition.pdf https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/e52f55322528903b27f1b7e61238e416-0200022022/original/Learning-poverty-report-2022-06-21-final-V7-0-conferenceEdition.pdf

USAID, and the World Bank, among other organizations. While not all reports highlight each of the below groups, each is mentioned in at least two reports. One reason there is so much variation in highlighted groups is that some reports look at each of the groups that tend to have been marginalized and not supported by mainstream institutions while others identify disadvantages that exist across many of these groups, such as low socioeconomic status. Also, as discussed, very little data exists on many of these groups because reporting has not always been sufficiently disaggregated, which makes it difficult for organizations writing reports to find rigorous data on many of these groups.

Table 1: Illustrative list of educationally marginalized and disadvantaged groups in LAC

Group Data

Migrants, refugees, internally displaced children and youth, and children and youth affected by violence

Migrants, refugees, and others who are displaced are often less likely to attend school and access a quality education. Also, according to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), internally displaced girls are less than half as likely as boys to attend secondary school. Further, according to a needs assessment in Colombia conducted in 2021, 25 percent of children (ages 6-17) from Venezuelan refugee and migrant households were not enrolled in school.9

Children and youth with disabilities (physical, mental, intellectual, sensory, or developmental)

UNICEF reports that the estimated 19.1 million children with disabilities in LAC are 49 percent more likely to never have attended school than their peers. The same report states that learners with disabilities are 42 percent less likely to attain foundational reading and numeracy skills.10

Indigenous and Afro-descendant children and youth

According to UNDP, Indigenous peoples in LAC are the group with the least access to education.11 In Brazil, for instance, less than 1 percent of the Indigenous population has access to higher education, 2.1 percent to secondary school and 20.5 percent to primary education in communities. Chances for indigenous children to get an education also vary by gender, with 60 percent of indigenous girls in Guatemala having dropped out of school by age 14, compared to only 40 percent of boys. In Paraguay and Honduras, 32 percent of Indigenous people are illiterate. Afro-descendants were 14 percent less likely in Peru and 24 percent less likely in Uruguay than non-Afro-descendants to complete secondary education in 2015.12

9 USAID (2022). A Summary of Education Trends in Latin America and the Caribbean:

https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00ZK72.pdf 10 UNICEF (2021). Seen, Counted, Included: Using data to shed light on the well-being of children with disabilities report. https://data.unicef.org/resources/children-with-disabilities-report-2021/ 11 De Dios (2020). “The situation of Latin America’s indigenous population and the impact of COVID-19,” UNDP: https://www.undp.org/latin-america/blog/situation-latin-america%E2%80%99s-indigenous-population-and-impact-covid-19 12 UNESCO (2020). Global education monitoring report, Latin America and the Caribbean.

https://www.unhcr.org/herturn/ https://www.unhcr.org/herturn/ https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00ZK72.pdf https://data.unicef.org/resources/children-with-disabilities-report-2021/ https://www.undp.org/latin-america/blog/situation-latin-america%E2%80%99s-indigenous-population-and-impact-covid-19 https://www.undp.org/latin-america/blog/situation-latin-america%E2%80%99s-indigenous-population-and-impact-covid-19

Children and youth who do not use the language of school instruction at home

The 2020 Global Education Monitoring report showed, “In grade 3, students who spoke their country’s majority language at home were three times more likely to read with comprehension than their peers who did not.”13

Children and youth from marginalized gender groups

In many LAC countries with available information, more girls tend to complete primary education than boys, except for Ecuador and Guatemala, where disparities favor boys. According to UNESCO, ECLAC, and UNICEF, only 47 percent of boys in LAC achieved minimum proficiency in reading in 2018, compared to 55 percent of girls.14

Women and girls in early and forced marriages or with early/unplanned pregnancies

In countries in LAC where this has been measured, a report by FCDO shows that girls who marry or become pregnant early are about 37 percentage points less likely to graduate from secondary school.15 And, in Guatemala, a full 30 percent of girls marry or become pregnant before the age of 18.

LGBTQI+ youth Researchers from San Andres and Arizona State University16 showed that about 17 percent of LGBTQI+ youth drop out of school due to the effects of bullying, while others face inherent challenges to completing their education.

Children and youth from or living in rural areas

Much data shows that rural children are less likely to access quality education than urban children. Preliminary data from USAID’s LAC Inclusive Education Landscape Assessment (to be published soon) showed that in Haiti, for instance, primary-grade students from rural communities are 14 percentage points less likely to enroll in school than their urban peers. Only 31 percent of children and youth in LAC from rural areas achieved minimum proficiency in reading in 2018, compared to 54 percent of their urban peers.17

Children and youth from homes or communities with lower socio-economic statuses

Children and youth in LAC from the richest 20 percent of households are five times more likely to complete secondary school than those from the poorest 20 percent of households.18 Only 19 percent of children and youth in LAC from the lowest ⅕ of

13 UNESCO (2020). Global education monitoring report, Latin America and the Caribbean.

14 UNESCO, ECLAC, UNICEF (2022). Education in Latin America and the Caribbean at a crossroads:

https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/48154/3/S2200833_en.pdf 15 Birchall (2018). Early marriage, pregnancy and girl child school dropout, K4D Helpdesk, 2018, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c6ac30440f0b61a1afc3f7c/470_Early_Marriage_Pregnan cy_and_School_Dropout.pdf 16 Barrientos Delgado, et al. (2021). Derecho a la Educación e Inclusión Escolar de Jóvenes LGBT+ en América Latina y el Caribe, Universidad de San Andrés and Arizona State University, 2021, https://epaa.asu.edu/index.php/epaa/article/view/7256/2721 17 UNESCO, ECLAC, UNICEF (2022). Education in Latin America and the Caribbean at a crossroads.

