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Final evaluation of the project

“Building Linkages for Youth: Connecting Higher Education to Private Sector for Employability of Tunisian Youth”

I- Introduction

These ToR specify the details for the final technical evaluation of the above mentioned project implemented by Education For Employment – Tunisie (EFE Tunisie) and financed by Open Society Foundation. The evaluation will focus on the assessment of the implemented activities (in accordance to the Agreement between the donor and EFE Tunisie) and whether the activities lead to the achievement of the planned results as well as to the project objectives. As a result of this evaluation, recommendations from the evaluator/s are expected in order to improve the quality of future projects.

II- Context of the project

Tunisia has an impressive record in promoting access to education, however, increased enrollment (8% in 1990 to 35% in 2011) has not led to improved labor market outcomes. In fact, according to the Tunisian National Statistics Institute (INS), the rate of unemployment among young people with university degrees has reached more than 30 percent over the past six years. In response, the Ministry of Higher Education has launched an ambitious reform strategic plan 2015-2025 to improve the employability of university graduates and better prepare them for the job market.

The network of Higher Education Institutes of Technological Studies (ISET) with 25 ISET institutes covering all the governorates of Tunisia had a total of 29971 students and 5986 graduates in 2014 -2015. The main degrees delivered are “ICT and multimedia” (7216 students and 1721 graduates representing 28,75% of the total ISET graduates),“business and administration” (5788) and “engineering and technologies” (12600 students). Moreover, the ICT and multimedia degree is provided in all ISET institutes except for ISET Ksar Helal.

Furthermore, recent national employment surveys show a high unemployment rate among university graduates with bachelor degrees including ISET graduates due to the mismatch between university curricula and the job market needs particularly for soft skills. Since 2012, EFE-Tunisie has been a vital actor in providing program interventions that address the question of youth employability. Through EFE-Tunisie’s partnerships with universities across the country they have provided job search and entrepreneurship-based skills trainings to more than 3,500 students. And while there is a continuing demand to administer these trainings, and anecdotal evidence of the value of such trainings, EFE-Tunisie aims to further verify and develop their approach when working with higher education institutions, while also applying lessons learned through the direct placement of youth participating in soft skills and technical trainings outside of universities.

III- Specific objectives of the project

The project aims to address the issue of youth employability by assessing and making connections between The network of Higher Education Institutes of Technological Studies (ISET) and the private sector which will serve twofold purposes: (1) To inform job training and placement interventions provided by Education for Employment Tunisie (EFE-Tunisie) (2) To provide recommendations for systems-based change in Tunisia in the area of higher education and private sector integration in the scope of Tunisia strategic plan for Higher Education and Scientific Research systems reform 2015-2025.
The specific objectives that the project was expected to achieve:

1. Establishment of partnerships between the Ministry of Higher Education, the General Directorate of Technological Studies in charge of ISET network and the National ICT Business Federation;
2. Completion of a needs assessment that includes analysis of the issue of youth employability in the context of activities engaging the ISET network and private sector (focus on EFE’s interventions) and review of available market assessments and sector analysis:
   • Selection of pilot ISET institutes to conduct the project,
   • Identification of potential employers with hiring needs,
   • Identification of educational tracks to be adapted
3. Joint collaboration between different stakeholders including ISET teachers from pilot ISETs and professional experts from selected companies to design and adapt the curricula and teaching manuals and evaluation tools taking into account needs assessments results. [Technical Curricula : 30% of overall hourly volume of 5ème semestre de la 3ème année de la licence / SoftSkills Curricula : Final year students of 5ème semestre de la 3ème année de la licence]
4. Training of ISET teachers [12 ISET teachers on technical training and 12 ISET teachers on softskills ]
5. Training of 200 students from identified ISET location (final year students).
6. Linkage with private sector companies and Follow-up with internship/ job placement of ISET graduates

IV- Scope and focus of the Evaluation

The main purpose of this final evaluation is to assess the extent to which the project objectives have been achieved and at assessing the impact of the project particularly on improving the status quo of the direct and indirect beneficiaries. The final evaluation will also identify lessons learnt and good practices for both accountability and learning for possible similar interventions in the future. The focus will also be on assessing the emerging impact of the interventions (either positive or negative) and the sustainability of the project’s beneficiaries and the local partners’ strategy and capacity to sustain them. It will also look at strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and challenges and any external factors that have affected the achievement of the immediate objectives and the delivery of the projects outputs.

