SOL-660-14-000004_-_Equitable_Access_to_Education_and_Learning_Project.docx

SUBJECT: Request for Proposals (RFP) No. SOL-660-14-000004 – Equitable Access to Education and Learning Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

Dear Potential Offerors:

The United States Government, represented by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Mission, and the United Kingdom Government, represented by the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID), DRC Mission are soliciting proposals from qualified organizations for the performance of services detailed in the attached Request for Proposals (RFP) to support a contract that will be administered by USAID’s DRC/Education Office in the DRC in collaboration with DFID.

This RFP is one mechanism under a joint education program with financing from USAID and DFID. For this mechanism USAID will be the contracting agent. All Official communication and approvals will be done through the Contracting Officer (CO) and designated Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) or alternate COR. DFID will be represented on all Technical Evaluation Committees reviewing all proposals and budgets. All reports, proposals, and data submitted to USAID under this RFP or resulting contract will be shared with DFID. USAID and DFID will conduct joint site visits and co-finance an independent evaluation(s) of any resulting award under this joint education program. The successful Offeror(s) will be required to participate in quarterly coordination meetings where DFID will be present and attend annual joint program reviews where the USAID Mission Director and DFID Country Director will co-chair the review. The mechanisms for delivery of the other components of the joint USAID / DFID education program will be procured separately. The successful Offeror(s) will be required to cooperate and coordinate with the other components of the joint USAID / DFID education program.

This is a full and open competition, under which any type of organization, large or small, commercial (for profit) firms, faith-based, and non-profit organizations in partnerships or consortia from geographical code 935, are eligible to compete. The procedures for “contracting by negotiation, trade‐off process” method of procurement, as described in Part 15 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), and AIDAR, will apply.

An electronic response is required (See L.6.2). Please submit your proposals to all of the email addresses below by the time and date specified on the top of this cover page. Receipt at either address on or before the RFP closing date will constitute timely receipt of Offeror’s proposal. The addresses for the receipt of proposals are: Contracting Officer, Mr. Jarrod Simpson at JSimpson@usaid.gov and Regional Acquisition and Assistance Specialist, Mr. Ketan Sood at KSood@USAID.Gov.

The Technical Proposal has a strict 35 page limit as noted in Section L.7 of the RFP. Offerors are advised that any pages exceeding this limit will not be evaluated. Offerors are reminded that the Evaluators have to be able to read the proposal, so presentation and legibility is crucial. This is discussed in more detail in Section L.

Subject to availability of funds, USAID contemplates award of a Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) completion type contract. The maximum estimated cost of the contract (costs and fee) is US$130 – 140 million covering period of performance of five (5) years. Offerors should not necessarily strive to meet the maximum amount. However, Offerors must propose costs that it believes are appropriate, realistic and reasonable for the work. The cost proposal will be evaluated as part of the Best-Value procedure in determining contract award, including cost effectiveness of approaches to achieve the desired results.

It is the responsibility of the recipient of this solicitation document to ensure that it has been received in its entirety, including subsequent solicitation amendments, if any. USAID bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from transmission or conversion processes. Any questions, comments and requests for clarifications must be addressed to Supervisory Contracting Officer Mr. Jarrod Simpson and sent to JSimpson@usaid.gov with a copy to KSood@USAID.Gov. No phone calls will be accepted.

USAID will hold two Pre-Proposal Conferences to discuss the Equitable Access to Education and Learning Project in the DRC RFP. One will be held in London, England and the second will be held in Washington, DC, USA. The purpose of the Pre-Proposal Conferences is to ensure an understanding of the RFP’s technical objectives and to review the application process. The Conference agenda will include a short presentation of the RFP and a question/answer session based on participants’ review of the RFP. All interested potential Offerors are welcome to attend, but it will be limited to 1 representative per Offeror and all attendees must register.

Registration instructions: If you are interested in attending the Pre-Proposal Conference in London or Washington, DC, please send an email to Jarrod Simpson via e-mail at JSimpson@usaid.gov with a copy to Ketan Sood, via e-mail at KSood@USAID.Gov by close of business October 22, 2014. Include the name of your organization and the name(s) of the person(s) who will attend. USAID will respond with an email confirming registration, details of the location of the meeting, and a confirmation of the date and time. You must have a registration confirmation in order to be guaranteed entrance.

