SOL-620-14-000012.rtf.pdf

Date Issued: August 15, 2014 Questions due Date & Time: August 26, 2014 16:00 (Local Nigeria Time (GMT +1)) Closing Date: September 10, 2014 Closing Time: 16:00 (Local Nigeria Time (GMT +1))

Subject: Request for Proposals (RFP) SOL-620-14-000012

Northern Education Initiative Plus (NEI+) Activity

Dear Prospective Offerors:

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking proposals from qualified organizations interested in providing technical services under the Northern Education Initiative Activity for USAID/Nigeria’s Investing in People, Education (IIP-EDU) Office as described in the attached solicitation.

USAID/Nigeria intends to award a Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) completion type contract for a period of five (5) years from the date of award at an estimated cost not to exceed $120 million.

Revealing the estimated cost for the contract does not mean that Offerors should necessarily strive to meet the maximum amount estimated. Offerors must propose costs that are realistic and reasonable for the work described in Section C of this solicitation. The Procurement will be conducted, pursuant to Part 15 of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) (48 CFR Chapter

1) and the selection for award will be determined using the best value continuum pursuant to FAR Part 15.101.

This solicitation is structured in accordance with the Uniform Contract Format required by the FAR and is open to all qualified Offerors - U.S. and non-U.S. entities including private voluntary organizations, universities, research organizations and professional associations. USAID encourages participation to the maximum extent possible of small business concerns, small disadvantaged business concerns and women-owned small business concerns in this activity as prime contractor or as a subcontractor.

U.S. Agency for International Development Office of Acquisition & Assistance No. 1 Zambezi Crescent, Maitama, P.M.B. 519, Garki, Abuja.

Tel: +234-9-4619300 Fax +234-9-4619400 www.usaid.gov/ng http://www.usaid.gov/ng

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 541990

- All Other Professional, Scientific and Technical Services. The small business size standard is $7 million.

To facilitate a timely response, all questions and requests for clarification regarding this solicitation must be submitted electronically by the due date indicated above to the following E-mail: abujaeduprocurements@usaid.gov with a copy to asadiq@usaid.gov. If substantive questions are received which affect the response to the solicitation, or if changes are made to the closing date and time, as well as other aspects of the RFP, this solicitation will be amended. Any amendments to this solicitation will be issued and posted on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website. Offerors are encouraged to check this website (http://www.fbo.gov) periodically as acknowledgement of any such amendment is required to accompany the Offerors’s proposal.

The Offerors receiving this solicitation must make sure that it is downloaded in its entirety.

USAID bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from download or conversion processes.

You are advised to read this solicitation carefully. Pursuant to Block 12 of Standard Form 33 of this RFP, USAID requires that offers remain valid for 180 calendar days from the RFP closing date. Offerors’ proposals must be submitted as prescribed in Section L at the date and time provided in this cover letter. Proposals received after the closing date and time will be processed as late and handled in accordance with FAR 52.215-1.

Issuance of this solicitation does not in any way obligate the U.S. Government to award a contract nor does it commit the U.S. Government to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of a proposal. The Government reserves the right to reject any and all offers, if such action is considered to be in the best interest of the U.S. Government. Furthermore, USAID reserves the right to award the contract without discussions as stated in Section M.

USAID/Nigeria appreciates your interest in this program.

Sincerely, Geoffry Lohsl Contracting Officer

Attachment: SOL-620-14-000012 mailto:abujaeduprocurements@usaid.gov mailto:asadiq@usaid.gov http://www.fbo.gov/

1. THIS CONTRACT IS A RATED ORDER RATING PAGE OF PAGES

UNDER DPAS (15 CFR 700)

2. CONTRACT NUMBER 3. SOLICITATION NUMBER 4. TYPE OF SOLICITATION 5. DATE ISSUED 6. REQUISITION/PURCHASE NUMBER

SEALED BID (IFB)

NEGOTIATED (RFP)

7. ISSUED BY CODE 8. ADDRESS OFFER TO (If other than Item 7)

NOTE: In sealed bid solicitations "offer" and "offeror" mean "bid" and "bidder".

9. Sealed offers in original and _____________________________ copies for furnishing the supplies or services in the Schedule will be received at the place specified in Item 8, or if handcarried, in the depository located in until local time _______________________ (Hour) (Date)

CAUTION - LATE Submissions, Modifications, and Withdrawals: See Section L, Provision No. 52.214-7 or 52.215-1. All Offers are subject to all terms and conditions contained in this solicitation.

A. NAME B. TELEPHONE (NO COLLECT CALLS) C. E-MAIL ADDRESS

AREA CODE NUMBER EXT.

(X) SEC. DESCRIPTION PAGE(S) (X) SEC. DESCRIPTION PAGE(S)

PART I - THE SCHEDULE PART II - CONTRACT CLAUSES

A SOLICITATION/CONTRACT FORM I CONTRACT CLAUSES

B SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICES/COSTS PART III - LIST OF DOCUMENTS, EXHIBITS AND OTHER ATTACH.

C DESCRIPTION/SPECS./WORK STATEMENT J LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

D PACKAGING AND MARKING PART IV - REPRESENTATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS

E INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

F DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE

G CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA L INSTR., CONDS., AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS

H SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS M EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

K REPRESENTATIONS, CERTIFICATIONS AND OTHER

STATEMENTS OF OFFERORS

NOTE: Item 12 does not apply if the solicitation includes the provisions at 52.214-16, Minimum Bid Acceptance Period.

