TERMS OF REFERENCE
FOR
A Short-Term Monitoring and Results Measurement Consultant

Background of Sudokkho

Skills and Employment Programme in Bangladesh (SEP-B), branded as Sudokkho, is the only market systems development programme working to improve skills and employment opportunities for the marginalized groups; which include marginalised groups, people with disability, women, ethnic minority etc. in Bangladesh.

Sudokkho is a 7-year private skills training and employment programme, funded by DFID and SDC. Sudokkho’s executing agency is the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) under the Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of Bangladesh (GoB). The programme is implemented by Palladium in a consortium with Swisscontact and the British Council.                                 

Sudokkho’s objective is to reduce poverty through improving training and job opportunities for the poor. To achieve this, Sudokkho aims to facilitate a stronger and more inclusive private sector training market that facilitates better job opportunities for the poor. Sudokkho is working with private and non-government training providers and businesses in facilitating relevant and better-quality training initiatives in the Construction and RMG sectors.

The programme seeks to test and implement market-driven, quality skills training systems within the Readymade Garments (RMG) and Construction sectors that will stimulate further investment in training by trainees, private training providers and employers. The programme’s target is that 110,000 poor people, including women and disadvantaged populations, will earn increased income after successful completion of skills training.

PMonitoring & Results Measurement (MRM) system of Sudokkho:

The Monitoring and Results Measurement (MRM) unit is an integral component of Sudokkho which facilitates a robust and efficient implementation of the programme interventions. The MRM assembles the processes that govern the creation, dissemination, and utilisation of data and information relevant to the programme and context. It maintains the Sudokkho MRM System to enable the project to adapt its intervention strategies and to make evidence-based decisions that maximize impact. Because of the regular collection and analysis of various information, the unit remains in a position which enables the unit to see the bigger picture of the programme. Hence, the unit facilitates the planning of intervention implementation of different strategic units keeping the wider strategic scope in focus.

Another important feature of MRM is setting up indicators and monitoring these to gauge success across all intervention results at output, outcome and impact levels contained in the Sudokkho logframe- and in the Technical Assistance Project Proposal (TAPP), apart from wider context, assumption and attributions indicated in the Theory of Change (ToC).

The programme supports Private Training Providers (PTPs) and Industry-based training initiatives (supply-side stimulation) and raises awareness about the value of skills development among the trainees and industry (demand-side stimulation).

Sudokkho project is following Donor Committee Enterpize Deelopment (DCED) standards for  monitoring and results measurement. Sudokkho is in its last year of implementation, and  anticipats  the endline  evaluation at the end of this year.
The purpose of this training is to transfer advanced knowledge and build advanced skills on market system based DFID MRM systeThe rationale for the consultancy assignmentm. It is assumed that,this MRM training will be beneficial for the MRM unit for developing  capacities in applying different methodologies, research design and so on. To some extent, it is also expected that the consultant(s)/firm will also bring on board new insights in MRM based on the current de-bate/talk as informed by the current wave of innovation in DFID MRM system.. In this respect, Sudokkho is looking for a competent national/international consultant/firm to conduct a five-day long workshop/training including one day field visit for the MRM team members on advanced research methodologies, qualitative and quantitative study approaches, different tools, best practices, documentation,compilation and evaluation process  aligned with DCED requirement.

The objective of the assignment

The objectives of this assignment are as follows:
Orient MRM team on following topics:

• Appropriate data collection methods and tools around newer qualitative and participatory approaches
• Principles and steps in data analysis, compilation and the issue of quality of evidence
• Ways to address issues around impact assessment in terms of income and employment  
• Research methodology (including Adopt-Adapt-Expand-Response- AAER model) for MRM processes and practices
• Research design – problem statements and evaluation questions
• Understand the difference between process and outcome evaluation practices
• MRM reporting includes monitoring,  evaluation reports

and structuring different reports along with linking data interpretation efficiently

• Institutionalizing MRM throughout the organization and related processes of communication
• Attribution and contribution strategies and their appropriatenessin different scenarios.
• Knowledge for developing the appropriate tools and techniques for capturing results, learning on MSD

Scope of work :

The firm/consultant(s) will work in close coordination with the Sudokkho MRM team and take appropriate guidance from other technical staff to undertake the tasks outlined in the methodology & activities section. The details course content will be developed with consultantion of MRM unit after reviewing the existing documents i.e. MRM book, attribution strategies,etc.

1.4.1 Deliverables
The consultant is expected to deliver the following key outputs:

• Five-day long training for MRM and MSD team; of which three days are for classroom based training and another two days are for hands-on field based training
• Soft and hardcopies of all prepared PowerPoint presentations and related literature review
• Complete training manual and modules on market system based MRM and leanring
• Guidelines for developing tools especially for the qualitative data collection  

1.4.2 Milestones

• Preparation of the training materials and consultation with MRM unit
• Conducting the class room-based training in field (3/4 days)- XXX April 2020
• Conducting field visit (1 days)- XXX April 2020
• Compilation of field findings and sharing (1 day)- XXX April 2020
• Report writing including guideline and submission (2 days)- XXXX April 2020

Methodology & Activities

• Desk review of Sudkkho and relevant DFID documents
• Consultation with project teams includes MRM, MSD and cross cutting- as needed
• Prepare training session plan and materials and share with MRM team
• Classroom-based participatory training
• Field-based  practical demonstration
• Design and propose required qualitative and quantitative tools for data collection
• Compile field findings reports

Key tasks and time schedule

A total of 8 consultancy days (max) will be requried over a period of 1 months. Key tasks, time of assignment and required number of days are mentioned in the following table.

Requriments of the consultant/firm:

• The Consultant should be graduated from Finance, Marketing, Economics, and relevant subjects from the reputed university.
• Experinece on conducting trainign following the  DCED  framework.
• Wokring  experience with DFID funded project whould be an advantage
• Solid understanding as to the donor data/MRM requirement and the best practices
• The consultant(s)/firm must have rigorous experience in conducting studies and developing different qualitative and quantitative tools aligned with the DFID requirement
• Explicit understanding of value chain analysis and market research methodologies and experience in using different social research tools and technique 
• Excellent presentation, analytical and communication skills (specially writing English)

Guidelines for submission of the proposal

These guidelines shall ensure uniformity of proposals submitted by all applicants and transparency of the evaluation process.

• Contents of the proposal

The language of the proposal should be English. The proposal must be submitted in PDF format, maximum of 6 pages (not sheets) excluding Cover Page, Abbreviations, Glossary, Table of Content, Additional Documents, and Annexes. Page size A4;

Interested Consultants are asked to submit their Proposal to info@sudokkho.org stating “A Short-Term Monitoring and Results Measurement Consultant’ in the subject line. The final technical and financial proposals from the interested service provider should be submitted within Wednesday, 15th April, 2020.
*Sudokkho will arrange accommodation for the consultant, based in abroad, as per the project’s ceiling, and bear all the associated costs for field visits, if necessary.