Following the Pre-Proposal Conference, USAID will make the following publicly available on Fedbizopps.gov website (http://www.fbo.gov/): the Pre-Proposal Conference presentation, the list of questions submitted in writing on October 30, 2014, answers to those questions, and the participant list. Oral answers from any USAID source during the Pre-Proposal Conference will not be binding on the U.S. Government.

Issuance of this solicitation and the submission of a proposal do not constitute any guarantee or a commitment on the part of the U.S. Government or USAID to make an award; neither does it constitute any obligation or authorization by USAID to reimburse any costs incurred in the preparation and submission of a proposal. USAID reserves the right to reject proposals received. Award of a contract will be subject to availability of funds and proper completion of required USAID internal processes.

Thank you for your interest in working with USAID and DFID.

Sincerely, Linda McElroy, Supervisory Contracting Officer USAID/East Africa/Regional Acquisition and Assistance Office

Request for Proposals # SOL-660-14-000004 Equitable Access to Education and Learning Project in the DRC USAID/Democratic Republic of the Congo

[THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Request for Proposals # SOL-660-14-000004 Equitable Access to Education and Learning Project in the DRC

PART I – THE SCHEDULE

SECTION B – SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICE/COSTS

B.1. PURPOSE

USAID in collaboration with DFID seek to implement a primary education initiative to improve equitable access to education and learning outcomes for girls and boys in the DRC. This Contract will support education service delivery, as presented on in Section C, in at least 25 education sub-provinces (out of 151) across four target provinces (Katanga, Kasaï Occidental, Kasaï Oriental and Equateur).

B.2. CONTRACT TYPE

This is a Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) completion type contract. The Statement of Work (SOW) for this contract is contained in Section C of this document.

For the Total Estimated Cost and Fixed Fee set forth in B.3, the Contractor must achieve the deliverables described in Sections, C, D and F and otherwise comply with all contract requirements.

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

(a) The Total Estimated Cost and fixed fee is as follows (TBD):

(b) 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 of the contract period hereunder is $TBD. The Contractor must not exceed the aforesaid obligated amount unless authorized by the Contracting Officer pursuant to the clause of this contract entitled “Limitation of Funds” (FAR 52.232‐22). See Section I of this contract.

(c) Funds obligated hereunder are anticipated to be sufficient through TBD.

B.4. INDIRECT COSTS

The contract clause entitled “FAR 52.216‐7, Allowable Cost and Payment (JUN 2011)”, specifies that the indirect cost rates must be established for each of the contractor’s accounting periods that apply to this contract. Pending establishment of revised provisional or final indirect cost rates, allowable indirect costs must be reimbursed on the basis of the following negotiated provisional or predetermined rates and the appropriate bases:

Description Rate Base Type Period

1/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

Source:

2/Base of Application:

Type of Rate:

Period:

Source:

[To be determined]

Note: The Contractor is allowed to recover applicable indirect costs (i.e., overhead, G&A, etc.) and other direct costs (ODCs), if it is part of the Contractor’s usual accounting procedures, consistent with FAR Part 31, and Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA). Indirect costs must not be allowed for local organizations. All costs for local organizations must be budgeted and billed as direct costs.

B.5. CEILING ON INDIRECT COST RATES AND FINAL REIMBURSEMENT FOR INDIRECT COSTS

(a) Reimbursement for allowable indirect costs must be at final negotiated rates but not in excess of the following ceiling rates:

Description Rate Base Type Period

[To be completed by the Offeror]

(b) The Contractor must make no changes in its established method of classifying or allocating indirect costs without the prior written approval of the Contracting Officer.

(c) USAID is not obligated to pay any additional amount on account of indirect costs above the ceiling rates established in the contract.

(d) This understanding will not change any monetary ceiling, obligation or cost limitation established in the contract.