12. In compliance with the above, the undersigned agrees, if this offer is accepted within 180 (calendar days unless a different period is inserted by the offeror) from the date for receipt of offers specified above, to furnish any or all items upon which prices are offered at the price set opposite each item , delivered at the designated point(s), within the time specified in the schedule.

13. DISCOUNT FOR PROMPT PAYMENT 10 CALENDAR DAYS (%) 20 CALENDAR DAYS (%) 30 CALENDAR DAYS (%) CALENDAR DAYS (%) (See Section I, Clause No. 52-232-8)

14. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF AMENDMENTS AMENDMENT NO. DATE AMENDMENT NO. DATE

(The offeror acknowledges receipt of amendments to the SOLICITATION for offerors and related documents numbered and dated:

CODE FACILITY 16. NAME AND TITLE OF PERSON AUTHORIZED TO SIGN OFFER 15A. NAME AND

ADDRESS

OF OFFEROR

(Type or print)

15B. TELEPHONE NUMBER 17. SIGNATURE 18. OFFER DATE

AREA CODE NUMBER EXT. 15C. CHECK IF REMITTANCE ADDRESS IS DIFFERENT FROM

ABOVE - ENTER SUCH ADDRESS IN SCHEDULE

19. ACCEPTED AS TO ITEMS NUMBERED 20. AMOUNT 21. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION

22. AUTHORITY FOR USING OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION: 23. SUBMIT INVOICES TO ADDRESS SHOWN IN ITEM (4 copies unless otherwise specified)

10 U.S.C. 2304(a) ( ) 41 U.S.C. 253(c) ( )

24. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 7) 25. PAYMENT WILL BE MADE BY CODE CODE

26. NAME OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print) 27. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 28. AWARD DATE

IMPORTANT - Award will be made on this Form, or on Standard Form 26, or by other authorized official written notice.

(Signature of Contracting Officer)

(REV. 9-97)

10. FOR INFORMATION CALL:

11. TABLE OF CONTENTS

STANDARD FORM 33

SOLICITATION, OFFER AND AWARD

SOLICITATION

OFFER (Must be fully completed by offeror)

AWARD (To be completed by Government)

1 139

SOL-620-14-000012

X

August 15, 2014

USAID/NIGERIA

OFFICE OF ACQUISITION AND ASSISTANCE

C/O U.S. EMBASSY, PLOT 1075 DIPLOMATIC DRIVE

CENTRAL DISTRICT, PMB 5760

ABUJA, NIGERIA

See Section L

See Section L See Cover Page See Cover Page

See cover letter

See Attached Table of Contents

X 3

X 7-11

X 12-41

X 42-43

X 44

X 45-63

X 64-68

X 69-83

X 84-92

X 93-94

X 95-110

X 111-133

X 134-138

$.00 See Section G.7

See Section G.5

Contracting Officer

//original form signed by// Geoffry Lohsl

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

ACF Action Contre la Faim (ACF) ADS Automated Directive System ALP Alternative/Accelerated Learning Program AWP Annual Work Plan CBO Community Based Organization CDCS Country Development Cooperation Strategy COE College of Education COMPASS Community Participation for Action in the Social Sector CO Contracting Officer COP Chief of Party COR Contracting Officer’s Representative CPFF Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee CRS Catholic Relief Services CSO Civil Society Organization CV Curricula Vitae DFID Department for International Development/UK DUNS Data Universal Numbering System EGRA Early Grade Reading Assessment EMIS Education Management Information System ERRI Education Risk Reduction Index ESSPIN Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria FAF Foreign Assistance Framework FAR Federal Acquisitions Regulation FAO Food and Agriculture Organization FMOE Federal Ministry of Education FOG Fixed Obligation Grant GEP Girls’ Education Project (DFID) GON Government of Nigeria GPE Global Partnership in Education GUC Grants under Contract HG Host Government IASC Inter-Agency Standing Committee ICT Information and Communication Technology IDP Internally Displaced Person/People IEE Initial Environmental Examination of USAID INEE International Network for Education in Emergencies IOM International Organization for Migration IQTE Islamiyya, Qu’ranic and Tsangaya Education LEAD Leadership, Empowerment, Attitude, Development Program LEAP Literacy Enhancement Assistance Program LGEA Local Government Education Authority M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MDG Millennium Development Goal MTSS Mid-Term Sector Strategy

USAID/Nigeria RFP SOL-620-14-000012 Northern Education Initiative Plus (NEI+) Activity

