Introduction: Plan International (India Chapter) works with NGO partners to facilitate child centred community development (CCCD). Plan India’s Country Strategy Plan (CSP – IV) for 2015-20, recognizes Economic Development as key to ensure children’s development, and rights as it ensures the capacity of households to provide basic rights and needs of the children. In addition, CSP – IV guides Plan India to support preparing young men and women to get decent and formal employment or self-employment through market oriented vocational, business and life skills training. Plan believes constructive engagement of youth is essential for developing a just society and supporting underprivileged youth for employment would contribute to prevent inter-generational cycle of poverty.
Saksham Project Overview: Saksham, launched in 2010, is a Plan India initiative to enable youth from urban and rural disadvantaged areas to realize their dreams by equipping them with market oriented vocational skills in the age group of 18 -35 years . This not only helps them to access decent employment but also makes them representatives of a gender just society and better citizen. Plan India provides the youth opportunities to escape poverty and become economically secure by giving them the skills to get a job or be self-employed through training and employment. Youth are being provided training on workplace and English communication, basic computer and internet, life skills and financial literacy. Saksham is implemented in partnership with civil society and training organizations. Girls and women are amongst most vulnerable section of society. Thereby Saksham has specific focus on girls, wherein at least 60% of trained youth should be girls and gender mainstreaming is an integral part of pedagogy. Over 5000 youth have already been provided training with 75% of them are either being placed in decent jobs or are self-employed.
Overall goal: To support disadvantaged youth, with focus on young women, to make them employable by equipping them with essential market oriented vocational and life skills, which will not only help them to access decent employment but also makes them representatives of a gender just society.
Objectives:
— To make youth, living in disadvantaged urban communities, employable by imparting job oriented vocational training and formal jobs.
— To make youth, living in disadvantaged rural communities, self-employed by providing vocational training for entrepreneurship promotion.
Key Strategies:
— Job Oriented Vocational Training (JOVT): This refers to all processes and trainings undertaken in Saksham to provide youth access to job oriented vocational training and formal jobs.
— Vocational Training for Entrepreneurship Promotion (VTEP): This refers to all processes and trainings undertaken to provide youth access to vocational training for entrepreneurship, interchangeably referred as self-employment.
— Gender Mainstreaming: This is critical guiding principle and strategy across all work undertaken in Saksham. This enables stakeholders to understand gender relations at personal, community and work spaces.
— Decent Employment: Saksham approach is guided by the principle of decent employment. This focusses on enabling environment, equal & minimum wages, freedom of expression for youth.
About the Evaluation: Saksham is one of the important projects of Plan India towards youth employability which was supported by various donors. The evaluation will produce two reports as per following project details:-
Project 1:
Target Area: Delhi
Strategy: Job Oriented Vocational Training
Target Numbers: 1100
Project Period: 01.07.2013 – 31.12.2016
Target Area: Uttarakhand
Strategy: Vocational Training for Entrepreneurship Promotion
Target Numbers: 900
Project Period: 01.07.2013 – 31.12.2016
Project 2:
Target area: Delhi
Strategy: Job Oriented Vocational Training
Target numbers: 350
Project period: 01.09.2014 – 31.12.2016
Target Area: Hyderabad
Strategy: Job Oriented Vocational Training
Target Numbers: 350
Project Period: 01.09.2014 – 31.12.2016
The project involves a mobilization partner(s) and training partner(s).
Objectives of the Evaluation:
— Review the project achievement and progress towards goal, objectives, key outputs and outcomes.
— Highlight the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and impact of project on youth and community.
— Identify learning and challenges under the project.
— Document lessons, good practices, (including case studies target group)
— Develop business plan and way forward for project.
— Potential / recommendations for ICT/e-learning and Saksham (a business plan on same).
— Evaluation of the gender mainstreaming actions.
Scope of the Evaluation and sectoral study: The evaluation process will include i) desk assessment, and ii) comprehensive in-field evaluation visits where Saksham project has been implemented. The study will provide an overview of the outcome and impact of Saksham project on youth employment in the targeted operational areas. The evaluation should categorically highlight following information of the project:
— Proposed evaluation to be a larger livelihood sectoral evaluation in current target states of Delhi, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
— Include in-depth livelihood sectoral status analysis and understanding in aforesaid target areas.