(e) Because the clauses entitled "Allowable Cost and Payment" (FAR 52.216-7) and "Fixed Fee" (FAR 52.216-8) are incorporated into this contract, the terms and conditions of these clauses apply after total payments of fixed fee reach eighty-five percent (85%) of the total fixed fee.

B.6. MULTI-YEAR CONTRACT

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

Cancellation Dates:

Note: The appropriate Contract year needs to be filled prior to award.

Cancellation Ceiling:

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 will not 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.

B.7. PAYMENT OF FIXED FEE

A percentage of the payment of the fixed fee under this contract is tied to the achievement of the deliverables as described in Section F.

Upon successful achievement of a deliverable, the Contractor must provide evidence of its achievement to the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and the Contracting Officer (CO). Upon receipt of COR concurrence and written approval by the CO, the Contractor must submit an invoice for the amount of the associated fee.

Request for Proposals # SOL-660-14-000004 Equitable Access to Education and Learning Project in the DRC

[END OF SECTION B]

SECTION C – STATEMENT OF WORK

C.1. PROGRAM TITLE

Equitable Access to Education and Learning in the DRC [TBD: Title can be proposed by Offeror]

C.2. PURPOSE

A primary education initiative to improve equitable access to education and learning outcomes for girls and boys in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

USAID in collaboration with DFID will implement a primary education initiative to improve equitable access to education and learning outcomes for girls and boys in the DRC. This Contract will support education service delivery in line with the results framework in at least 25 education sub-provinces (out of 151) across four target provinces (Katanga, Kasaï Occidental, Kasaï Oriental and Equateur). This activity is one component of a joint United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) and USAID program to support the Government of DRC’s (GDRC) commitment to free universal basic education and improved learning outcomes as articulated in the GDRC’s Interim Education Plan (IEP), the Education Sector Strategy and other reform efforts in the sector.

C.3. SCOPE

USAID and DFID will support a primary education activity to improve equitable access to education and learning outcomes for children in the DRC. This activity, managed by USAID, will primarily target the provinces of: Katanga, Kasaï Occidental, Kasaï Oriental and Equateur. Activities under this Contract must target all schools within at least 25 geographic education sub-provinces within education provinces and this must include government schools as well as those administered by the religious networks located in the target provinces. The activities under this Contract must support improved learning outcomes in the government public primary schools and schools supported by religious networks which are recognized by the GDRC. Efforts to support access for out of school youth through accelerated learning programs must include the target provinces but will also include South Kivu and North Kivu as well. The selection of education sub-provinces must take into account the need to:

· Develop a critical mass of sub-provinces in order to better demonstrate effective support of the education system rather than a scattered or diluted approach.

· Support synergies between existing donor interventions in education, health, and water and sanitation.

· Prioritize education sub-provinces where there is little or no support from external agencies.

· Support education where there is the greatest need.

The Results and Intermediate Results (IR) of this Contract support the USAID/DRC Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) Objective of “Long-term transition to more effective and empowering development in the DRC supported” and the objective of DFID’s Country Operational Plan for the DRC to work with the “Government to enable it to provide and finance basic services in the long-term.”

C.4. COUNTRY BACKGROUND

The DRC, the second largest country in Africa, remains one of the least developed and poorest countries in the world. Conflict and instability in several Provinces of the country have placed significant strain on the education system and has been identified as a key barrier to access and retention in DRC schools, particularly for girls[footnoteRef:2]. Plagued by instability, conflict, limited infrastructure, and low levels of educational access and outcomes, the DRC has consistently been ranked at the bottom of the Human Development Index. It is estimated that, of 70 plus million inhabitants, 15 million are of primary school age, of whom 3.5 million, are out of school[footnoteRef:3]. For those in primary school, learning levels are extremely poor: assessment showed that 68 percent of grade 3 and 4 students were unable to read a single word of simple text[footnoteRef:4]. The education system faces severe challenges to improve equitable access, quality, and governance throughout the sector. Consequently the DRC is off track to meet the Education Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and while there has been some progress, this remains limited and is further weakened by inequities. For example the overall primary completion rate in 2013 was 63.8%, but in Katanga it was just 47% for girls. [2: http://www.ineesite.org/uploads/files/resources/Executive_Summary_-_DRC_Policy_Dialogue_Forum_-_Final_2_May.pdf ] [3: ISSP/UO and MEPSP (2013) Rapport de l’enquête nationale sur les enfants et adolescents en dehors de l’école. Kinshasa, UNICEF, UNESCO Institute of Statistics and DFID DRC] [4: Accelerating Progress to 2015: Democratic Republic of the Congo, A Report Series to the UN Special Envoy or Global Education, April 2013 Working Paper, pg. 6.]

