Consultancy for Endline Project Evaluation of the “Every Child Achieving Literacy Outcomes (ECALO) Labarik Hotu Atinji Rezultadu Literasia” project

Where? Dili, Timor Leste

When? Closes 6 April 2026

A career at ChildFund isn’t just a job. It’s a chance to make a meaningful impact on the lives of children.

We’re looking for a qualified consultant to conduct Endline Survey for “Every Child Achieving Literacy Outcomes (ECALO) Labarik Hotu Atinji Rezultadu Literasia” project

Organizational context

ChildFund Timor-Leste is the representative office of Child Fund Australia – an independent international development organization that works to reduce poverty for children in developing communities.

ChildFund Australia is a member of the Child Fund Alliance – a global network of 12 organizations which assists almost 23 million children and their families in 70 countries. Child Fund Australia is a registered charity, a member of the Australian Council for International Development, and fully accredited by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade which manages the Australian Government’s overseas aid program.

ChildFund began work in Timor-Leste in 1990, originally under the management of Child Fund International. Since October 2017 it has operated as an office of Child Fund Australia and works in partnership to create community and systems change which enables vulnerable children and young people, in all their diversity, to assert and realize their rights.

ChildFund Timor-Leste’s projects focus on maternal and child health, nutrition, early childhood development, education, youth empowerment and disaster preparedness. Child Fund Timor-Leste aims to demonstrate effectiveness and accountability in its program activities and add value to the efforts of its partners through quality programs that are respectful, responsive, and relevant in helping children in poverty, their families, and communities.

ChildFund Timor-Leste is working with rural communities to build a new, stable, and prosperous future for what is one of the world’s youngest nations.

Background

The Government of Timor-Leste (GoTL) has come a long way in developing the education sector, but challenges remain. Timor-Leste has almost universal enrolment rate now with 91.5% net enrolment rate for primary school. However, Timor-Leste is facing a learning crisis, where despite most children are attending school, they do not appear to be adequately learning the basic skills. The Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) studies of 2009 revealed that reading results in the first three years were very low, indicating that students failed to develop the essential basic skills.  Timor-Leste has made good progress with 62.5% of persons 5 years of age or older able to read and write in Tetum in 2015 Census compared to 53.4% in 2010 Census. Nonetheless, it is a clear difference between urban and rural areas with overall over 47% of children behind at least 2 grades. The COVID-19 pandemic has estimated to further impacting learning loss among children in Timor-Leste, with globally students losing half a year’s worth of learning the project also focused on raising the awareness and building capacity of parents to attend their children’s home learning.

In " Every Child Achieving Literacy Outcomes" (ECALO) or " Labarik Hotu Atinji Rezultadu Literasia" Project funded by the Australian Departament of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) through the Australian Non-Profit Cooperation Program (ANCP), this 3-year project aim to work with 10 primary schools in Manatuto Municipality. PTA will be strengthened to deliver an out-of-school reading program, aimed to support literacy outcomes of children in cycle 1 (Grade 1 to 4) that have been impacted from learning loss and not achieving literacy outcome. aligned with ChildFund's commitment to advance inclusion efforts, the schools will also be supported to involve children with disabilities to participate in education meaningfully.

Project goal: 

Children in Grade 1 to 4, in Manatuto Municipality, especially children who are in vulnerable communities, are achieving the literacy outcomes through an inclusive environment, where they are taught by competent teachers and supported by parents and community members.

The specific objectives of the endline evaluation are to:

Measure changes in Grade 1–4 students’ Tetum literacy outcomes, compared to baseline results.

Assess the effectiveness of the one-to-one reading program delivered by trained volunteers.

Examine changes in the confidence and capacity of volunteers and PTAs to support student learning.

Assess improvements in parental knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to supporting children’s learning at home and in school.

Evaluate the extent to which schools and teachers have reduced barriers to participation for children with disabilities.

Analyze gender equality and disability inclusion outcomes across project interventions.

Identify key success factors, challenges, lessons learned, and good practices.

Provide practical recommendations for sustainability, scale-up, and future education programming.

Scope, approach and methodology 

The consultant/s will be responsible for conducting Endline Project Evaluation,“Every Child Achieving Literacy Outcomes (ECALO) Labarik Hotu Atinji Rezultadu Literasia” project ) in Manatuto Municipalities.