NAR Net Attendance Ratio NBS Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics NCCE National Council for Colleges of Education NEDS Nigeria Education Data Survey NEI Northern Education Initiative NEI+ Northern Education Initiative Plus NEMIS National Education Management Information System NERC Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council NFE Non-Formal Education NFLC Non-Formal Learning Centers NGO Non-Governmental Organization NICRA Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement OFDA Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance OMB Office of Management and Budget OOS Out-of-School OOSC Out-of-School Children PII Personally Identifiable Information PIO Public International Organizations PMP Performance Monitoring Plan of USAID PPR Performance Plan and Report PTA Parent Teacher Associations PWD Persons with Disabilities RARA Reading and Access Research Activity RFP Request for Proposals RTL Room to Learn SAME State Agency for Mass Education SART Secondary Analysis Results Tracking SBMC School-Based Management Committee SEA State Education Account SEMA State Emergency Management Agency SESOP State Education Sector Operational Plan SHARE Support to Vulnerable Households for Accelerated Revenue Earnings SMOE State Ministry of Education SOE State(s) of Emergency SOW Statement of Work SSI Safe Schools Initiative SUBEB State Universal Basic Education Board TDP Teacher Development Program (DFID) TEC Technical Evaluation Committee TLM Teaching and Learning Materials TOR Terms of Reference UBEC Universal Basic Education Commission UNDP United Nations Development Program UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNFPA United Nations Populations Fund UNHCR United Nations High Commission for Refugees

UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund USAID United States Agency for International Development USG United States Government

PART I - THE SCHEDULE

SECTION B - SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICE/COSTS

B.1 PURPOSE

The purpose of this contract is to provide technical services that fall within the scope of work specified in Section C – Description/Specification/Statement of Work for the Northern Education Initiative Plus (NEI+) Activity.

B.2 CONTRACT TYPE AND SERVICES

This is a Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) completion-type Contract in accordance with FAR 16.306(d). The Contractor must provide the deliverables described in Section C and the additional requirements of Section F and H in accordance with the performance standards specified herein.

B.3 ESTIMATED COST, FIXED FEE, AND OBLIGATED AMOUNT

In accordance with FAR Part 52.232-22 - Limitation of Funds:

(a) The estimated cost for the performance of the work required hereunder, exclusive of fixed fee, if any, is TBD. The fixed fee, if any, is TBD. The estimated cost plus fixed fee, if any, is

TBD.

(b) Contract Cost/Fee

CLIN DESCRIPTION

YEAR 1

YEAR 2

YEAR 3

YEAR 4

YEAR 5

TOTAL

001 Implementation of the NEI+ program

002 Grants under contract $8,000,000.00

Total Estimated Cost Fixed Fee (if any) Total plus fixed fee (if any)

(c) Within the estimated cost plus fixed fee (if any) specified in paragraph (a) above, the amount currently obligated and available for reimbursement of allowable costs incurred by the Contractor (and payment of fee, if any) for performance hereunder is TBD. The Contractor must not exceed the aforesaid obligated amount.

(d) Funds obligated hereunder are anticipated to be sufficient through o/a TBD.

B.4 INDIRECT COSTS

Pending establishment of revised provisional or final indirect cost rates, allowable indirect costs will be reimbursed on the basis of the following negotiated provisional or predetermined rates and the appropriate bases:

For Prime Contractor:

Description Rate Base Type Period

1/ 1/ 1/ 2/ 2/ 2/ 3/ 3/ 3/

1/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

2/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

3/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

Source:

For Major Subcontractors*

Description Rate Base Type Period

1/ 1/ 1/ 2/ 2/ 2/ 3/ 3/ 3/

1/Base of Application:

Period:

2/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

3/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

Source:

Note 1: Contractors may recover applicable indirect costs (i.e., overhead, G&A, etc.) if it is part of the contractor's usual accounting procedures, consistent with FAR Part 31, and Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA).

Note 2: While Subcontractor indirect cost rates are not incorporated above, subcontractor indirect cost rates as indicated in Note 1 above may be included in the proposals, and are subject to Contracting Officer’s approval in accordance with FAR 52.244-2, Subcontracts.

*“major subcontractors” are subcontractors whose proposed costs exceed 20% of the Offeror’s proposed total cost or perform a key element of the scope of work.

B.5 ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING ON CEILING INDIRECT COST RATES AND

FINAL REIMBURSEMENT FOR INDIRECT COSTS

(To be filled in at award) Reimbursement for indirect costs will be at the lower of the negotiated final or predetermined rates, or the following ceiling rates:

For Prime Contractor:

Description Rate Base Type Period

1/ 1/ 1/ 2/ 2/ 2/ 3/ 3/ 3/

1/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

2/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

3/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

Source:

For Major Subcontractors*

Description Rate Base Type Period

1/ 1/ 1/ 2/ 2/ 2/ 3/ 3/ 3/

1/Base of Application:

Period:

2/Base of Application:

Period:

3/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

(a) *“major subcontractors” are subcontractors whose proposed costs exceed 20% of the Offeror’s proposed total cost or perform a key element of the scope of work.

(b) The Government will not be obligated to pay any additional amount should the final indirect cost rates exceed the negotiated ceiling rates. If the final indirect cost rates are less than the negotiated ceiling rates, the negotiated rates will be reduced to conform to the lower rates.

(c) This understanding will not change any monetary ceiling, obligation, or specific cost allowance or disallowance. Any changes in classifying or allocating indirect costs require the prior written approval of the Contracting Officer.

B.6 COST REIMBURSABLE

The U.S. dollar costs allowable will be limited to reasonable, allocable and necessary costs determined in accordance with FAR 31 (Contract Cost Principles), A-21 (Cost Principles for Educational Institutions), A-122 (Cost Principles for Non-Profit Organizations), FAR 52.216- 7 (Allowable Cost and Payment), FAR 52.216-8 (Fixed Fee) if applicable, and AIDAR 752.7003 (Documentation for Payment), may be reimbursable under this contract.