Table 1: The Education MDGs in DRC[footnoteRef:5] [5: Data from Unesco Institute of Statistics; and MEPSP Annuaire Statistique de L’Enseignement Primaire, Secondaire et Professionnel]

The 2012 ‘Enfants et adolescents en dehors de l’école’ (EADE) study estimated that 7 million children and adolescents (aged 5 to 17) are out of school. Many children enter school late and 75% of primary school age children out of school are aged between 6 to 8 years. Poverty, instability, and distance remain major obstacles for children to enroll in school or remain in school. Almost 80% (2.75 million) of all primary school age children out of school live in rural areas and two thirds are from poor households, living on less than $50 a month. In many of these areas, there is not a formal school (public or religious) to attend; for these communities, distance remains a major barrier to participation in school. The EADE Study indicated that most out of school youth live more than five kilometers from a primary school and most primary schools will not accept entrants older than 9 years of age[footnoteRef:7]. The government has supported the expansion of accelerated learning programs (ALPs) or alternative learning opportunities for those who have been not been able to access formal education or dropped out due to poverty. [7: MEPSP. 2014. Stratégie Sectorielle de l’Education et de la formation: 2014-2023. GDRC.]

In addition, there are almost equal numbers of primary school age boys and girls out of school; however differences become starker as girls become older. Girls make up 60% of out of school children of lower secondary school age (12 to 13) and 75% of these are girls living in rural areas[footnoteRef:8]. Socio-economic norms and systemic sexual violence in school underpin gender inequity in education. Key obstacles to girls’ education have been identified as parental attitudes, lack of financial means, significant domestic burdens on girls, the tendency to prioritize boys, adolescent pregnancy and the poor social and physical environment for girls in schools[footnoteRef:9]. For girls and boys learning environments are often not safe spaces: corporal punishment, bullying, verbal harassment, sexual harassment and even rape, in and around schools are frequent. For example, in a baseline survey conducted in the DRC in 2011 by the USAID funded C-Change project, 20% of girls in the survey reported that teachers pressure them to have sex in exchange for good marks, more than 25% of students reported that beating/whipping of students occurs regularly in their classrooms. Conflict has also exacerbated the situation with the DRC reporting cases of children used as soldiers, sexual slaves and laborers within large internally displaced populations in Katanga, North Kivu, and South Kivu[footnoteRef:10]. Due to the extended periods of conflict and instability in the Congo, girls in particular have had limited access to schooling. [8: ISSP/UO and MEPSP (2013) Rapport de l’enquête nationale sur les enfants et adolescents en dehors de l’école. Kinshasa, UNICEF, UNESCO Institute of Statistics and DFID DRC] [9: DFID DRC and Social Development Direct (2012) Situation analysis of women and girls in DRC and development of a gender strategy and action plan for DFID DRC] [10: UNESCO. 2010. EFA: The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and education, the quantitative impact of conflict on education. http://www.uis.unesco.org/Library/Documents/QuantImp.pdf]

USAID and DFID’s have spearheaded efforts to address gender equality, as well as disability-inclusive development in the DRC. USAID and DFID have invested resources to improve girls’ access to education, better learning outcomes, and transition from primary to secondary. Programs including the Ambassadors’ Girls’ Scholarship Program, C-Change, Empowering Adolescent Girls to Lead through Education (EAGLE) and Vas-y Fille! have all worked to increase better educational opportunities for girls. Despite these efforts, access to a quality education for girls and boys remains a perpetual challenge plaguing the education system.

