Request For Aga Khan Foundation
Baseline Study for Global Partnership – Education (GPE STG)
1. Background and Rational
The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), with funding from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), is implementing a 29-month (Nov 1, 2025-Mar 31, 2028) Systems Transformation Grant (STG) across eight provinces in Afghanistan. The program aims to strengthen equitable access to education, improve learning quality, and support system-level transformation in alignment with the Afghanistan Education Sector Support Plan (AESSP). This ToR outlines a request for conducting a baseline study (open to qualified firms/NGOs and individuals) of the project to establish a baseline for the project indicators and build an evidence base for measuring the results brought by the project during the project implementation cycle. The baseline study will assess the pre-intervention conditions in the project’s targeted areas, providing a foundation for tracking project activities. This study will enable the team to monitor progress effectively and ensure that the intervention is progressing toward its intended outcomes.
The STG aims to achieve its goal through the following outcomes and interventions:
Outcome 1: Girls and boys have continued access to safe, inclusive, equitable learning environments (Aligned with AESSP Strategic Goal 1: Access to Education).
• Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) centers for 4-6-year-olds.
• Community-Based Schools (CBS) pilot for out-of-school children (ages 7-12).
• Catch-up classes for in-school children (ages 7-19).
• Remedial classes for in school and out of school children in grades 1-6.
Outcome 2: Improved quality of formal and non-formal education (Aligned with AESSP Strategic Goal 2: Education Quality)
• Teacher professional development across ECCD, CBS, and formal schools.
Outcome 3: Advanced Progress towards Afghanistan Education Sector Support Plan (AESSP) goals
• Community engagement programs (family engagement, ECCD/ CBS Shuras).
• System strengthening activities, Local NGOs (LNGO) capacity building and generating evidence for scalable and sustainable models.
Given the scale and complexity of the initiative, a baseline study is required to establish pre-intervention values for key indicators across Outcomes 1, 2, and 3 above.
2. Purpose of the Baseline Study
The baseline study aims to:
• Establish starting values for all STG indicators across access, quality, teacher development, safeguarding, community engagement, and system- strengthening components.
• Provide a strong evidence base to support AKF and implementing partners in setting realistic, data-driven indicator targets using baseline data.
• Provide contextual analysis of barriers to education for girls, boys, adolescents, and children with disabilities across target provinces.
• Generate recommendations to strengthen program implementation, monitoring, and adaptation.
• Support system learning, aligned with STG’s emphasis on generating evidence.
• for scalable and sustainable models (e.g., CBS pilot).
The STG targets:
• 276,320 children and adolescents (50% girls) across ECCD, CBS, Remedial, and Catch-up classes.
• 14,504 teachers and volunteers.
• 12,480 parents/caregivers, including adolescent girls.
• 3,864 Shura members (ECCD / CBS).
The project is implemented by AKF with multiple LNGOs as implementing partners, ensuring local leadership and community-driven implementation.
The baseline will cover all eight provinces listed below, with sampling determined in the inception phase.
STG Geographic Coverage
Province Tentative Partners (to be confirmed by the
inception phase) No. of Districts
Badakhshan SSEOA TBD
Baghlan AICS TBD
Bamyan WDIO TBD
Badghis WADAN TBD
Takhar NSRDO TBD
Nangarhar SODC TBD
Samangan ASLO TBD
Herat AABRAR TBD
3. Scope of Work
The consultant (or consulting firm/NGO) will be expected to work in close coordination with AKF Afghanistan’s Education team in Kabul and conduct field visits to the target provinces for primary data collection. The consultant will hold planning and consultation meetings (in person or virtually) with the AKF education team in Kabul at the outset and at key points during the study. Subsequently, the consultant will recruit and train enumerators and supervise data collection in the selected sample areas across the eight target provinces (sampling design, sample size, and representativeness with fieldwork sites to be determined in consultation with AKF, ensuring all regions of the program are adequately represented).
While in the field, the consultant/firm/NGO should work closely with local partner staff to facilitate access to communities and schools.
The consultant will report to the National Knowledge Management Team - Education at AKF Afghanistan, whose will act as the focal point for this study. These focal points will coordinate field activities with implementing partner agencies and the STG Project Management Unit (PMU) and provide oversight and technical guidance as needed.
Baseline Study Key Questions
While these will be finalized during the inception phase, the following preliminary guiding questions are proposed:
Access & Participation (Outcome 1)
• What is the current level of access to ECCD, CBS availability, and what proportion of school-age children remain out of school in targeted area?