B.7 PAYMENT OF FIXED FEE – FAR 52.216-8 (JUN 2011)

(a) The Government will pay the Contractor for performing this contract the fixed fee specified in the Schedule.

(b) Payment of the fixed fee shall be made as specified in the Schedule; provided that the Contracting Officer withholds a reserve not to exceed 15 percent of the total fixed fee or $100,000, whichever is less, to protect the Government’s interest. The Contracting Officer shall release 75 percent of all fee withholds under this contract after receipt of an adequate certified final indirect cost rate proposal covering the year of physical completion of this contract, provided the Contractor has satisfied all other contract terms and conditions, including the submission of the final patent and royalty reports, and is not delinquent in submitting final vouchers on prior years’ settlements. The Contracting Officer may release up to 90 percent of the fee withholds under this contract based on the Contractor’s past performance related to the submission and settlement of final indirect cost rate proposals.

B.8 MULTI-YEAR CONTRACT

This contract is a non-severable, multi-year contract as defined in FAR 17.103. Therefore, this contract is subject to the requirements of FAR 17.106.

Cancellation Dates:

Contract Year 2: xxxxxx, 2015 Contract Year 3: xxxxxx, 2016 Contract Year 4: xxxxxx, 2017 Contract Year 5: xxxxxx, 2018

Cancellation Ceilings:

Contract Year 2: xxxxxx, 2015: Amount - TBD Contract Year 3: xxxxxx, 2016: Amount - TBD Contract Year 4: xxxxxx, 2017: Amount - TBD Contract Year 5: xxxxxx, 2018: Amount - TBD

This is a CPFF completion type contract where the contractor is authorized to be reimbursed for all costs which are allowable in accordance with FAR 52.216-7, “Allowable Costs and Payment”. Therefore, the contractor is expected not to incur any costs which would have been amortized over the life of the contract should the contract be cancelled in accordance with FAR 52.217-2. Therefore, the cancellation ceiling for each cancellation date is (TBD at time of award).

- END OF SECTION B –

SECTION C - DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK

Northern Education Inititative Plus (NEI+) Activity

C.1 BACKGROUND

C.1.1 CONTEXT FOR USAID ASSISTANCE

USAID’s global mission is to partner to end extreme poverty, and promote resilient, democratic societies, while advancing the United States’ security and prosperity. The end of extreme poverty, and the creation of a resilient, democratic Nigerian society that will partner with the United States Government (USG) on issues of global security and prosperity, is critically important to the United States. The US and Nigeria share extensive economic interests, represented by the $8.1 billion dollars of US foreign direct investment in Nigeria in 2012 and the $11.6 billion dollars of Nigerian crude oil that the US imported in 2013 (Office of the US Trade Representative, March, 2014). This highly profitable bilateral trading relationship will only be strengthened by the ascension of growing numbers of Nigerians out of extreme poverty and into the middle class. For this reason, USAID/Nigeria’s draft Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) targets the reduction of extreme poverty and the creation of a stable Nigeria via improved governance in health, economic growth, and education.

Education has been shown to reduce poverty, to promote peace and to increase economic prosperity. According to the World Bank, each additional year of education raises lifetime earnings by approximately 10 percent.1 These gains underpin the critical role of education in achieving a healthy labor force, increasing productivity, eradicating extreme poverty, building social cohesion, and reinforcing the resilience of vulnerable communities. Because of these important links to other powerful drivers of development, USAID considers educational investments as “dynamic and transformational levers of change (USAID Education Strategy, 2011-2015).” USAID’s Education Strategy describes the precise goals that USAID seeks to achieve through its worldwide funding in the sector: improving reading skills for 100 million children in the primary grades (Goal 1), improving the ability of tertiary and workforce development programs to produce a workforce with relevant skills (Goal 2), and increasing equitable access to education in crisis and conflict environments for 15 million learners (Goal 3).

The Government of Nigeria (GON) recognizes that improvements in the country’s education systems are essential for the country’s long-term prosperity and stability. At the June 2014 replenishment conference of the Global Partnership in Education (GPE), the Minister of Education’s representative declared that the GON was undertaking a “transformation agenda in the education sector, focusing mainly on access and equity, and standards and quality assurance.”

According to the Nigerian delegation’s statements at that conference, Nigeria “has consistently increased the budgetary allocations to education every year since 2011,” and will “annually increase its investments in the sector.”

1 Hanushek, Eric A. and Wossmann, L. The Role of Education Quality in Economic Growth, Working Paper 4122, Policy Research, World Bank (2007).

The context of persistent conflicts and insecurity and the relationship that this has with education is fundamental to the program. The current crisis is both a consequence of chronic fragility and a driver of conflict. It is important to understand that while the current crisis is acute and highly destructive, it is rooted in deep issues that have been constant drivers of violence and exclusion in Nigeria and particularly in the North. The fragility of the larger Nigerian context has been analyzed and was briefly expressed by former justice minister Prince Bola Ajibola as the intertwining of three key factors: “religion, politics and ethnicity and the three are beclouded with corruption, poverty and insecurity. It is therefore difficult to solve one without considering all other underpinning factors.” The main conflict factors that interface with education in Nigeria are well known. They include: poverty, inequity in the distribution of and access to basic services; exclusion based on geographic, religious, ethnic, gender or other types of identity;

corruption in governance and management; discourses and acts of violence and intolerance. All these factors have shaped the education system in Nigeria and altered access to and quality and delivery of education. The on-going crisis further exacerbates these chronic factors thus threatening equitable improvements in education.

