Call for Proposals: GPE KIX Regional Observatories on Education System Resilience

Deadline: 11-Jul-2024

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) invite proposals from individual organizations, or consortia of multiple organizations, to become implementing partners in the new GPE KIX Observatory on Education System Resilience initiative.

The purpose of the initiative is to contribute to the improvement of education system resilience of GPE partner countries through research and evidence. The task of implementing partners will be to establish and operate regional observatories, conduct applied research and mobilize its findings. The call expects to fund six regional observatories: one in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), one in East, West, Central, and Southern Africa, and four in Europe, Middle East and North Africa, Asia, and the Pacific (EMAP).

This call is part of the Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX), a joint endeavour of GPE and IDRC. KIX supports GPE partner countries to have and use the evidence and innovation they need to accelerate access, learning outcomes and gender equality through equitable, inclusive and resilient education systems fit for the 21st century. KIX facilitates direct knowledge sharing across GPE partner countries through four regional hubs and funds applied research on their priorities. KIX is part of GPE’s strategy to support transformative change for education in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

The GPE KIX Observatory on Education System Resilience initiative follows on the GPE KIX COVID-19 Observatory project. The original project focused on collecting, synthesizing and sharing evidence about education-related policy and practice responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in GPE partner countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Building on the insights of the original project and the scoping study conducted in preparation for the call, the new initiative focuses on meanings and practices of education system resilience and potential future disruptions to the education sector in GPE partner countries and expands its geographic reach from the Africa region to the LAC and EMAP regions.

Scope and Objectives of the Observatory initiative 

• Given an increasing emphasis on education system resilience and the expectation of increasingly diverse disruptions to education systems in the coming years, two aspects within education system resilience are of particular interest to the Observatory initiative:
  • Existing practices related to education system resilience in GPE partner countries. While there is a growing emphasis on education system resilience, they have limited knowledge of how the countries actually understand and practice it, especially when it comes to their preparedness for future disruptions. They also have limited knowledge of how to build resilient education systems that promote the welfare of the most vulnerable. Generating and sharing evidence about the evolving practices of education system resilience, including those that address the needs of marginalized groups, across countries can help them to learn about such practices from each other and potentially to use this knowledge to shape their own policies.
  • Anticipation of future disruptions to education systems in GPE partner countries. The pandemic and other crises have provided important lessons that can be applied to strengthen education systems and make them more resilient. However, they need more insight into potential future disruptions and opportunities, especially those that have not been experienced before, and their implications, especially for marginalized groups. Generating and sharing insights into signals of change and future disruptions is important as it can help countries to better prepare for and respond to them.
• In light of the above, the main objective of the Observatory initiative is for GPE partner countries to have and use research and evidence to make their education systems more resilient and better prepared for future disruptions. The specific objectives of the initiative will be as follows:
  • generate and mobilize evidence about how education stakeholders understand and practice education system resilience in GPE partner countries
  • generate and mobilize insights into changing landscapes, potential future disruptions and opportunities, and effective approaches to addressing them in GPE partner countries
  • use the generated evidence to identify recommendations for crisis preparedness and the education system resilience of GPE partner countries

Structure and Design of the Observatory initiative 

• The Observatory initiative will cover GPE partners countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), East, West, Central, and Southern Africa, and Europe, Middle East and North Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. There will be LMIC-based research implementing partners either individual organizations or consortia of multiple organizations in each region: one in LAC, one in East, West, Central, and Southern Africa and four in EMAP because of the regional breadth and diversity. The EMAP region will consist of four sub-regions: Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia; Middle East and North Africa; South Asia and Southeast Asia; and the Pacific. There will be four implementing partners across these sub-regions one partner per sub-region.
• The implementing partners will run GPE KIX regional observatories on education system resilience in the aforementioned regions and sub-regions. The observatories should be positioned to add value to other existing initiatives related to education system resilience in the regions of focus. Implementing partners across regions and sub-regions will not work in silos they will interact with each other at different stages of their projects through a community of practice, exchanging information about research approaches, preliminary and final results, and knowledge mobilization strategies, as well as participating in joint events.
• While each implementing partner will have their own project design, the overall design of the Observatory initiative will consist of two main components:
  • An examination of the meanings and practices of education system resilience in GPE partner countries, including how past and current disruptions inform education system preparedness, what issues countries try to address through education system resilience efforts, and what (if anything) they do in terms of preparedness for future disruptions. The implementation of this research component could take the form of case study research and cross-country comparison, among other approaches. The study could be guided by, but not limited to, the five-component framework presented in the scoping study paper and undertaken through the lenses of policy and practice. The study should pay attention to relevant policies and processes outside the education sector as many countries have ministries or agencies responsible for disaster management and relief which are distinct from ministries of education and their activities can have implications for the education sector. Some outputs of this component could include a cross-country comparison report of education system resilience meanings and practices, exemplary case studies of education system resilience practices, and a typology of issues that countries try to address through education system resilience practices.
  • An exploration of changing landscapes and potential future disruptions in GPE partner countries, along with possibly effective approaches to addressing them. The implementation of this research component will draw on elements of strategic foresight and consist of three main parts: (1) gathering information and data to understand the future horizon, as the foundation for the foresight work; (2) foresight and analysis of the collected information and data to identify the most significant drivers of change, trends and emerging issues; and (3) exploring implications, identifying opportunities and socializing insights arising from this analysis (the “so-what” part). Following the initial scoping, regional observatories will decide on specific domains (e.g., climate change, migration and displacement, food insecurity, technological advancements, education financing) within which they will explore potential future disruptions to the education sector in their regions of focus. While some foresight studies focus on long-range futures, they expect projects to limit themselves to the five-to-ten-year horizon. The data collection as part of this research component should not be limited only to education officials and actors but should also involve officials from other relevant ministries, civil society representatives and other stakeholders who can shed light on future disruptions and opportunities for education systems. One of the outputs of this component could be a mapping of anticipated future disruptions, along with potentially effective approaches to addressing them based on promising existing practices.
• They do not envision that implementing both components of the Observatory initiative will require an in-depth study of each GPE partner country in the region of focus. Implementing partners may consider, for instance, including all countries in the region of focus in the document review process but focus on a smaller set of countries for in-depth case studies. Considering the two components, as well as project duration and available resources, applicants should explain how they propose to operationalize an overall design of the initiative in their regions of focus to effectively address the guiding objectives and research questions of the call.

Funding Information

• The following budget limits have been set for the regional observatories:
  • Latin America and the Caribbean: CAD400,000
  • Africa and the Middle East: CAD1.5 million
  • Europe, Middle East and North Africa, Asia, and the Pacific:
    • Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia: CAD450,000
    • Middle East and North Africa: CAD300,000
    • South Asia and Southeast Asia: CAD1million
    • The Pacific: CAD350,000
• KIX will allocate CAD4 million for the entire initiative through this call. Each individual project will be 28 months in duration.

Expectations of Implementing Partners 

• When applying to, and undertaking, the regional observatory project, they expect the implementing partners to meet the following requirements:
  • Implementing partner profile. Proposals may be submitted by organizations headquartered in an LMIC which have a strong background in social science research, a good understanding of the education sector in the region of focus, and a solid track record of research and knowledge-mobilization activities across multiple countries or at a regional or continental scale.
  • Consideration of existing initiatives. When developing proposals and implementing projects, partners should consider GPE and other initiatives related to education system resilience (e.g., Climate Smart Education Systems Initiative, the Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector) in order to ensure complementarity of their work to them. Also, partners should consider drawing on the data already available through other initiatives for the purposes of the secondary analysis if needed. Where possible and if necessary, GPE and IDRC may facilitate connections with other initiatives to foster synergies and cooperation.
  • Research for development. Partners will be expected to undertake research for development, which is designed to address the call objectives: build knowledge and evidence and mobilize them for policy and practice. Research should be problem-focused and action-oriented. Partners should identify and engage with relevant users of knowledge throughout the project to ensure that research is relevant and positioned for use in policy and practice. They should have a robust strategy for disseminating generated knowledge and evidence. Partners will need to meet the quality standards of IDRC’s Research Quality Plus (RQ+) framework.
  • Foresight research. Partners will be expected to undertake foresight research to examine future disruptions and new opportunities as part of the second component of the Observatory initiative. The applicants who are not familiar with foresight methodologies should think about how they will address this requirement in their research (e.g., the inclusion of a foresight consultant in the project). IDRC will support the partners with the foresight component of the project through capacity strengthening and the sharing of best practices.
  • Gender equality, equity and inclusion (GEI). Partners will be expected to implement the two components of the Observatory initiative through a GEI lens, using an intersectional approach. Vulnerable groups are disproportionally affected by disasters and other crisis situations and are often invisible in disaster risk reduction planning, which further leads to their marginalization (Cameron et al., 2024). Hence, it is important to consider their needs in the development of resilient education systems. Annex A provides a series of questions to help guide the integration of GEI in research and project implementation.
  • Community of practice. Partners will be expected to participate in the professional community of practice that will be established to facilitate the exchange of information among them about research approaches, recruitment strategies, preliminary and final results, and knowledge mobilization strategies. The community of practice will meet virtually or in person and will be coordinated either by IDRC or another organization.

Eligibility Criteria 

• Proposals must be submitted by nationally/internationally registered or incorporated organizations that are headquartered in LMICs. These could include, inter alia, research institutions, universities, think tanks, network secretariats, associations, civil society organizations, non-profits, or the private sector.
• Applicants must have independent legal status (or “legal personality”), be capable of contracting in their own right and name, receiving and administering funds, and have the authority to direct proposed project activities. Applicants must be able to demonstrate their legal status through written documentation. Legal status will only be reviewed if and when applicants are selected following technical selection.
• Proposals may be submitted by individual organizations or by consortia of up to three organizations. Proposals from consortia must name one lead organization, which can subgrant to the others. The lead organization must be headquartered in an LMIC, while consortium members may be from within LMICs or outside. Organizations/consortia must have a track record of work in GPE partner countries.
• Individuals and for-profit providers of core education services are not eligible for funding. Government ministries and agencies are not eligible for funding but can be involved in projects.

For more information, visit IDRC.