However, perhaps the single most important barrier to access and quality in the DRC education system is the cost of education and the financing of the system. Approximately 60% (2.1 million) primary school aged children out of school are considered to be out of school primarily related to cost reasons[footnoteRef:11]. Almost all school and local office operating costs are generated from school fees. The decline in financing of education during the 1980s and 1990s led to the introduction and reliance on school fees. For many years, the majority of Congolese schools charged a variety of school fees, including, but not limited to, fees for tuition, books and supplies, uniforms, school hygiene and maintenance, and test administrations[footnoteRef:12]. While the government has been taking action to address this with fee free education policy (gratuité) launched in 2010, the system remains under-financed and the practice of ‘ventilation’ still exists. Ventilation entails the use of fees collected at school level to meet the operating costs of higher levels in the administration. Fees are distributed according to previously established rules for redistribution and it is estimated that 20-30% of school fees pass up through the administration in this way[footnoteRef:13]. The system has become institutionalized with an estimated 90% of all operating costs of the education sector being funded this way[footnoteRef:14]. In recent years the GDRC has committed to and steadily increased funding for education, however, budget execution remains weak. However, there are large scale efforts to improve transparent practices through the implementation and rollout of a national gratuité (removal of specific school fees) policy, improved management information systems such as payment of teacher salaries from central funds and the mecanisation, or teacher registration, process, but parents continue to be expected to provide teacher salary supplements and cover other school expenditures. [11: ISSP/UO and MEPSP (2013) Rapport de l’enquête nationale sur les enfants et adolescents en dehors de l’école. Kinshasa, UNICEF, UNESCO Institute of Statistics and DFID DRC] [12: DFID & UNICEF: 2012 National Survey on the Situation of Children and Adolescents out of School Report.] [13: DRC MEPSP. 2010. Stratégie de développement de l’enseignement primaire, secondaire et professionnel (2010/11 - 2015/16).] [14: De Herdt, T. and Poncelet, M. (2010) Enjeux et acteurs autour de la réduction des frais scolaires en RDC, April 2010, Institute of Development Policy and Management, University of Antwerp ]

Complexities in the financing of the education system also arise due to the fact that many schools are administered by one or another of the country’s multiple religious networks, and these schools are able to set their own fee structures. While the state oversees the education system, almost 75% of all primary school pupils attend the ‘écoles conventionnées.’ These are schools managed by church networks but recognized as public schools under the 1977 Convention. The religious networks maintain their own administrative structures that are linked to the government at national, provincial and sub-provincial level. The state pays teachers and administrative staff but the dual nature of education management of the écoles conventionneés and non-conventionneés can impede efficiency and accountability in the system.

DRC also suffers from low completion rates, high repetition rates and high dropout rates. Due to inefficiencies in the system, only 60% of students who start school will complete all six years of primary schooling. In addition the quality of education remains low and learning outcomes poor. Learning outcomes in DRC are compromised by very high rates of malnutrition and poor health: Children can come to school malnourished, infected with parasites, and at times suffering from chronic malaria. It is estimated that 43% of children under 5 are malnourished and may have associated cognitive impairment. These health related factors lead to absenteeism and repetition, and reduces the students ability to benefit from the instruction they receive.

Low system efficiency is caused largely in part by the poor quality of student learning[footnoteRef:15]. The results of a learning assessment carried out by the Program on the Analysis of Education Systems (PASEC) indicate that at the end of the 5th year of primary education, only 47% of pupils reached the level of “minimal” knowledge in French and 59% in math[footnoteRef:16]. Early Grade Reading Assessments (EGRA), conducted by USAID as part of project monitoring of the USAID-funded PAQUED and OPEQ activities, found that children in 2nd and 4th Grade struggle to identify letters of the alphabet with automaticity. On average at the end of the academic year, fourth grade students could only read approximately 6 words per minute in French and sixth grade students were only able to read 19 words per minute in French, well below required levels for fluency and comprehension[footnoteRef:17]. These data substantiate that once children enter school, they are not learning the requisite competencies to successfully move through the education system. The DRC had a long history of teaching reading and other subjects in national languages in the early grades, with a full transition to French instruction at the beginning of Niveau 3 (Grade 5). In recent years this L1-L2 transitional approach has been replaced by immediate French-immersion and the lapse of national language instruction. The traditional, transitional approach to language of instruction began during the colonial period, and there is a desire on the part of the Ministry of Education to reinvigorate the use of national languages in early grade reading acquisition that enables children to acquire national-(Congolese) language reading abilities and transition to French by the end of Grade 4. [15: Report of the June 10, 2014 Renouveau du système éducatif de la République Démocratique du Congo (RESEN)] [16: PASEC (2010) Evaluation Diagnostique du Système Educatif de la République Démocratique du Congo ] [17: USAID. 2010. PAQUED: Democratic Republic of Congo Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) Baseline Report. ]

