Request for Proposal: The Economic Consequences of Hazard Impacts on Education

Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organisation for children. We work in 120 countries. Our vision is a world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation. Our mission is to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives. Our values are accountability, ambition, collaboration, creativity, and integrity. In 2015 we reached 62 million children directly through our programmes in health, nutrition, education, protection and child rights, and also in times of humanitarian crises. In 2015 our combined revenues were $2.1 billion.

Save the Children International Asia Regional Office is inviting submissions for proposals for conducting the following research:

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to appraise the short- and long-term, tangible and intangible, direct and indirect economic consequences of intensive and extensive hazards impacts on the education sector, including and especially with reference to reducing educational inequities and disparities. Understanding the value that is exposed to risk will provide valuable information for policy-makers, advocates and donors regarding the need to asses cost benefits of variety of possible measures to reduce this exposure.

The project has two elements:

1. To Construct a framework to analyse the economic consequences of hazards on the education sector, and
2. To apply that framework to three case studies The framework should include the impact of hazards and associated policy responses on both

• education sector infrastructure (facilities, teaching and learning materials, etc.) as well as
• educational outcomes for students (achievement and attainment).

The framework should be constructed so that it can be used for cost-effectiveness, cost benefit, and social return on investment analyses in the future.

Title

The Economic Consequences of Hazard Impacts on Education: Analytical Framework and Case Studies

Project summary

The purpose of this research is to complete a study of the economic consequences of the impacts of intensive and extensive hazards on the education sector. This is to be completed through development and application of a framework to enable the quantification of short- and long-term, tangible and intangible, direct and indirect economic consequences of intensive and extensive hazards impacts on the education sector. Particular reference is to be made to reducing educational inequities and disparities. It is expected to address both the impacts on education sector assets (infrastructure as well as teaching and learning materials), as well as upon individual educational achievement and attainment and longer-term consequences for family socio-economic status.

Background 

Education Safe from Disasters

Save the Children has launched an Education Safe from Disasters (ESD) strategy, which is a three-year Asia-Pacific regional strategy, aimed at strengthening Save the Children’s approach to Comprehensive School Safety, which aims to defend two fundamental child rights: the right to safety and survival, and the right to education. Governmental, inter-governmental, civil society, and private sector partners of the Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Worldwide Initiative for Safe Schools, and the Global Partnership for Education are all extremely interested to understand both disaster impacts on education, as well as cost-effective interventions to reduce these impacts.

The Asia region is the most disaster prone in the world, and children bear the brunt of the impact. Countries in the region experience infrequent high-impact hazards such as, earthquakes, tsunami, volcanoes; frequent lower-impact hazards such as cyclones and monsoons; slow-onset hazards such as drought, coastal erosion, and subsidence; and a range of social hazards including hazardous materials releases and conflict.

Rationale

This study aims to complement other recent studies on the barriers to achieving children’s right to a free basic quality education, and to identify significant sources of inequities in educational participation, as the result of hazards, disasters, and climate-change impacts.

The study will generate the foundational evidence on economic consequences of disaster impacts on the education sector in order to recommend and point the way forward to both risk reduction investment options, as well as to long-term data collection, and future research. An understanding of the financial and economic consequences of a variety of hazard impacts on the education sector is needed to support recommendations for policy implementation, as well as to propose a way forward for ongoing research and analysis in this field. 

The case studies will begin to document and provide constructive examples for many hazard prone countries in their efforts to understand the impacts of hazards on education, and to address educational inequities with thoughtful, evidence-based planning and decision-making. The results are expected to guide education sector partners, development partners, donors, and other stakeholders in reducing hazard and disaster impacts on the education sector.

Aim, objectives & research questions

This section can be revised with selected researcher(s), and upon consultation with key stakeholders, especially with education authority partners, and country office TA.

Aim:

To understand the economic consequences of hazards impacts on both educational outcomes for children, and on education sector investments from a theoretical perspective as well as from case study examples.

Objectives:

• To understand the differential and longitudinal economic consequences of hazards impacts on children’s education outcomes (including larger intensive disaster impacts and extensive and recurrent impacts of hazards);
• To understand the economic impacts of hazards on education sector investments;
• To utilize quantitative data for analysis of economic consequences of hazard impacts in three case studies.

Proposed research questions:

Researchers are invited to formulate the proposed research questions in their proposal and in their inception report. 

Scope of work and deliverables

• Inception Report
• Research-into-Practice Brief
• Final Report
• PowerPoint presentation of findings for general practitioner and stakeholder workshop
• Full data set (where applicable)

Qualifications

Applicants may be an individual or a team.

Applicants should demonstrate that the team has:

• A qualified economist
• Subject-matter expertise in education sector research
• Subject-matter expertise in disaster impacts research
• Subject-matter expertise in educational inequities research
• Strong research design and quantitative data analysis skills
• Excellent writing, conceptual and analytic skills, including being able to write for practitioners and policy-makers
• Proven track record in designing and implementing social science research
• Commitment to research dissemination and interest in implementation science highly desirable
• Appropriate cultural and language skills to carry out research in this particular context

In accordance with Save the Children's child safeguarding policies, all team members selected will be requested to sign SC's Child Safeguarding Policies.

Responsibilities

The Save the Children and DepEd Research Project Support Team will guide and review the research methodology and outputs.

Timelines & milestones

Research Duration: September 1, 2017 – November 30th, 2017 

Budget

Budget range: Max EUR 45,000

• Payment will be made in 2 tranches: 40% upon receipt of approved inception report and 60% upon receipt of approved final deliverables.
• The researcher/research team is responsible for all travel, telecommunications and other costs as may be required. 
• Research proposal should include all anticipated costs. 

Oversight & accountability

Contractor will report to the Research and Learning Program Manager, and will be guided by a Research Project Guidance Team, represented by an assigned Save the Children TA Lead, as well as an independent Academic Research Advisor (assigned by Save the Children). The team will function as resource persons, to support the primary researcher (and team, where applicable), to produce quality outputs and guide effective research dissemination and next steps in implementation. 

Publication & dissemination of results

This research is a 'work for hire', and as such, Save the Children reserves the right to retain the data collected and to publish research report. Primary Investigator and Research Project Team are encouraged to consider submission of appropriate publications to both peer-reviewed journals, and relevant and national regional publications. Any such submission requires prior approval from Save the Children.