18 UNESCO (2020). Global education monitoring report, Latin America and the Caribbean.

https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/48154/3/S2200833_en.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c6ac30440f0b61a1afc3f7c/470_Early_Marriage_Pregnancy_and_School_Dropout.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c6ac30440f0b61a1afc3f7c/470_Early_Marriage_Pregnancy_and_School_Dropout.pdf https://epaa.asu.edu/index.php/epaa/article/view/7256/2721 the socio-economic status (SES) spectrum achieved minimum proficiency in reading in 2018, compared to 75 percent of their peers from the highest ⅕ of the SES spectrum.19

Donors and government agencies have much more work to do to understand the barriers to access and quality of education for learners from marginalized backgrounds as well as the impact of COVID-19 on these groups, and there is a great need to find solutions to address these barriers and gaps in the LAC region. Thereby, through this RFI, USAID/LAC seeks more information about current challenges and solutions aimed at guaranteeing high-quality supplementary education for those who are most in need.

This information is crucial to support the planning of a potentially new regional program that might have an impact on ensuring more inclusive and equitable access to quality education.

Respondents are encouraged to review questions below and include answers to the most relevant questions in their submissions. Respondents do not need to respond to all listed questions below.

QUESTIONS:

USAID/LAC is interested in learning what gaps and promising interventions are identified by local and international donors, non-governmental organizations, private sector entities, universities, and think tanks to ensure inclusive and equitable access to quality education, especially for those marginalized and vulnerable groups described (Table 1, above).

USAID seeks interested parties’ responses to one or more of the questions that address gaps and promising interventions for one or more of the above groups. USAID also asks that interested parties respond based on the countries and contexts in which they have direct experience and in relation to populations with which they have direct experience.

1. Missing groups: Which, if any, distinct groups, or demographics might have been excluded from (and not necessarily encompassed by) the list of marginalized groups (Table 1) in the LAC region that do not have equitable access to quality education? Please explain.

1. Gaps in access: What promising work have you observed in LAC or other regions to help address gaps in inclusive and equitable access to pre-primary, primary, and secondary education for marginalized and vulnerable groups?

2. Gaps in learning quality: What promising work have you observed to help address gaps in the inclusive and equitable quality (demonstrable learning levels) of pre-primary, primary, and secondary education for marginalized and vulnerable groups?

3. Promising interventions: What positive or promising models of inclusive and equitable education, both in terms of access and quality of education, have you observed in particular schools, communities, and/or countries that might be scaled or replicated? What additional comments do you have regarding promising interventions for addressing gaps in access and quality of education for marginalized and vulnerable groups?

4. Donor landscape: What other (non-USAID) donors, such as multilateral organizations and private or philanthropic foundations, are leading the way in the inclusive and equitable education space? What interesting/promising work are they doing, for what levels of education, and where?

19 UNESCO, ECLAC, UNICEF (2022). Education in Latin America and the Caribbean at a crossroads.

5. Local organizations landscape: What local nonprofit, private, and/or government organizations do you think are doing interesting work in the inclusive and equitable education space? What promising work are they doing? What capacity gaps/needs do local organizations have that might limit the impact of their work?

6. Role of technology: What role should technology play in ensuring inclusive and equitable access to quality education, particularly for marginalized and vulnerable groups? What promising technologies or technological interventions have you seen working in the inclusive and equitable education space?

7. Prioritization: Given limited resources, what gaps/barriers to inclusive and quality education for particular groups would you prioritize and why (please share your criteria for prioritization such as need, easy wins, existing momentum, etc.)? Please be sure to list the context(s)/country(ies) you are referencing in your response.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: :

● A Summary of Education Trends in Latin America and the Caribbean (USAID, 2022):

Attachment One (1) – Submission Instructions/Response Format

Interested parties should be responses to Ms. Hannah Weatherford at hweatherford@usaid.gov and Mr. Sayed Wasim at swasim@usaid.gov no later than the date specified in this letter.

On the subject line of your email, kindly state the following: RFI – Post-Pandemic Equitable Education [name of your organization]. You will receive an electronic confirmation acknowledging receipt of your response, but you will not receive individualized feedback.

Submission must be in Microsoft Word format or a PDF document as a single email attachment. Please use 12-point Calibri font or similar size typeset, 8.5 inch by 11-inch paper, and single-spaced pages for all narrative documents, with each page numbered consecutively with a maximum of eight (8) pages, including any tables, annexes, or references. There is no guarantee that any excess pages will be reviewed.

Please do not submit applications, proposals, or resumes, as they will be discarded. Responses will be held confidential; however, USAID may use any information provided without incurring any obligation.

USAID reserves the right to incorporate any or all comments into a new solicitation document.

Proprietary information should not be sent.

RFI is distributed for industry (those working on or supporting equitable education in LAC) to questions outlined in the attached document. In particular, please consider the following:

● Ensure that comments are concise and reference specific questions in the RFI.

● Responses to the RFI should not exceed eight (8) pages in total.

● Responses may be submitted in English or Spanish.

● Responses must not include sensitive or proprietary information.

● USAID is not seeking corporate, academic, or nonprofit capabilities’ statements or a description of past performance. Please do not submit these items.

● USAID is not seeking technical or cost proposals/applications at this time. Do not submit a proposal or application in response to this RFI; do not submit a full application as these will be discarded. Proprietary information should not be sent or shared.

● USAID is most interested in learning about relevant work in /stakeholders and evidence from LAC countries with an active USAID Mission. These countries include: Barbados (and selected Organization of Eastern Caribbean State member countries), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Paraguay.

mailto:swasim@usaid.gov