USAID’s Northern Education Initiative Plus (NEI+) activity will serve the broader goals of the USG-GON partnership and further the implementation of both USAID’s and the GON’s education strategies. NEI+ will take an integrated approach by working with and through the systems of select states and local government education authorities (LGEAs) to increase equitable access to education and to improve students’ reading outcomes. Nigeria is one of USAID’s Room to Learn focus countries, therefore NEI+ will contribute to agency wide efforts to accelerate equitable access. The NEI+ activity values the work to increase equitable access to education and to improve reading outcomes for children in the early grades equally in an integrated way. By assisting partner states and LGEAs to structure both formal and non-formal learning opportunities that result in measurable improvements in access and reading, NEI+ will:

(1) advance the implementation of the basic education goals of USAID’s Education Strategy, (2) strengthen the systems and processes of the cooperating states and LGEAs specifically for service delivery in access and reading, and (3) provide children in the target areas with the learning outcomes that will lift them out of abject poverty and prepare them to participate as youth and adults in a democratic society. In so doing, NEI+’s investments will catalyze measurable educational gains that will contribute in the long run to enhancing the stability and productivity of the US-Nigeria bilateral partnership.

C.1.2 KEY EDUCATION CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS TO BE ADDRESSED

Nigeria faces challenges in its education sector that threaten to undermine its current and future progress as a leader on the world stage. UNICEF estimates that over 10 million Nigerian children, the equivalent of one-third of the country’s primary school-aged population, are out of school, making Nigeria the country with the largest number of out-of-school children (OOSC) in the world.

In November of 2012, the Department for International Development (DFID) reported that a third of eligible children in ten northern states, a total of 3.7 million boys and girls in the DFID program area alone, (and more than a third of the national total of OOSC), remained out of school. These results are consonant with those from the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics

(NBS). In 2011, the NBS reported an average Net Attendance Ratio (NAR)2 for the northern states of 38.3 percent, meaning that an astounding 61.7 percent of the total number of children in the north of official primary school age were not attending public school at the time of the survey 3 . In recent years, the activities of the Boko Haram insurgency, and the resulting displacements of populations, have contributed to the unacceptably low levels of access to education in Northern Nigeria.

Compounding the challenges in education are unacceptable levels of inequality due to a lack of progress on narrowing educational gaps according wealth, gender, ethnicity and location. The World Inequality Database on Education reports that major education indicators in Bauchi and Sokoto are all well below the national average. For example, 56 percent of children in Bauchi and 48 percent in Sokoto have never been to school, compared to the national average of 21 percent. Similarly, primary completion rates in Bauchi and Sokoto are 30 percent and 41 percent, respectively, with the national average at 75 percent. Ensuring effective conflict-sensitive approaches in education will be key4.

Learning outcomes for those who do attend school are notoriously poor; the Nigeria 2010 Nigeria Education Data Survey (NEDS) survey reported that in every state except Lagos, over half of children aged five to 16 surveyed could not read a simple sentence, even when that sentence was written in a language that the child had been speaking since birth. When the available data on school access and school quality are examined together, it is fair to say that Nigeria is suffering from a learning crisis that must be resolved to bolster the nation’s long-term development prospects.

This learning crisis is particularly acute in the northern states of the federation, where poverty, beliefs about schooling, gender roles, sector governance challenges, and insecurity intersect to drive down attendance in formal schools, and to eviscerate students’ chances of learning. Across the northeast of Nigeria, violence has caused extensive disruption to school routines for children of all ages.

Predictably, the same northern states with access and attendance rates much lower than those of their southern neighbors report learning outcomes well below the national average. The NBS reports illiteracy rates of youth and adults at 71.7 and 83.1 percent for the Northwest and Northeast of the country respectively, compared to 21.2 percent and 32.1 percent respectively for the Southwest and the Southeast. In 2013, USAID financed an Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) in Hausa and English in grades two and three in Bauchi and Sokoto states; a full 92 percent of the students tested could not read a single word in Hausa, their mother tongue, by the end of 2nd grade. USAID has financed EGRA testing in over 30 countries; Nigeria holds the dubious distinction of achieving one of the highest failure rates in reading that the agency has ever recorded.

2 UNICEF defines the NAR, or primary school net attendance ratio, as: The number of children attending primary or secondary school who are of official primary school age, expressed as a percentage of the total number of children of official primary school age.

3 Many children in the region at the time of this survey were likely to be attending some form of Qu’ranic schooling.

4 Ensure a ‘do no harm’ approach by minimizing negative impacts and maximizing positive impacts; understand the context in which the education program takes place; analyze the two-way relationship between conflict and education.

