Terms of Reference for consultancy to develop a position paper on sponsored schools in Kenya

Date of issue: January 26, 2021

Position: Consultant

Tentative starting date: February 20, 2021.                            

Type of contract: Short term

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

1. About EACHRights and Shule Yangu Alliance Campaign

The East African Centre for Human Rights (EACHRights) was founded in May 2010 and registered as a Trust in Kenya in November of the same year. It was established to undertake human rights work within a regional context. The organization is the first regional human rights institution of its kind in East Africa that seeks to initiate and undertake programmes that will promote, protect and enhance human rights generally but with special emphasis on the promotion of the realization of economic, social and cultural rights in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The establishment of the organization was driven by the developments in the international, regional and national human rights arena and discourse; the gaps that were identified with regard to human rights in East Africa and the emerging opportunities that have presented themselves with regard to the promotion, protection and enhancement of human rights in general and specifically to the realization of economic and social rights among marginalized and vulnerable groups.

The organization currently specializes in promoting the realization of the right to health and education for children. EACHRights has been promoting the Right to Education in Kenya through research, advocacy, policy engagement, awareness creation and capacity building since 2015. Over the past two years, EACHRights’ activities have created opportunities to further the right to education agenda in the pursuit of ensuring that all children have access to free quality basic education.

The Shule Yangu Alliance Campaign is an alliance of stakeholders drawn from Government, Civic and Private sector organizations that seeks to ensure “Protection of schools against illegal land-grabs, support Government to issue title deeds to public schools and Support communities to own their schools.” The Campaign was established in 2015 following the Lang’ata Primary School landgrab case and seeks to accelerate the protection and titling of public-school land. It also seeks to accelerate the Presidential directive of 2015, to have all 32,354 public schools in Kenya titled.

2. Rationale and objectives of the assignment

On 13^th November 2018, the President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered the Ministry of Education to restore the ownership of all Church-owned land and built schools back to their “rightful owner”. The President further directed the Ministry to restore Church sponsorship of schools which traditionally used to be under their care. This was met with mixed reactions from the members of the public and celebration from the religious organizations more so the Catholic Church. However, there were pertinent issues surrounding the directive that remain unresolved:

• Is the presidential directive supported by law?
• Does having public schools’ ownership under churches have any effect on discipline and morality?
• What is the effect of having the schools land title under the sponsor’s name?

From the foregoing, it is very evident that sponsored schools and the founding law remain a grey area and that the same could have far reaching effects on the quality and accessibility of education than is generally assumed. There is therefore need to conduct a detailed research on the following issues which constitute the objectives of this particular assignment:

• The kind of sponsors that exist;
• The relationship that the various sponsors have with the sponsored institutions;
• Whether the risk of re-privatization of sponsored schools exists and the effect of that on the right to basic quality education.
• How sponsored schools operate and how they are managed;
• Challenges encountered in the running and management of sponsored schools;
• The bearing of these challenges and risks on the right to education;
• Whether sponsorship is likely to impact access to and quality of education;
• Registration criteria and requirements for sponsored schools.
• Land titling aspects of sponsored schools and the risks involved;
• The long-term effects of having the title in the sponsor’s name;
• BOM constitution for sponsored schools and its implication on management and quality of education;
• The implication of sponsorship on those pupils/students who do not profess the faith of the sponsor.

3. Consultancy Deliverables

1. Undertake a legal review of the laws and policies that have a bearing on sponsored schools.
2. Develop a position paper on the status of sponsored schools.
3. Facilitate Consultation forums with civil society, school owners, head teachers, Ministry officials and key sponsor groups e.g. Faith Based organizations.
4. Support Dissemination Workshops with Policy makers and key stakeholders

4. Minimum Requirements and Competencies

The ideal candidate should possess the following qualifications and attributes, at a minimum:

• Extensive experience and knowledge in the field of Education.
• A Master degree in a relevant discipline, i.e., education, law, political science, social development or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience in working with stakeholders in the NGO sector or with human rights programs.
• Ability to analyze, interpret and synthesize information from a number of sources.
• Ability to manage multiple, complex tasks being undertaken concurrently.
• Ability to work with minimal supervision.
• Excellent writing and communication skills including in presentations and report writing.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Be a self-motivated, creative, strategic thinker with substantive senior level experience in working on human rights issues with a bias to Child Rights.
• Have experience in leading and facilitating participatory processes.
• Demonstrate excellent interpersonal and professional skills.
• Must be result-oriented, a team player, exhibiting high levels of enthusiasm, tact, diplomacy and integrity.
• Provide evidence of having undertaken similar assignments.

5. Supervision

The consultant will be expected to be self-motivated and able to work independently. Supervision and support will be provided by the Education Support Program Manager in EACHRights.

6. Duration and timing of the assignment

The consultancy is expected to take a maximum of 28 days. The consultant is expected to work independently and regularly consult with the project team on work progress. The consultancy is set to begin on 1^st March and end on 28^th March, 2021.

7. Submission of Interest
Interested candidates who fully meet the above criteria are invited to send their applications to jobs@eachrights.or.ke along with the following:

• Updated company profile and/or curriculum vitae with references
• A detailed proposal (expressing interest in the Consultancy including a detailed work plan)
• A financial proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs.

Applications to be submitted on or before 5pm on February 2^nd 2021. The subject of the application letter or e-mail should read “Application for consultancy on Sponsored Schools in Kenya” and the cover letter should be addressed to:

The Chief Executive Officer

East African Center for Human Rights – EACHRights

P.O Box 19494-00100

NAIROBI, KENYA

Only e-mail applications will be accepted.

Incomplete applications will not be considered, and only successful candidates will be contacted. Any form of canvassing will lead to automatic disqualification.

East African Centre for Human Rights is an equal opportunity employer.

Download the PDF document with details of the consultancy here