Feasibility Study Consultant Kindernothilfe

INFORMATION ABOUT KINDERNOTHILFE E.V.

Kindernothilfe (KNH) is a children's rights organisation based on Christian values. Since its foundation in 1959, the organisation has been committed to the recognition of children and young people in situations of poverty and marginalisation as subjects of rights. In 2020, Kindernothilfe in Germany and its branches in Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg protected and strengthened the rights of 1.9 million children and adolescents through 566 projects in 33 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.

Kindernothilfe implements awareness raising, education and advocacy projects in line with development policies. The projects contribute to the realisation of children's rights through the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Over the past ten years, Kindernothilfe has focused on promoting the Child-rights based approach (CRA) in order to change children's lives for the better in the long term.

Kindernothilfe aims to create a world in which children and young people live a dignified life and enjoy their rights without being discriminated against because of their social, economic or political status or their religious beliefs.

INFORMATION ON THE KNH PARTNER ORGANISATION ON WHOSE BEHALF THE PLANNED FEASIBILITY STUDY WILL BE CARRIED OUT.

Seenaryo is a leading specialist in theatre and play-based learning with under-served communities in Lebanon and Jordan. They use theatre and play to transform education and support people to learn, lead, heal and thrive in their classrooms and communities. Having reached over 100,000 children, youth, women and teachers since 2015, in 2023 Seenaryo has won the Arts, Culture & Heritage Award at the UK’s Charity Awards and was one of Expo 2020 Dubai’s 120 Global Innovators. They also lectured for New York University on their Teacher Fellowship, and have been featured in Al Jazeera and Prospect Magazine.

In 2022, Seenaryo created 39 original theatre productions. They also trained 668 teachers to transform learning through play using a previous version of the Seenaryo Playkit mobile phone app, reaching 15,574 schoolchildren.

INFORMATION ON THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

The proposed project is to be funded by KNH and the German Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ).

Project title: Transform attitudes to & capacity for play-based early years teaching & learning in Lebanon

Thematic areas of the project: Early years education, early childhood development, child rights, participatory education, play-based learning, teacher training

Expected duration of the project: 4 years (48 months)

Planned project site(s): All nine regions (mohafazat) of Lebanon. Project to take place in kindergartens, primary schools and non-formal education centres; both government schools, low-income private schools, UNWRA schools for Palestinian refugees, and NGO-led emergency schools for Syrian refugees.

Brief description of the project

The project is not yet fully developed, but the broad outlines of its objectives, the first approaches to the expected results and the strategic activities are presented below.

1. Objectives and sub-objectives (results) to be achieved

Overall project objective: Children develop the life skills they need to fulfill their potential

Outcome 1: Early years teachers teach more effectively using play

Outcome 2: Teachers develop a long-term commitment to delivering, advocating for and furthering their capabilities in play-based teaching

Outcome 3: Early Childhood Education stakeholders including Ministry of Education embed child-centred, play-based teaching practices in national policy

1. Brief description of the main components and strategies

First, Seenaryo will develop and upgrade the Seenaryo Playkit - a mobile phone app and in-person training targeting early years teachers. Teachers will then be trained by Seenaryo trainers in play-based learning, and will be inducted to the Seenaryo Playkit app after the training, which provides continuous access to a vast bank of play-based resources (songs, interactive stories, games and classroom management techniques) in Arabic, French and English. In parallel, headteachers will receive one-on-one coaching to support them in embedding play into their schools.

All trained teachers will be welcomed into the Seenaryo Teacher Community, which features online and offline events, resources, networking and peer learning opportunities, to ensure their continued professional development and application of play-based learning beyond the end of the training. Finally, evidence and evaluation from the project will be used to contribute to advocacy campaigns targeting ministries and major education stakeholders advocating the centrality of child-centred, play-based ECE.

1. Description of the target group(s) and the main actors involved

Direct target group: 91,000 people reached over four years. Disaggregation:

• 3,500 teachers of early years children reached (450 teachers per year receive in-person training and 1,700 further teachers over four years use the Playkit app). They are 75% female, aged 18-65 years.
• 87,500 children reached (2,250 children per year participation in child consultation sessions, 9,000 further children are taught by teachers who take the in-person training, 42,500 further children over four years benefit from their teachers’ use of the app). Children are 50% female, and all aged between 3 and 8 years old. At least 25% have a disability.
• 20 representatives from MEHE (Ministry of Education and Higher Education) and CERD (Centre for Educational Research and Development)

Indirect target group:

• At least 160 headteachers from at least 160 schools
• 262,500 parents and siblings of the 87,500 children reached by the project (calculated as an average of 3 family members per child). They are 50% female, all ages.
• 100 representatives of local government and municipalities, higher education institutions including LAU (Lebanese American University) and the UCL (University College London) Institute of Education, and representatives from INGO education providers.

OBJECTIVES OF THE FEASIBILITY STUDY

The preparation of the feasibility study is an essential component for Kindernothilfe and Seenaryo. The results of such a study should help to refine the project concept, present the institutional, social, political, economic and environmental context and identify the opportunities and risks of project implementation. They will guide the conceptualisation of the whole project. The purpose of the study is therefore to examine the project objectives and its planned components and strategies in the light of the given context and available resources.

The implementation of the study should be planned in a participatory manner to allow for joint learning experiences. Possible risks and obstacles to project implementation should be identified and mitigated at an early stage. Bad investments should be avoided. The study should enable Kindernothilfe to gain in-depth knowledge about the project and to accompany and support its partner organisation in the planning and implementation of the project in the best possible way.

The following important steps should be taken into account when planning and carrying out the study:

- An analysis of the project context (political, social, structural, economic and ecological)

- For child rights-based projects]: An analysis of the situation of children and the main violations of their rights.

- An analysis of the main stakeholders and their level of influence in the planned project areas

- Clarification (and if necessary adaptation) of the project objectives with the identification of appropriate indicators for monitoring and measuring the achievement of the objectives. Review context and underlying root causes, project intervention and provide recommendations or alternatives to the strategies, where applicable.

- Review and, where necessary, adaptation of approaches and strategies.

The study report should provide clear and practically feasible recommendations that will be taken into account in the subsequent planning of the project. In doing so, the overall direction and purpose of the project should not be changed.

A proposed impact matrix with appropriate indicators should be presented as one of the outcomes of the study.

The verification of the feasibility of the proposed project is based on the collection and analysis of primary and secondary data, as well as other essential information that can support the subsequent conceptualisation of the project. The sustainability factors of the project are determined and the capacity of Seenaryo to implement it is presented.

The approach actively involves the staff of the partner organisation as well as representatives of the target groups and stakeholders. The study thus makes an important contribution to the submission of a qualified project proposal to the Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation.

Download the complete TORs here: https://www.seenaryo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/ToR-Feasibility-Study_KNH.pdf