Increasing attention from the Nigerian government, and its partners and donors, to the interrelated challenges of access and reading has helped assemble data and information on the causes of these poor outcomes. On the demand side, poverty plays a considerable role. The NBS reported as “poor” between 70 and 92 percent of households surveyed in the north in 2011, with “poor” defined via a composite measure of health, education and training, social capital, and consumption behaviors. Many of these poor families face considerable economic barriers to placing their children in the fee-intensive, full-time school routine of public school. Beliefs about the importance of religious education, the relevance of education for girls, and about the relative degree of risk that a child in the north might encounter in attending school, also affect the demand side of the schooling equation in the northern context. For families unable or hesitant to enroll their children in formal school for any or all of these reasons, alternative, protected, profitable, pathways to strong learning outcomes in reading, numeracy, and life skills—pathways that Nigerian local government systems can sustain—are required to improve access to education.

On the supply side of the access and quality equation, and particularly in regard to reading instruction, causes of poor testing results in the north include: a lack of familiarity throughout the sector with recent research and breakthroughs in techniques for early grade reading, an absence of appropriate learning materials for early grade reading in all types of schools (public, Islamiyya, Qu’ranic and Tsangaya Education (IQTE), and non-formal], poor capacity amongst teacher trainers to prepare teachers and facilitators to teach early grade reading, insufficient monitoring of early grade reading instruction and outcomes, low levels of awareness among families and community members of the roles they can play to support better outcomes in early grade reading, and sclerotic resource management processes between the states and the local government education authorities (LGEA) that prevent the necessary financial and technical arrangements from being made at the LGEA level for service delivery in early grade reading. A holistic and evidence-based approach to improving early grade reading in both non-formal and formal contexts—an approach that can be owned and replicated by the Nigerian states and LGEAs—is necessary to begin to redress these supply-side challenges.

In addition to the demand and supply-side factors cited above, the state of the systems and processes that govern the annual disbursement and circulation of the national Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) funds is of particular concern. Under current law, UBEC receives approximately $450 million annually from the federal treasury for expenditures in basic education. Each state in the federation has a right to submit an annual requisition to UBEC for its portion of that money. Upon receipt of this requisition, UBEC is intended to disburse the requested amount to a state’s ministry of finance, and each state ministry of education and state universal basic education board (SUBEB) then have the right to submit plans and budgets to mobilize that money for the payment of inputs that will improve the quality of basic education.

In practice, however, the functioning of these budgeting and planning processes for the use of UBEC and state education funds has been highly variable, and in some areas, particularly in the north, few resources reach the school or community level. The ineffectiveness of education systems and procedures seems to be the root cause of this phenomenon. A mid-term evaluation of the NEI activity stated that “the enabling institutional environment in Nigeria has not been generally supportive of education. The bottleneck may be described as a lack of political will, reinforced by the general absence of the parental, caretaker, and community clout needed to effect change.” Sustainable change in reading and access in any of the NEI+ target localities is unlikely to result without particular attention to how the data collection and analysis, planning, and budgeting functions at the LGEA and state levels are structured to support the specific goals of increasing the number of children accessing learning and improving students’ ability to read.

Despite the significant challenges to increasing equitable access and teaching children to read in the early grades in Northern Nigeria, there is growing awareness amongst influential government actors of the importance of both of these goals and of the necessity of orienting greater human and financial resources towards achieving them. According to the GON’s application to the GPE, “Nigeria is currently working diligently to improve data collection strategies through the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) for more realistic, concrete, and measurable educational outcomes. Nigeria is also addressing the issue of capacity and quality of teachers through: teacher training, teacher professional learning, teacher placement and deployment, student-teacher ratio, and a much more effective teacher performance evaluation strategy.” In several states in the north, particularly in Bauchi and Sokoto where USAID has funded capacity-building efforts in the past, state ministries of education and SUBEBs are increasingly focusing on access and learning outcomes in the preparation of both their 10-year state education sector operational plans (SESOPs) and their annual mid-term sector strategies (MTSS). In the last four years, both Bauchi and Sokoto have produced, with assistance from the USAID-funded NEI activity, at least one State Education Account (SEA), which has served as a guide for future budgeting exercises by allowing the observation of trends and irregularities in expenditures from public, private, and donor sources. Likewise, in both Bauchi and Sokoto, USAID has supported improvements to the Education Management Information System (EMIS) that have linked the information available at the school and community levels to LGEA and state-level decision-making processes. The software and computer equipment that USAID has supplied in Bauchi and Sokoto now allow government representatives to verify the comparative needs of schools and to plan for improved materials distribution and teacher training efforts. A key objective of the NEI+ activity will be to orient the functioning of these government processes for the flow of sector information and resources towards the specific outcomes of increasing equitable access and achievement in early grade reading in a measurable way.

C.1.3 PRIOR USAID AND DONOR ASSISTANCE IN EDUCATION

USAID has a long history of supporting access to high-quality education that will achieve learning outcomes for students in Nigeria. Primary objectives of all USAID-funded work in the sector since 2002 have included working in close partnership with the state and local governments, increasing both access and learning, facilitating policy development in support of improved educational quality, building sustainable, data-driven systems for education management, and working with parents and civil society to increase educational outcomes.