It should then discuss, provide conclusions and recommendations on the following questions:

• Effectiveness: To what extent have the project’s objectives (developing the curriculum, training of teachers, developing knowledge, attitudes and skills of youth…) have been reached? Are the project activities adequate to realize the objectives?
• Matching needs: Did the project/activities meet relevant needs of the beneficiaries? To what extent and how did the project improve the economic situation of the trained graduates? To what extent did the project manage to place them in stable jobs? In case of failure, what are the key reasons for not reaching a stable situation?
• Relevance: What and how much progress has been made towards achieving the overall outputs and outcomes of the project for supporting youth employment? To what extent were the results (impacts, outcomes and outputs) achieved? Were the inputs and strategies identified, and where they realistic, appropriate and adequate to achieve the results?
• Efficiency: Was the process of achieving results efficient? Specifically did the actual or expected results (outputs and outcomes) justify the costs incurred? Were the resources effectively utilized? What factors contributed to implementation efficiency? Did project activities overlap and duplicate other similar interventions (funded nationally and /or by other donors)? Are there more efficient ways and means of delivering more and better results (outputs and outcomes) with the available inputs? – Could a different approach have produced better results? How was the project’s collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education? With DGET? With National Federation for ICT? What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the project implementation process?
• Sustainability: To what extent are the benefits of the project likely to be sustained after the completion of this project? What is the likelihood of continuation and sustainability of project outcomes and benefits after completion of the project? How effective were the exit strategies, and approaches to phase out assistance provided by the project including contributing factors and constraints? What are the key factors that will require attention in order to improve prospects of sustainability of Project outcomes and the potential for replication of the approach? How were capacities strengthened at the individual and organizational level? Describe the main lessons that have emerged – What are the recommendations for similar support in future?
• Internal coherence: Were the result indicators and their means of verification adequate? What possible adjustments would the consultants recommend?
• Impact Where there any unforeseen positive/negative effects of the activities? The effect of the project on its wider environment, and its contribution to the wider policy or sector objectives (as summarized in the project’s overall objective).
• Synergies: to which extent were synergies achieved with other activities, as well as with other partners?
• Which unmet needs did the evaluator identify that would be relevant for EFE Tunisie to look into in an eventual continuation of the project?
• Identify lessons learned and provide recommendations.

V- Methodology

In order to enhance usefulness and impartiality of the final evaluation evidence based approach to evaluation will be adopted. A combination of tools and methods will be used to collect relevant evidence. The methodology will include:

• Review of documents related to the project, including the initial project document, progress reports, technical assessments and reports, project monitoring and evaluation documents.
• Review of technical products (training manuals, tools, technical guidelines, etc.) and other publications used or developed by the project
• Internal meetings and Interviews with EFE Tunisie Management
• Interviews with other key project stakeholders:
  • Sample size of beneficiaries: Based on a target of 200 beneficiaries (fresh graduates ISETs students) a sample size of approximately 100 beneficiaries is required for this evaluation; however the exact sampling framework is to be proposed by the consultant. The proposed approach should be submitted to EFE Tunisie for approval prior to the fieldwork.
  • Stakeholders to be consulted: The consultant should plan to include the following groups of stakeholders in the evaluation:
    • Ministry of Higher Education representatives
    • Direction Générale des Etudes Technologiques (DGET)
    • Pilot ISETs representative (Director…)
    • Pilot ISET Teachers (teachers of technical and transversal course)
    • National Federation for ICT (UTICA)
    • Relevant EFE Tunisie staff
    • Wider stakeholders (EFE Tunisie will advise at evaluation design stage) – for example career and competencies certification centers (4C), TACT, Consultants, Master trainer…
• Conduct field missions, interview and focus group discussion. Field visits will take place in the governorate of Tunis, Sidi Bouzid, Le Kef and Mahdia, where EFE Tunisie operations are focused, and should include the agreed sample of beneficiaries and stakeholders.
• Pro-active and informed consultation with and participation of the key stakeholders in the evaluation process and the finalization of the report will be ensured.
• Conduct stakeholders’ workshop to validate information and data collected through various methods organized by the Project with assistance from EFE Tunisie
• A detailed methodology will be elaborated by the evaluation team on the basis of this TOR, desk review and initial meeting with project management team and documented in the Inception Report, which is subject to approval by the evaluation manager.

VI- Expected deliverables

The following deliverables are expected:

1. Inception report: The Evaluator will prepare an inception report which details the evaluator understanding of the evaluation and how the evaluation questions will be addressed. This report will include the evaluation matrix summarizing the evaluation design, methodology, evaluation questions, data sources and collection analysis tool for each data source and the measure by which each question will be evaluated. The report will include the scope of work, work plan and time frame. The inception report should include a proposed schedule of tasks; activities and deliverables, with clear responsibilities for each task or product. The inception report will be discussed and agreed upon with all stakeholders.
2. Draft Evaluation report: The Evaluator will prepare a draft Evaluation Report, which will be submitted to EFE Tunisie for review and comments. EFE Tunisie will distribute it to the members of the stakeholders for review and comments. Comments from the stakeholders will be provided within 10 days after the reception of the Draft Report. The report will be reviewed to ensure that the evaluation meets the required quality criteria. The report will be produced in English.
3. Final report (30 to 50 pages) incorporating comments received from EFE Tunisie and other key stakeholders. The report will be produced in English and a French summary (of 10 pages) is required.

VII- Duration of the evaluation

The evaluation is expected to start by end of May 2018/early June for an estimated duration of 25 working days. This will include desk reviews, field work – interviews, and report writing as follow: