Job Description

HE Somaliland Education Sector Programme Impact Evaluation

Save the Children Denmark is seeking consultants to conduct a comprehensive impact 

evaluation of the Horuminta Elmiga (HE) Somaliland Education Sector Programme. 

Background

Save the Children is an international organisation dedicated to promoting children’s rights, 

providing quality education, and enhancing child protection and health. Save the Children has 

worked in Somalia for over 70 years and are a national and international leader in health and 

nutrition, education, child protection and child rights governance.

In Somaliland, Save the Children, together with CARE International and the Ministry of 

Education and Science (MoES), has been implementing the Horuminta Elmiga (HE) Education 

sector Programme since 2012. This programme aims to strengthen the education sector and 

enhance learning and employment opportunities for Somaliland’s youth.

Over 10 years on from the programme’s inception, Save the Children is seeking a Consultant 

to work on the Impact Evaluation of the HE Education Sector Support Programme. This 

evaluation will assess the long-term impact of programmatic support, with a focus on three 

primary areas: access to quality, equitable education, vocational training and job creation, 

and strengthening education system governance. The evaluation will document key 

achievements, identify valuable lessons, and provide actionable recommendations to guide 

future programming.

In 2012, the HE programme was launched to strengthen the education sector and enhance 

learning and employment opportunities for Somaliland’s youth. It is an education programme 

funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented in Somaliland’s six administrative 

regions (Awdal, Marodi-Jeh, Sahil, Sanaag, Sool and Togdheer) by a consortium of Save the 

Children as lead agency and CARE International in partnership with the MoES. Since the 

beginning in 2012, the project has supported 386 primary schools and 140 secondary schools 

in the six administrative regions.

The four programme cycles of the HE have included the following key activities:

• HE I (2012–2015): Capacity building for MoES at all levels, expanding educational 

access for children and youth, and strengthening pedagogical skills of teachers and 

trainers. 

• HE II (2015–2018): Extending Basic Education (BE) and Non-Formal Education (NFE) to 

underserved areas, mainstreaming Basic Education for Pastoralists (BEP) and reaching 

children with special needs, implementing technica 

HE III (2019–2021): Expanding educational opportunities for girls and children with 

special needs, implementing a literacy boost program at scale, and increasing female 

representation in teaching roles, and building on HE II’s education management 

systems and rolling out nationally. 

• HE IV (2022–2025): Focussing on equitable access to education and inclusive 

vocational training, linking opportunities to job creation, and strengthening public 

institutions’ capacity for sustainable governance. 

Purpose of the evaluation 

The main objective of this consultancy is to conduct a comprehensive impact evaluation of 

the HE programme. The specific purpose is to: 

A. To identify, analyse, and document higher level effects of more than ten years of 

support to the HE Education Sector Support Programme 

B. To extract lessons learned and provide actionable recommendations to inform future 

programming.

Scope and evaluation method

The HE Education Sector Programme has a Somaliland wide reach with education sector 

strengthening, vocational training and school based activities in all of the regions of 

Somaliland. Please see the evaluation ToRs and Annex to the ToRs for a full list of regions, 

districts and schools.

The evaluation will focus on the OECD DAC Impact criteria. The other five DAC main criteria: 

Relevance, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Coherence and Sustainability, will also be assessed by 

the evaluation team using existing data and reports combined with KIIs. The evaluation will 

also include an additional (beyond DAC) criteria exploring operational issues around the 

implementation of the programme.

The evaluation is expected to employ a mixed-method approach, combining qualitative and 

quantitative data collection and analysis. Methods should include Key Informant Interviews 

(KIIs), Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), and other context-relevant tools. The evaluation is 

also expected to use an education system thinking approach for the aspects of the evaluation 

looking at the education sector systems strengthening. 

It is expected that the evaluation will apply a quasi-experimental design using comparison 

groups through matching, regression discontinuity, propensity scores or another means for 

answering parts of the evaluation questions on the causal effects of programme activities. 

The focus will primarily be on phase 4 program activities, which involve 90 primary schools 

and 38 secondary schools across the six regions of Somaliland. These activities aim to 

improve job creation and/or learning outcomes. The exact focus of the quasi-experimental design of the evaluation will be decided in dialogue between the chosen consultants and the 

evaluation reference group and based on prior exploration by consultants of what is possible 

given the Somaliland context. The exact details of the design is to be provided in the Inception 

Report. 