Past USAID Activities: Successful past USAID/Nigeria activities have included:

• The LEAP (Literacy Enhancement Assistance Program) activity (2002-2004): A $12 million dollar initiative to improve the quality of English instruction, of information management and data sharing, and of parental and community involvement in education in Lagos, Nasarawa, and Kano states;

• The COMPASS (Community Participation for Action in the Social Sector) activity (2004-2009): A $81 million dollar initiative to expand participation, ownership, and use of healthcare and education sectors services to the community level in Bauchi, Lagos, Kano, and Nasarawa;

• Sesame Square (2008-2014): A $4.8 million dollar initiative to teach Nigerian children from all segments of society basic alphabet and numeral recognition, health and hygiene lessons, and self-confidence and self-esteem. Sesame Square is co-produced by Nigerian production house Ileke Media and the non-profit Sesame Workshop. Sesame Square content has been made available both on the Nigerian Television Authority and on the Worldreader mobile application.

• The NEI (Nigeria Northern Education Initiative) activity (2009-2014): A $20 million dollar initiative to address key issues in the management, sustainability, finance, and oversight of basic education in government schools, Almajiri schools, and alternative learning programs (ALPs) and Non-Formal Learning Centers (NFLCs) in Bauchi and Sokoto states.

• Under the EdData BPA, Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) administration in Bauchi and Sokoto (2013): 1881 pupils in Bauchi and 1674 pupils in Sokoto in grades 2 and 3 from both government and Tsangaya (Qu’ranic) schools participated. 92 percent of 2nd grader in each of the two states could not read a single word on the test, although the test was administered in the Hausa language, a language the vast majority of the children tested do speak and understand.

• USAID has supported work under the Nigeria Education Data Survey (NEDS) 2010, and is completing work to further analyze the data collected in order to develop additional State-specific reports, addressing specific educational issues in each of the States. The activity also supported the development capacity for data management at the Federal level.

Current USAID Sector Efforts: USAID considers Nigeria to be a key partner country, and is fully committed to assisting the country to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Recent USAID education activities have focused on the country’s less developed northern states, and have included:

• Under the EdData BPA, implementation of the RARA (Reading and Access Research Activity) activity in Bauchi and Sokoto (2014-2016): This activity will conduct research regarding the educational landscape in Northern Nigeria, contextualizing efforts to improve access and reading outcomes[SJM1] . These pieces of research include investigations of the barriers to school access, perceptions of school quality, and the context and functioning of Almajiri schools. The RARA activity will also conduct a randomized controlled trial of a proposed reading package of student lessons and teacher guides that USAID may take to scale in Northern Nigeria, depending on the pilot results. Results and products from RARA may be used to inform NEI+ interventions, but Offers are NOT required to use the results and products from RARA.

• LEAD (2009--2014): USAID, among other contributors, supports the Leadership, Empowerment, Attitude, Development (LEAD) Activity in Northern Nigeria. LEAD’s core goal is to harness, empower and engage the collective power of young people to address the development challenges they face. The Activity has three key components:

(1) Life Skills & Vocational Training, (2) Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution, and (3) the Save a Child Initiative. USAID contributes $7,991,075 annually to the activity, for an expected total funding level of $39,955,377. It is expected that USAID/Nigeria’s education section will make a one-time contribution of $3,000,000 to the LEAD activity.

• SHARE (2013-2018): The purpose of the Support to Vulnerable Households for Accelerated Revenue Earnings (SHARE) activity is to strengthen the participation of very poor households in rural economic growth and to improve their livelihoods, nutrition and health. SHARE employs a multi-sector approach that will help 42,000 households grow their agricultural production, incomes, and children (through improved nutrition), and help strengthen community and government systems to support these gains. The $20 million activity is being implemented in rural communities in Northwestern Nigeria and FCT Abuja by Catholic Relief Services (CRS). It is expected that USAID/Nigeria’s education section will make a one-time contribution of $3,000,000 to the SHARE activity.

• Support to the Operations of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) in the country (ongoing): USAID serves as the coordinating agency for GPE in Nigeria, convening partner meetings and facilitating the process of applying for GPE funds.

• Inclusion of Nigeria in the Room to Learn (RtL) agenda: RtL is a time-bound USAID education initiative with the goal of accelerating equitable access to quality education in six countries, of which Nigeria is one. With RtL, USAID has committed more than $250 million in basic education funding to six target countries from 2012 - 2015. This effort includes a close examination of USAID’s ongoing and planned programs for ways to improve and scale up partnership, innovation, reduce costs, and maximize impact.

C.2 PROGRAM DESCRIPTION, OBJECTIVES, AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES

C.2.1 PROGRAM TITLE

The working title of this activity, which is subject to change, is the Nigerian Education Initiative Plus (NEI+) Activity.

C.2.2 PROGRAM GOAL AND OBJECTIVES

The goal of NEI+ is: Quality of, and access to, education improved equitably and sustainably in Northern Nigeria. Within this goal USAID/Nigeria’s NEI+ activity will pursue the following objectives:

• Government systems strengthened to increase the number of students enrolled in appropriate, relevant and approved educational options, especially for girls and Almajiri children in target locations.

• Government systems strengthened to improve reading outcomes for primary grade learners in target locations.

Through this activity, USAID/Nigeria intends to focus support to education systems strengthening at the state and local government levels in two key areas, improved quality of early primary education and increased access to basic education for vulnerable populations. Improved quality in context is defined as improved reading skills in primary grades, thus strengthening the key skill needed by pupils to support learning in all other academic subjects. Increased access will provide additional supported opportunities for out-of-school (OOS) populations (especially vulnerable populations such as girls, physically handicapped, and Almajiri) to gain access to informal and formal education. Improved reading skills and access to education are equal in importance in this activity. Due to the difference in interventions required to achieve the results, the predominance of funding will support improved reading skills.

C.2.3 NEI+ ACTIVITY RESULTS FRAMEWORK

C.2.4 FOCAL STATES, TARGET AREAS, AND PARTNER INSTITUTIONS AND

PROGRAMS

USAID/Nigeria expects the NEI+ activity to operate in approximately four northern states. In order to leverage recent USAID efforts in systems strengthening and EMIS improvements, it is expected that NEI+ will continue to work in both Bauchi and Sokoto states. Consultations conducted with the Bauchi and Sokoto governments in preparation for this program/activity have indicated that the commissioners of education, representatives of the state ministries of education, and representatives of the SUBEBs are favorable to initiatives to improve both access and reading in their states. However, a pivotal concern is the two states’ leaderships’ political will toward sustainable education reform, especially after state-level elections in early 2015.

USAID will re-assess political will for education reform in these states and determine level of continuing support.

USAID requires that the Contractor propose criteria for the selection of additional states of operations in the north. These criteria will be reviewed and finalized with the Federal Ministry of Education and UBEC within the first three months of operations, and that an additional state(s) be selected according to these criteria by the completion of the first year of the activity. Criteria for state selection should include, but not be limited to: accessibility, state commitment to reform in access and reading, state receptivity to USAID activity interventions, demonstrated ability to follow the UBEC procedures for requisitioning basic education funds, numbers of out-of-school children (OOSC), presence of complementary program work (i.e. financed by DFID or another bilateral or multilateral partner), etc. Although USAID expects the contractor to begin introductory dialogue and analyses with the third NEI+ state in the course of the second year of the contract, actual interventions to improve access and reading are not anticipated to begin in that third state until activity year three, to allow ample time for the finalization of the necessary approaches and materials. The move to an additional state will be determined in coordination with the COR.

USAID expects the NEI+ activity to work with approximately 10 LGEAs in each state in which it operates. The contractor must propose criteria for the selection of the NEI+ LGEAs, and will further be required to finalize these criteria, and the actual selection of the LGEAs, with the NEI+ state ministries of education and SUBEBs. Criteria for the selection of the NEI+ LGEAs should include, but not be limited to, the total population of the LGEA, the functionality of the LGEAs data collection and reporting systems, the number of OOSC present in that LGEA, the primary school completion rates of children in those LGEAs, the number of IQTE schooling options in that LGEA, the presence of schools that have worked with the USAID-funded RARA activity in those LGEAS, etc. The contractor should provide a complete list of the LGEA selection criteria they propose, justification for the choice of those criteria, and a brief description of the methodology they would encourage states to use to employ those criteria for LGEA selection.

USAID/Nigeria envisions the LGEA level of government in each NEI+ state as being the primary focus of the activity’s system strengthening and capacity development support efforts in access and reading. USAID/Nigeria expects that the NEI+ LGEAs and, by extension, states, will take ownership of the activity’s interventions in both access and reading from the outset of the activity, starting with conceptual ownership beginning in activity year one, and building up to the financing for intervention activities being primarily provided by the monies available to the NEI+ states under the UBEC allocations by year five. This gradual release of responsibility for planning, budgeting, and implementing activities from the NEI+ activity contractor to the target LGEAs and states should be reflected in contractor’s workplans and implementation plans.

During years one through three, teams of LGEA representatives and program staff will work together to plan and budget for program implementation. In years four and five, LGEA staff will progressively take the lead on human and financial resource allocation in support of the program goals, as well as on the actual implementation of programming. The approach of embedding access and reading specialists within the LGEAs is intended to support these systems strengthening outcomes. This model of capacity development support and transfer of responsibility is intended to strengthen each LGEA’s ability to continue to improve educational access and reading outcomes in its jurisdiction after the completion of the activity.

In addition to the LGEAs and states, there are multiple other institutional partners in the Nigerian system that USAID expects the contractor to involve in activity implementation. The table below lists key institutions with which USAID/Nigeria expects NEI+ to collaborate, and provides a brief description of the expected role of each.

Table 1: Partner Institutions and Roles

Partner Institution Role in Achieving Outcomes in Access and Reading LGEA • Implement all programming in both reading and access

• Plan for and arrive at improved reading and access

• Collaborate with NEI+ activity personnel and CSOs to achieve improvements in reading and access State universal basic education boards (SUBEB)

• Coordinate the development of statewide policies, standards, frameworks, and monitoring tools for both reading and access

• Provide financing and logistical support to LGEAs for materials procurement, teacher training, monitoring, and testing

State ministries of education

(SMOE)

• Approve the final copies of statewide policies, standards, frameworks, and monitoring tools for both reading and access for use throughout the state

• Report to the federal ministry of education on the progress in reading and access in the state

State Agencies for mass education (or the equivalents) and state ministries of religious affairs

• Lead the development and approval of appropriate materials for IQTE (Islamic, Qu’ranic, Tsangaya) schools, and for non-formal learning centers

Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC)

• Ensure conformity of teaching and learning materials with national primary…