International development - inclusive education programme: call for proposals

D. Programme activities and themes

1. Applicants, when filling out the application form, should consider the key themes or activity areas which partner country governments have already indicated interest in as areas of focus, subject to further consultation and finalisation during the inception phase.

2. Please note that while as part of the application form we require the submission of an indicative budget to outline staff and other programme costs, the allocation of budget between different activities and the design and scope of the activities themselves, including which locations to be prioritised, will be decided and finalised during an inception phase in consultation with government, civil society and other stakeholders at country level, in order to arrive at a package of measures for each Strand that can be delivered in a focused, coherent and cost-effective way by the successful applicant.

3. We have conducted a needs analysis^[22] which contains more detailed statistics and analysis for each country. We have also incorporated inputs and priorities from our preparatory discussions with the Ministry of Education in each partner country which have informed the following section on priority areas of activity.

D.1 Potential priority areas of activity/needs

1. Drawing on independent external analysis and discussions with each of the partner country government Ministries of Education, the following are activities/needs that have been already identified as areas of interest which applicants can take into account when preparing their applications and theory of change.

D.1.1 Strand 1: Supporting disabled learners / special needs education / inclusive education^[23]

Malawi:

• Promoting access to education through early identification and assessment of support needs focused at primary/early childhood level. Requires a multi-sectoral approach since care-givers fall under Ministry of Gender and community workers are under the Min of Health. There is a National Coordination Structure with responsibility for systems of support for children with disabilities and to avoid duplication of interventions.
• Enhancing capacity of teachers including through training and enhancement of continuous professional development (CPDs) in inclusive education at all levels – primary, secondary and tertiary). According to the Government, Malawi has 194,000 learners with disabilities in regular primary schools, 11,000 in secondary and 2,000 in tertiary education but there are less than 2,000 teachers who have been trained in inclusive education across all levels, and at primary level, only 3% of schools (209) have specialised teachers, compared with a national target of at least 30% of schools to have specialised teachers by 2025.
• Access to assistive technology and creating an inclusive learning environment for learners with disabilities. The Government has constructed 160 model resource centres in all education zones to guide accessible infrastructure in school and would like support/expertise to increase the number to 550 model resource centres. There is demand for the provision of teaching and learning materials such as specialised computer applications, textbooks and teachers’ guides in accessible formats. The provision of assistive technology could support efforts to enable learner participate fully in education (internet connectivity and maintenance of equipment are important issues). See also, Malawi’s 2023 Education Sector Performance Report
• Improving governance and engagement through development of school improvement plans and support to bodies such as Parent Teachers Associations (PTAs), School Management Committees (SMCs) and Mother Groups, equipped with inclusive management and governance skills to ensure proper running of the schools and support for learners with special educational needs/disabilities in order to cultivate greater community ownership of inclusive education.

Rwanda:

• Identification, screening and assessment of learners with disabilities, including linkages with an ongoing campaign in Rwanda to identify out-of-school children disabilities and emerging standard tools involving UNICEF and other development partners to identify learners with disabilities and additional support needs.
• Teacher training and professional development with focus on Special Needs and Inclusive Education (SNIE), with a focus on in-service training.
• Assistive devices, accessible classrooms and learning materials, which includes the accessibility of classrooms and the improving teaching and learning materials to support mainstream schools to support learners with disabilities at both primary and secondary, taking account of recent case study material on provision of devices in Rwanda within a recent UNESCO global monitoring report^[24].

Zambia (Central Province only):

• Identification, screening and assessment of learners (including those currently out-of-school) with disabilities and additional support needs. At request of Government, this requires co-ordination with the Ministry of Health, and may depend on the programme or other development actors supporting i) in and out-of-school advocacy and ii) the provision of a Centre for Assistive Technologies and Devices in Central Province (there are Centres in Lusaka and Southern Province).
• Teacher development and leadership in inclusive education pedagogies and approaches, including for head teachers. The Government of Zambia recognises that school leadership underpins inclusive education but has indicated that leadership has been a gap in capacity-building efforts in recent years for inclusive education.
• Provision of assistive technologies and devices to improve the inclusiveness of learning environments. The Government of Zambia has recently indicated the importance of recognising the links between inclusive education, health and gender equality.

D.1.2 Strand 2: Scholarships for women and girls for completing secondary school/transitioning to tertiary education and/or TVET

Malawi

• Provision of scholarships supporting women and girls to complete secondary education and transition to tertiary education or TVET. Malawi’s National Strategy for Girls and Young Women 2018-2022 mentions the priority of expansion of access to bursary schemes for girls at secondary school level (focusing on those most in need including orphans and disabled girls), and scholarships to ‘needy female students in public universities’. Specifically for those with disabilities and special needs, to increase the likelihood of meeting the National Education Sector Investment Plan 2020-2030 (NESIP) 2025 targets, there is need to encourage more male students to apply for special needs education bursaries.

Rwanda

• Provision of scholarships supporting women and girls to transition to tertiary education or TVET. The focus of government gender policy is on increasing girls’ participation in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects, in order to increase employment skills.
• The Rwandan Development Bank plays a key role in disbursing scholarships, as does Rwanda’s Higher Education Council in determining eligibility. There is scope for the programme to work with both to develop additional criteria in order to target secondary age girls in the poorest areas or with ‘compounded vulnerabilities’ (designation used in Rwanda) to transition to TVET or STEM at

Rwanda’s higher education institutions.

• Additional parameter: Government is content for provision of Strand 2 scholarships to be focused at the level of tertiary education rather than upper school scholarships, and for the thematic priority of the scholarship to be STEM, split equally between university and TVET. It is estimated that with Scottish Government support, the programme could support up to 200 full scholarships per year.
• Related Activity: Strand 2 activities will require the implementing partner to consider the provision of career guidance and mentorship to the program beneficiaries to ensure high level of commitment and engagement towards their successful future.

Zambia (Central Province only)

• Provision of scholarships for Women and Girls in Secondary schools and Universities with requisite academic performance who are living in extremely poor households, targeted at the poorest districts in Central Province (e.g. Chitambo, Mkushi, Kabwe, Kapiri-Mposhi). While enrolment and gender parity have risen at the primary level, keeping girls in secondary school and Universities remains a challenge, especially among poor households. Despite equality between girls and boys having significantly improved at primary level, there are more boys than girls at Secondary School and University levels.
• Additional needs mentioned by the Ministry of Education include: School requisites (uniforms, school shoes, Books, Pens etc); Menstrual Health Management; Safe Boarding Facilities; Transport to and from Boarding Schools; Support for alternative Learning for out-of-school girls; Sexual Reproductive Health.
• Additional parameter: at request of Zambian Government, the scholarships programme should use the same or similar eligibility criteria to existing Global Partnership for Education scholarship scheme.
• Additional parameter: at the request of Zambia’s Ministry of Education, the design should target districts where social barriers to completion of secondary school, for example unintended pregnancies and early marriage are particularly acute.