Teachers play a key role in improving quality and learning outcomes. However the current pre-service teacher preparation system is weak and does not actually equip graduates with requisite skills and competencies. Historically, teachers have received minimal pre-service training and no systematic continuous in-service teacher training. In recent years, however, there have been various initiatives to improve teacher quality, particularly in-service teacher training and the DRC has adopted a National In-Service Teacher Training policy that identifies how in-service teacher training must be conducted within the DRC. This process has also identified the major issues impacting teachers’ ability to improve quality which include (i) limited instructional time within schools; (ii) ineffective instructional approaches in foundational skills, especially reading and math instruction; (iii) lack of classroom management and pedagogical skills required to teach; (iv) low institutional capacity in schools; and (v) schools and communities lack materials and infrastructure to provide a quality education to every child.

C.5. RATIONALE & RELATIONSHIP WITH GDRC PLANS AND PRIORITIES

USAID and DFID are committed to the proactive coordination of the international development partners in education and continue to play a leading role in ensuring donor and host country efforts are complimentary. In addition to USAID and DFID, key development partners in the sector include AFD, UNICEF, World Bank, Belgium, UNESCO and the World Food Programme. USAID and DFID are active members, with USAID as the current chair of the Education Partenaires Techniques et Financiers (PTF) –education development partners coordination group- and active members of the Comite de Concertation (ComCon) of the MEPSP which includes government, donor and civil society partners.

As part of the GDRC’s efforts to reform the education sector, the Ministry of Education (MEPSP) has developed an Interim Education Plan (IEP) for the period 2012-2014. The plan provides a consensus-based framework for more effective use of public resources and better coordinated donor engagement. It focuses on three key principles: access, quality, and governance. In the primary sector, the IEP identifies the three most pressing challenges to ensure universal access to primary education: 1) reduction of school fees and transitioning costs from households to the state; 2) incorporating the significant out of school population back into the formal school system; and 3) ensuring that girls achieve the primary school graduation certificate. To implement the IEP, the GDRC has committed to increasing funding for the education sector by 3.7 times from 175 billion Franc Congolese (8 percent of the national budget) in 2009 to 841 billion Franc Congolese (15 percent of the national budget) by 2015[footnoteRef:18]. The GDRC is also in the process of finalizing and validating a new Education Sector Strategy: Strategie Sectorielle de l’Education et de la Formation: 2014 – 2023. [18: Plan Intérimaire de l’Education 2012-2014, June 2012. Democratic Republic of the Congo: Ministère de l’Enseignement Primaire, Secondaire et Professionnel,]

Recent positive results in the sector already include (i) DRC membership to the GPE and a subsequent $100 million GPE investment; (ii) better coordination and dialogue among donors, on the one hand, and between government and donors, on the other, both having expressed full commitment to aligning with the IEP; and (iii) the agreement of a three year roadmap for education policy reforms which is reviewed every six months[footnoteRef:19]. As presented at the meeting between the PTF and Minster and MEPSP, 24 October 2012 Cadre de partenariat et principes directeurs: Alignment of donor funded activities in the DRC education sector with the IEP means that the IEP becomes the central reference documents for all interventions in the sector. [19: MEPSP (2013) Roadmap of Education Reforms]