• What are the most common challenges faced by girls, children with disabilities, IDPs, returnees, and adolescents that affect their school enrollment, regular attendance, and retention?
• What is the current level of academic and non-academic learning outcomes of children enrolled in ECCD, CBS, and Catch-up classes and adolescent girls participating in family engagement meetings?
Teaching & Learning Quality (Outcome 2)
• What is the current level of teacher knowledge, instructional practices, and existing gaps in teacher training that require improvement?
• What is the availability, relevance, and quality of TLMs, facilities and classroom materials and what should be changed for TLMs, facilities, and classrooms to be more relevant and useful?
• To assess how can/ what type of the project rehabilitate or adapt learning spaces to be more inclusive, safe, and child-friendly?
Systems Strengthening (Outcome 3)
• What capacities and systems exist among LNGOs, field staff, Shuras, and local education authorities to plan, implement, supervise, and sustain STG project?
• To what extent are communities and MoE prepared to support and absorb CBS and ECCD classes with formal education system?
4. Methodology
A mixed method research design is necessary. The consultant shall propose a robust methodology aligned with the core concepts of STG that informs all indicators in the result framework. The evaluation methodology should allow the project team to gather data over time on the project indicators and the tools. Sampling will be designed to allow comparability with future midline/endline studies, especially regarding learning outcomes, and should also facilitate comparisons. The methodology will ensure a representative sample of respondents for each quantitative tool. Quantitative data will be complemented by qualitative methods, including focus group discussions and key informant interviews with relevant stakeholders. These participants will be selected through purposive sampling to support triangulation and provide deeper insights into the quantitative findings.
The methodology can be refined at the inception phase in close coordination with AKF technical teams.
As part of the baseline assessment for Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD), Schools2030 assessment tools will be applied to measure classroom quality and child learning outcomes.
The Brief Early Quality Inventory (BEQI) will be used to observe and assess the quality of the ECCD classroom learning environment, including physical space, interactions, and learning materials. The International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) will be used to assess early learning outcomes of ECCD children across key developmental domains.
The consultant will be responsible for integrating these tools into the baseline methodology, sampling strategy, enumerator training, data collection, and analysis, in close coordination with AKF’s Education and Schools2030 technical teams.
The final agreed methodology will be detailed in the inception report and must be approved by AKF before data collection. The evaluator should remain flexible to adapt the approach if unforeseen challenges arise (for example, if security issues prevent travel to a certain area, an alternative strategy such as engaging additional local enumerators or using remote data collection tools may be employed in consultation with AKF).
Ethical Safeguards
The evaluation must be conducted in accordance with international ethical standards for research and evaluation, including those of AKF, child safeguarding, informed consent, assent, confidentiality, and referral pathways. Especially given the involvement of children, CwDs, and communities in a fragile context. The consultant is required to detail their proposal and implement throughout the assignment how they will ensure the highest ethical standards.
5. Deliverables
• Inception Report.
• Baseline Tools + Data analysis plan.
• Field work completion notes.
• Field data collection and other associated tasks.
• Cleaned Datasets + Codebooks.
• Draft Baseline Report.
• Final Baseline Report (designed to be reader-friendly, with photos).
• 2-page Designed Report Brief and PowerPoint Presentation.
• Baseline Socialization Workshop with the PMU and LNGO partners, at the national level.
• Baseline Presentation with AKF and the Education Strategic Thematic Working Group (Ed-STWG), at the national level.
All deliverables should be in English. The consultant is responsible for high-quality writing, design, thorough proofreading, and ensuring that any translated materials are accurate. AKF will provide templates or branding guidelines if required (for the report and brief). The timeline for these deliverables is outlined in the next section and will be finalized in the consultant’s workplan.
6. Qualifications Required
The consultant/firm/NGO must have:
• At least 5-7 years of experience in conducting education/educational research and evaluations in fragile contexts, particularly in Afghanistan.
• Expertise in research and evaluation on ECCD, CBE, teacher development, systems strengthening, and LNGOs/CSOs capacity building.
• Demonstrated experience with ECD classroom observation and child learning assessment tools, including familiarity with BEQI and/or IDELA or similar international ECD assessment instruments.
• Consultants without prior experience in BEQI or IDELA must demonstrate strong ECD assessment experience, and AKF will provide technical orientation and guidance on the Schools2030 tools in case required.
• Proficiency in mixed research methods, digital data collection, and indicator-based analysis.
• Proficiency in qualitative data collection methods and analysis.
• Strong understanding of gender, inclusion and safeguarding, particularly for Afghan girls.
• Enriched contextual knowledge and experience of working in similar conditions.
• English required, Pashto/Dari preferred.
• Ability to travel to Kabul and selected provinces.
7. Timeline
The tentative start date of the baseline study is in May 2026 and shall follow an 8-weeks’ timeline upon contracting.
• Week 1: Desk review + inception.
• Week 2: Inception Report +Tool development+ Enumerator training.
• Week 3–5: Field data collection.
• Week 6-7: Analysis + Draft report.
• Week 8: Finalization.
8. Additional Information
• The consultant is responsible for all costs (travel, accommodation, logistics, enumerators, etc.).
• AKF will provide project documents, indicator lists, and introductions to partners.
• The consultant should ensure that data is securely stored, protected, and properly managed, including ownership, sharing, and intellectual property rights.
Application
Interested applicants should submit their Proposal to Jobs.afghanistan@akdn.org no later than 25th April 2026. Please contact Mr. Erfanullah Mohammadi at Erfanullah.mohammadi@akdn.org and Nasratullah Roein at Nasratullah.roein@akdn.org if you need further clarifications or any query on or before the deadline.
Important Notes:
• Please quote the Vacancy Number as the Subject of the e-mail when applying.
• Please submit a copy of business license along with the proposal.
• Only short-listed Firms will be contacted for further assessment.
Detailed technical proposal of not more than 8 pages clearly demonstrating a thorough understanding of this request for proposals and including the following:
• Description of quantitative and qualitative study approach and methodology, covering preliminary sampling considerations, data management and data analysis, and gender equality and ethical standards.
• A proposed timeframe detailing activity and a schedule/work plan (including a Gantt chart)
• A proposed training approach for enumerators.
• Team composition and level of effort of each proposed team member.
• A financial proposal with a detailed breakdown of costs for the study.
• Curriculum Vitae(s) of all proposed staff outlining relevant experience (annexed to technical proposal).
• A copy of a previous report of similar work undertaken on a) baseline study; OR b) endline study
• A Consulting Firm profile (if applicable).
• Brief letter of interest, including the contact information of two previous clients who can be contacted as references to provide relevant experience. Consultants are also expected to disclose any conflict of interest related to this mandate with AKF.
Proposals will be evaluated only if the complete package as outlined above is received.
The Aga Khan Foundation Afghanistan (AKF- Afg) promotes a transparent and equitable recruitment process. We reiterate that all services related to job applications, including processing, seminars, and training programs, are provided free of charge.
Our official job announcements are posted on the ACBAR website (acbar.org/jobs). Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their applications through our designated email address: jobs.afghanistan@akdn.org. Each job vacancy is assigned a unique identification number for your reference and upon submitting your application, you will receive an automatic confirmation acknowledging its receipt, immediately.
AKF- Afg recruitment and selection process reflect our commitment to equal opportunity and protecting children and at-risk adults, beneficiaries, partners, community members and employees from safeguarding violations. AKF (Afg) participates in the Scheme for the disclosure of safeguarding-related misconduct within the humanitarian and development sector (Misconduct Disclosure Scheme). In line with this Scheme, AKF (Afg) will contact previous employers of job applicants to request information about any investigations or findings of misconduct concerning allegations of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment (sexual misconduct) against the applicant, during or after their employment. AKF (Afg) further implements a range of procedures and vetting checks including criminal records disclosures to ensure everyone associated with AKF (Afg) is kept free from harm and abuse is prevented.
Protection from Sexual Exploitation Abuse and Harassment (PSEAH) is the responsibility of everyone, and all selected individuals will be required to always comply with AKF (Afg)s Safeguarding Policy.
By submitting the job application, the applicant confirms to have understood and consented to AKF (Afg) contacting the applicant’s prior employers, during AKF (Afg)’s recruitment process, to request any such information and maintain this information on file for Recruitment and Human Resources Management purposes.
We request all job seekers to be attentive and report any instances of individuals or entities claiming to charge fees on behalf of AKF Afghanistan to AKFA.HR@akdn.org. Our commitment to ethical practices ensures that your career aspirations are supported without any financial burden during recruitment.
Female candidates are highly encouraged to apply for this position.