INCLUSION AND SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS CONSULTANTS – COMPLEX NEEDS

In recent years, Lebanon has become the country with the highest refugee per capita in the world. Officially, there are more than 1.5 million registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon, a third of which are school going aged children. In 2013, the Government of Lebanon opened a second-shift in its public education system to cater for the enormous numbers of refugee students. In 2017/2018, non-Lebanese students outnumbered Lebanese students in the public education system. The responsibility for educating all these students resides with the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) who, alongside external donors, launched the Reaching All Children with Education II (RACE II) programme in 2016.

The World Bank (WB) and Government of Lebanon (GoL), especially the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE), designed Support to RACE II (S2R2) to deliver on significant parts of RACE II as the strategy relates to the formal education sector. S2R2 is designed to complement other work developed to support RACE II, such as activities planned and implemented with UNICEF, UNHCR and UNESCO.

DFID Lebanon’s contribution to the education sector includes support to the multi-donor trust fund as well as the provision of a technical assistance team to MEHE. In March 2018, a three-year technical assistance project was awarded to Oxford Policy Management, which will expand an existing TA facility to serve additional MEHE priority areas to achieve the objectives of RACE II through MEHE’s Support to RACE II (S2R2) programme. The TA team will support the GoL to deliver the immediate objectives of the S2R2 programme while building the capacity, systems and processes which will underpin a medium-term sector development strategy. 

BACKGROUND:

The assignment will provide support to MEHE’s Direction d'Orientation Pédagogique et Scolaire (DOPS) department to further understand complex special education needs in a Lebanese context. This will include recommendations on how mainstream schools are able to accommodate children with disabilities and what provision needs to be made for children whose education is best delivered in specialist facilities. The consultants will support DOPS in developing a comprehensive framework and guideline to be used by mainstream schools in delivering these educational services. This will draw on lessons learnt from the existing Inclusive Education Pilot Project in 30 schools with the support of UNICEF which will provide actionable insight into a more comprehensive approach to the development of inclusive schools.

TEAM REQUIREMENTS:

The expectation is that this TOR will be filled by two consultants with complementary skillsets working collaboratively on the tasks below. This will likely be made up of an international consultant with expertise in international standards and guidelines on complex SEN alongside a Lebanese consultant with extensive understanding of the nature of the problem in Lebanon. The delegation of duties in the table below is indicative but it is intentional that the majority of the work should be conducted by the Lebanese consultant.

The specific tasks under this role include providing technical assistance for DOPS to:

• At the request of the Director of DOPS, consult with relevant stakeholders across the education sector
• Define and catalogue a register of complex special needs in the Lebanon context starting from the reports and analyses that have already been done.
• Assess how each of these complex special needs are currently addressed: areas of good practice, underlying flaws in the legislative/policy landscape, existing partnerships in place etc.
• Complex special needs is likely to include:
  • Physical – including severe cases of cerebral palsy
  • Developmental – severe cases on the autism spectrum, intellectual disabilities and other complex language, learning and motor disorders
  • Behavioural/Emotional – severe disorders of this sort
• Build capacity within DOPS to develop, monitor and oversee the complex SEN environment in Lebanon
• Develop a comprehensive framework and guideline for mainstream schools to initiate, maintain and improve inclusive education program for children with complex needs. The proposed guideline should include but not limited to:
  • Schools’ learning environments.
  • Capacity building plans for teachers and other necessary paraprofessionals.
  • Curriculum and teaching reform
  • Parental engagement
• Ensure that future policy and planning is based upon practical examples, such as the existing Inclusion Project and other relevant interventions.
• Ensure policy is deeply rooted in a Lebanon-specific and realistic multi-sector approach
• Develop a framework/guidelines to dealing with severe cases and suggest the appropriate solutions for the inclusive schools for each type of case.
• Develop a plan on how inclusive schools can enroll and deal with cases of gifted students by specifying techniques to deal with each type of case
• Outline how measurement, monitoring arrangements and success criteria for the envisaged approach
• Develop a draft policy document for addressing complex SEN and pass to the Director of DOPS for review/comment and final approval.
• Identify suitable external learning opportunities for DOPS staff on this matter

DELIVERABLES AND TIME FRAME:

1. Initial consultation regarding severe cases with stakeholders in the Lebanese education sector as per the DOPS Director’s request;
2. Define and catalogue a broad outline of complex special needs and their education delivery options in the Lebanon context;
3. Assess existing landscape of provision, including areas of good practice, areas which show promise to deliver good results and areas of weakness;
4. Ensure alignment with the Inclusion Project and draw on lessons learnt from previous DOPS study tours and global best practices.
5. Mid-term progress review of work to date; In collaboration with DOPS, draw up a comprehensive framework for addressing complex special needs and gifted students in Lebanon; including differentiation of categories and severity of need, curricula and materials required, capacity building planning (for school leaders, teachers and support staff), parental engagement and the further resource allocation for a range of possible solutions.
6. Enlist support from TA Team to apply rough costing to this plan;
7. Deliver workshop of draft findings to other stakeholders Presentation of the main findings to the client;
8. Revisions considering feedback and draft policy document and framework submitted to Director of DOPS.

The expectation is that the majority of time spent on the programme will be spent in the Ministry of Education and Higher Education working with counterparts in DOPS, or on field trips.

PROFILE AND SKILLS

• Advanced university degree (minimum Masters, preferably a PhD) in education, special education, teaching, or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of 10 years’ experience in inclusive education or special education needs.
• Specific experience with one or more of the specific cases of complex specials educational needs described above.
• Demonstrates experience in supporting schools and local programs on inclusive education.
• Fluency in Arabic and English. French is an advantage.
• Organizations and individuals are invited to apply

Approach and skills transfer plan

1. WORKING RELATIONSHIP: The consultants will work in close coordination with the Director of DOPS and build on work that has already started within DOPS. The Team Leader OPM-TA is responsible for day to day management of the consultants and will oversee their deliverables.
2. STATION: The consultant team will work from MEHE under the guidance of the Director of DOPS.