— Number of youth trained out of project and % of youth engaged in gainful decent employment (at least during first 6 months of course completion and placement);
— % of girls provided training (JOVT and VTEP)
— % of youth, especially girls, reporting increase in quality of life; (to identify if perception of girls and young women as seen by fathers/brothers/other family and or community members, whether this has changed. Do they value Saksham girls differently now? Etc.)
— % of women demonstrating positive changes on indicators (economic, social status, decision-making ability and self-confidence, job satisfaction).
— % of youth enrolled in higher education after having joined Saksham project.
— % of youth who completed training reporting an increase in income within six months.
— Number of youth provided VTEP training and % of them self-employed
— % of youth in self- employment (men and women) are linked to CMMF.
— % of youth showing improvement in quality of life through increased investment/expenditure on food, education of children/siblings, asset creation during the last 3 months
— % of girls getting married at later than 18 years (at least 3-4 years later)
Note – All information should be collected and collated with gender and social dis-aggregation.
Suggested Methodology: Following data/information collection strategies are included in the evaluation methodology:
> Desk Review: Review of approved project, data, MIS, Reports of the Saksham project.
> Quantitative Data Collection: The evaluation team will adopt following methods to collect quantitative data from the project:
— In-depth Interviews and Consultations: The evaluation team will conduct both formal and informal in-depth interviews and consultations with the identified stakeholders of the Saksham project.
— Focus Groups: Team will meet direct groups of young people who are supported by project.
— Observations: The team members will conduct project site visits with the intention of observing a range of services required to promote youth employability in the targeted communities and services provided through Saksham project to youth located in targeted different communities.
— Consultation with Plan and Respective Partners: The evaluation team would require doing consultation with all stakeholders of the project to understand / evaluate the project and also cross verify the findings of the evaluation.
> Quantitative Data Collection: Evaluation team will collect quantitative data through:
— Surveys: The team will conduct end line survey based on the set indicators with youth, their families, employers, NGO partners, Plan India Staff etc. during the study.
— Research and Data Collection: The team will also conduct desk review of projects, reports, MIS etc. and would also do background research before starting field evaluation.
Location of field evaluation: Evaluation team would visit Saksham Project sites in Delhi, Uttarakhand, and Hyderabad
Format of the Final Report:
— Structure of the final report will be determined during tool finalization and going through inception report. The evaluation will have two detailed reports, covering (Delhi and Uttarakhand) and (Hyderabad and Delhi) as indicated in earlier section 3.
— A reasonable documents, page wise, in really proper English (please use an native English speaker to do a last edit) and please ensure a draft version is submitted and discussed with Plan first for clarifications, questions and answer session and not just a final version.
Time Line: The key task of evaluation team is to do desk review, field evaluation, consultation with all stakeholders to identify learning and challenges contributing to / hindering the success of the Saksham project and recommend strategies for the next phase(s). Time line of four weeks from the date of commencement.
Deliverables:
— Methodology design, tools to be utilized for this evaluation, structure of agreed report;
— Draft reports with field evaluation, end line survey report; recommended strategies for job oriented Skill Development and entrepreneurship development project for future;
— Final report(s) including executive summary, quantitative and qualitative findings of survey, interview, learning, challenges, conclusions and recommendations and way forward etc.
— Power point presentation of the study findings & recommendations; as mentioned above overall separate reports of Saksham Project.
— Sharing all open files and data files.
— A brief report (not more than 15 pages) significantly capturing the key evaluation findings
— Communication materials catchy summarized flyers (with success, learnings etc.), short clip/film.
— Include all comments and suggestions provided by Plan India to arrive at final reports.
Expectation from the Resource Agency/ Individual(s): Resource agency should have sound understanding and experience in field of analyzing issues of youth vocational training and education. The applicant agency should have rich experience in dual fields- i.e. of ‘Research and Evaluation’ and ‘Youth Employability Programming through Skill Development’. Besides, the agency having hands-on experience in the field of youth employability through skill development will have added advantage. Knowledge and work experience in the target states is desirable from the potential agencies.
The report produced out of the said exercise will be copyright document of Plan India.
Child Protection Policy: Plan is committed to protect children and to prevent them from any harm they may be exposed to through our work. Therefore, the successful applicant will be requested to sign and comply with Plan’s Child Protection Policy. This is a Level 2 assignment as per Plan’s Child Protection Procedures and may have some contact or interaction with children.
If you are interested then kindly submit your proposal to PROCURE@planindia.org with subject line Proposal for Evaluation of Saksham Project.
Last date of submission: 10th December 2016.
Note: Plan India reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal without assigning any reasons whatsoever.