The evaluation will focus on three primary impact areas:

1. Access to Quality Education: Assess improvements in primary and secondary 

education access, quality of learning environments, and educational outcomes, with 

an emphasis on reaching vulnerable groups, including rural communities, girls, and 

children with special needs.

2. Vocational Training and Job Creation: Assess the socio-economic impact of vocational 

training initiatives on job creation and economic empowerment, especially among 

Somaliland’s youth, and the effectiveness of linking educational outcomes to 

employment opportunities.

3. Strengthening Education System: Assess the HE programme’s contribution to 

strengthening the education system in Somaliland including MoES’ capacity to lead, 

monitor, and govern the education system, including policy development, quality 

assurance, and institutional resilience. The assessment will also explore the 

programme's impact on coordination with donors and alignment with international 

education standards.

The evaluation will be participatory, involving key stakeholders such as MoES, Save the 

Children staff, CARE International, and local communities.

The consultants will be responsible for conducting the qualitative and quantitative data 

collection, which should be done in collaboration with a local partner. This would include 

getting any permissions or approvals (including local ethics approval if required) for data 

collection, field team training, administering the survey, facilitating the interviews, monitoring

etc. Data cleaning and analysis for the quantitative data needs to be performed in a standard 

statistical software (STATA, R, SPSS etc.). All reports should include context-based insights 

and adhere to Save the Children’s ethical standards, including safeguarding and data 

protection policies.

Deliverables

1. Inception report detailing evaluation criteria, methodology, data collection tools, 

sampling strategies and ethical considerations

2. Data collection tools for both qualitative and quantitative data collection, interview 

guidelines, and data mechanisms

Data and data analysis files for both quantitative and qualitative data, including raw 

data, programming files, cleaned data and any analysis files

4. Interim report with preliminary key findings and recommendations, identifying 

emerging and programmatic insights and risks

5. Draft evaluation report and final evaluation report summarizing findings, lessons 

learned, and actionable recommendations

Timeline

The evaluation is expected to be conducted between January to March 2025 with a final report 

available in April 2025. 

Estimated manhours 

A total of 10 weeks is estimated for the Team Leader

A total of 8 weeks is estimated for the Education Sector expert

A total of 10 weeks is estimated for the Somaliland based consultant

Please note that all the costs of the evaluation including the costs for data collection, hiring of 

enumerators and transportation, and travel costs for the consultants must be covered by the 

consultants and factored into the financial proposal to be submitted. 

Experiences and Qualifications

CONSULTANT PROFILE

The consulting team should have:

▪ Experience in designing and conducting outcome and impact evaluations in the 

education sector, including using experimental/quasi experimental design, and 

experience with Education System Thinking evaluations. 

▪ Experience in conducting ethical and inclusive studies involving children and child 

participatory techniques. 

▪ Experience in conducting evaluations in humanitarian contexts.

▪ Sound and proven experience in conducting evaluations based on OECD-DAC 

evaluation criteria, particularly utilisation and learning focused evaluations.

▪ Strong written and verbal skills in communicating technical and/ or complex findings 

to non-specialist audiences (especially report writing and presentation skills).

▪ Evaluation Team Leader (TL) must have more than 10 years’ experience designing, 

conducting, and leading outcome/impact evaluations, including using 

experimental/quasi experimental design and including experience from East Africa, preferably Somalia/Somaliland.

Evaluation Team must have one international technical education sector expert with 

more than 10 years of experience undertaking assessments and evaluations in the 

education sector, including experience from East Africa, preferably 

Somalia/Somaliland

▪ Evaluation team must have Somaliland based consultant(s) or company registered to 

work in Somaliland as part of the team.

Financial proposal

Save the Children seeks value for money in its work. This does not necessarily mean "lowest 

cost", but quality of the service and reasonability of the proposed costs. Proposals shall 

include personnel allocation (role / number of days / daily rates / taxes), as well as any other 

applicable costs.

Please note that all costs for data collection including hiring of enumerators and data 

collection team locally and all costs incurred with logistical arrangements such as domestic 

and international travel of consultants, accommodation, and rental of vehicles must be 

covered by the consultants and factored into the financial proposal to be submitted.

Skills Required

Attachment

Follow us on social media