The $100 million GPE investment is the first major intervention in line with IEP priorities and paves the way for others to follow. The components in the GPE Program PROSEB[footnoteRef:20] include (i) increasing access and equity through school rehabilitation; (ii) improving the quality of teaching and learning through school-based teachers’ skills development in all primary schools in Kasaï-Occidental and Equateur provinces; (iii) the provision of textbooks country-wide; and (iv) results-based financing and restructuring of education administrative offices to replace school fees and enhance service delivery on the ground. One of the particularities of the GPE program is the implementation of consensus-based national strategies developed in the IEP such as low-cost school rehabilitation and school-based in-service teacher training. [20: Projet de Soutien à l’Education de Base ]

The Government has also been involved in key external events such as the Ministerial for All Learning Events in Washington in April 2013. In this meeting the GDRC identified four priorities (i) implement the policy of free primary education; (ii) rehabilitation of infrastructure and school equipment destroyed due to conflict; (iii) reform of initial training of primary school teachers; and (iv) monitoring and assessing learning outcomes.[footnoteRef:21] Following a number of policy dialogues with the global community, the government committed to implementing conflict-sensitive education programming so as to ensure that education provision will not exacerbate conflict but will also mitigate factors contributing to insecurity and fragility. [21: GDRC (2013) Accelerating Progress to 2015: Democratic Republic of the Congo, April 2013. A report series to the UN Special Envoy for Global Education]

In addition, along with policy commitments to increasing financing, implementing the gratuité policy, and the national teacher training policy, the GDRC has also shown a willingness to improve learning outcomes in reading. For example building off its participation in the GPE-sponsored “All Children Reading Conference” in Rwanda in March 2012, the GDRC took three major policy decisions related to early grade reading since 2012: (i) designated reading as a specific subject in the curriculum; (ii) added more instructional time during the school day for reading; and (iii) the MEPSP created a National Reading Commission which has developed a National Reading Roadmap. The Roadmap has established preliminary performance standards for reading and writing for first through third grades in French and the four national languages: Lingala, Kikongo, Swahili and Ciluba.

Figure 1: Overall USAID DFID Joint Education Program Results Framework (Note: This RFP supports the entire Results Framework except IRs 3.4 and 3.5)

*This contract will support local level activities for IR 3.3 while provincial, educational provinces, and some sub-province level activities will be procured through a separate mechanism, IRs 3.4 and 3.5 will be procured through a separate mechanism.

IRs 3.4 and 3.5 TO BE PROCURED SEPARATELY Program Objective: Improved educational outcomes for girls and boys in select Education Provinces of the DRC.

IR 2.1 Quality of instruction at the primary level improved.

IR 2.2 Teaching and learning materials used in the classroom effectively.

IR 2.3 Community participation to support school based and extra-curricular learning increased.

Result 1: Equitable enrollments to a quality education environment increased Result 3: Improved governance and accountability by stakeholders Result 2: Improved education quality Intermediate Result (IR) 1.1 Barriers to access for primary education reduced.

IR 1.2 Access to alternative/accelerated learning programs that address out-of school children and youth’ needs increased.

IR 1.3 Community and school collaboration and partnerships to support access to education strengthened.

IR. 1.4 Quality of education environments improved.

IR 3.1 Development and implementation of policies for improved access and learning strengthened.

IR 3.2 School leadership and management strengthened.

IR 3.3 Community and civil society oversight and accountability at local and provincial levels increased*.

IR. 3.4 Effective resource allocation and execution in the education sector strengthened.

IR 3.5 Strengthened systems and capacity at the national, provincial, and school levels.

C.6. OVERALL PROGRAM RESULTS FRAMEWORK

This Contract must support the policies and strategies contained in the 10-year Education Sector Strategy and the Interim Education Plan to help the GDRC improve access and equity, quality and learning, and governance and accountability. It must work with and complement other government and donor supported activities, in particular the GPE PROSEB, and UNICEF/Qatar Educate a Child programs. As such, the joint USAID/DFID Results Framework for the overall program is depicted in Figure 1.

The joint USAID/DFID Program is divided into two main Activities (separate procurement mechanisms). The Contractor is responsible for the Intermediate Results of the joint USAID/DFID Results Framework that fall under Results one (1) two (2) and Intermediate Results 3.1, 3.2 and the local part of 3.3. The Contractor is required to coordinate and engage in planning and harmonization meetings third-party DFID or USAID managed awards working to achieve the Results of the joint program as described on page 18, particularly, Intermediate Results 3.4 and 3.5, and the provincial and education province levels of 3.3 on a quarterly basis.

C.7. PROGRAM RESULTS

The overarching objective of this Contract is to improve educational outcomes for girls and boys in select sub-provinces within target educational provinces of the DRC. A list of Education provinces and sub-provinces per target Province is located in Section J.

By the end of the Contract, in at least 25 sub-provinces in targeted educational provinces within the target provinces, the Contractor must demonstrate measurable and quantifiable changes in enrollments, improved gender parity, and learning outcomes for grade 2 and grade 4 girl and boy students.

In addition the contract must improve quality education environments as measured through select key indicators measuring school level participation and accountability through community-based monitoring in which school safety must be included.

To achieve these deliverables, the Contractor must support the achievement of the following results:

Result One: Equitable enrollments to a quality education environment increased

Through this Contract, resources must be used to improve equitable access in quality education environments by targeting barriers to equitable primary school access, strengthening accelerated and alternative learning programs, and promoting quality education environments which support learning and are equitable and safe for girls and boys.

1.1 Barriers to access for primary education reduced.

The Contractor must identify and implement measures to reduce barriers to access, especially for girls and vulnerable children at the sub-province level within target educational provinces in order to assist families, school communities, and communities to enroll and maintain their children and youth in formal primary school or alternative primary level learning programs. This will include but will not be limited to, a focus on on-time enrollment for 6 year olds in grade 1.

1.2 Access to alternative/accelerated learning programs that address out-of school children and youth’ needs increased.

The Contractor must support equitable access to high quality accelerated and alternative learning programs for disadvantaged, conflict-affected, and poor children and youth who are out of school and have no or limited access to a formal (public or religious) school. In conflict-affected areas, including Katanga, South Kivu, and North Kivu these programs must enable conflict affected youth to reintegrate into society through both employable skills and education.

1.3 Community and school collaboration and partnerships to support access to education strengthened.

The Contractor must work with communities within the school catchment areas to reinforce and support efforts to increase access to education. The Contractor must sensitize and mobilize schools, parents and community members to address barriers to school and increase access, retention and completion, especially for girls, vulnerable children, child laborers, children with disabilities, rural poor, and conflict affected children and youth.

1.4 Quality of education environments improved.

The Contractor must support primary schools and accelerated learning programs to ensure a quality education environment that provides girls and boys and teachers a teaching and learning environment that is equitable, conducive to learning, and free of emotional, sexual, or physical violence and intimidation.

The Contractor must develop synergies and leverage health-related interventions to enable girls and boys in target schools to benefit from health campaigns and interventions, such as deworming and micronutrient supplementation to increase persistence and attainment in primary schools or its equivalent.

Result Two: Improved education quality

Through this Contract, resources will be used to improve learning outcomes and foundational skills to enable girls and boys to access the primary school curriculum. This will primarily focus on early grade reading in national languages in grades 1 to 4 and French oral language acquisition in grades 1 and 2 and a transition to French reading acquisition in grades 3 and 4. The investment must support an effective transition from national language reading acquisition in Lingala, Swahili and Ciluba to French language reading acquisition by the end of fourth grade.

Activities under this Result will target the provinces of Katanga, Kasaï Occidental, Kasaï Oriental and Equateur. The Contractor must begin work in Katanga and must phase in activities at the sub-province level over the life of the contract.

2.1 Quality of instruction at the primary level improved.

The Contractor must work with the MEPSP, particularly SERNAFOR and DIPROMAD (Directorates responsible for textbooks/curricula and teacher training) at the national, provincial, education province, and sub-province levels. The Contractor must adhere to the harmonized approach of in-service teacher training under the direction of SERNAFOR to develop coherent, scoped-and-sequenced sets of materials; in-service teacher training modules; and under the direction of DIPROMAD to develop leveled and decodable complementary readers, lesson plans, , and coaching and mentoring guides for each national language.