Scope of Work

This evaluation will cover implementation area of the ECALO Project in Manatuto Municipality. The consultant(s) should submit an Express of Interest outlining appropriate methodologies to be able to meet the objectives of the evaluation. The final methodologies will be decided through a collaborative approach involving the Consultant, ChildFund Timor-Leste team and ChildFund Australia team. ChildFund Timor-Leste team involving the Education Program Manager, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Coordinator and Head of Programs will be involved with supporting the consultant(s) in data collection process, while the ChildFund Australia team comprising of and MEL Advisor will provide the technical review of the reports.

The Consultant is expected to:

Review the project relevant documents, project proposal, previous report from relevant project and other documents provided by ChildFund to get a sound understanding of the project.

Develop draft questions/tools for both quantitative and qualitative tools and finalized tools will be agreed between ChildFund Timor Leste and consultant(s) with technical support by advisors from ChildFund Australia.

Based on the agreed methodology, develop appropriate tools that could measure performance against the performance indicators.

Develop and submit an Inception Report containing methodologies and tools relevant to the purpose and objectives of the evaluation, as well as a workplan.

To ensure quality of data collection, data entry, data cleaning and data analysis process intensively to meet this evaluation expected objectives. This includes training enumerators by providing data collection guidance. ChildFund Timor-Leste MEL Coordinator, Education Program Manager and Education Project Coordinator will be in close coordination with consultant for the data collection.

ChildFund Timor-Leste MEL team will share all the raw Data from Kobo, cleaning and share with consultant for analysis and report writing.

Analyze various quantitative data collected for the relevant outcome performance indicators e.g. student assessment data. All raw data and methodologies in calculating the quantitative indicators needs to be clearly stated in the report, to ensure endline evaluation team can utilize the same methodology and tools.

Submit a draft report to both ChildFund Timor-Leste and ChildFund Australia team for review and revise the report according to ChildFund’s feedback.

To present and validate the key findings to ChildFund.

To submit a final report (clean version), tools developed, and raw data collected, once ChildFund has confirmed that the evaluation objectives and expectations are met by the Consultant.

Presenting findings to MoE-National & Municipal

To observe Child Safeguarding policy and procedure and core values of ChildFund Timor-Leste.

To ensure confidentiality in every step of the procedure.

Methodology

The consultant is expected to draft and present the methodologies and appropriate tools for the intended study. The consultant should consider the following guidance notes:

Data collection methods the consultant is expected to develop a clear guideline to assist the process.

Both qualitative and quantitative data should be collected and reported, and data sources clearly cited. It is also expected that surveys, focus group discussions, KII and classroom observation.

The methodology should clearly discuss relevant sampling techniques, questionnaires, appropriate data collection tools and methodology, and any statistical package to be used for data analysis.

Note: the detail deliverables and timeframe please see in the TOR

Selection Criteria for Consultant

At the minimum, the lead consultant must possess the following:

Required experience:

Degree in the field of Education, or any other related fields.

Minimum 5 years’ experience in Education programming including evidence of leading research and/or project evaluations.

Demonstrated experience using both quantitative and qualitative methods, including design and analysis.

Proven experience in data analysis, presentation methods and report writing.

Good spoken and written communication skills in English and/or Tetum.

Experience working in development projects in Timor Leste or Asia Pacific region.

Experience developing program strategies in maternal and child health.

Knowledge of community mobilization and development principles.

Desirable:

Knowledge on Education programs, approaches, and polices in Timor Leste.

Previous experience regarding literacy development, parent-teacher association, and/or inclusive education

Previous experience working for international organizations.

Understanding on the local context and dialect.

The Consultant must be available for distance (skype, zoom or MS Teams) and face-to-face meetings, as necessary, Qualified national candidates, women, and persons living with disability are encouraged to apply.

Application Process

Interested consultants or firms should submit:

Technical Proposal (including understanding of assignment, methodology, work plan, and team composition).

Financial Proposal (itemized budget in USD).

CV(s) of key personnel.

Sample of previous similar work (preferably endline survey or evaluation reports)

The Expression of Interest should include:

Resume/CV

Referees or sample of past work

A proposal indicating competence for the required work, professional fee, brief outline of approaches/methodologies and timeline based on the Terms of Reference.

Interested applicants please submit your application via BambooHR no later than 6 April 2026

NOTE: Short-listing of candidates will commence prior to the closure of this role, so please do not delay submitting your application.

ChildFund Australia believes in a global community where children are safe and can reach their full potential. We take extensive steps to safeguard children in any work done by our people, i.e., our staff, volunteers and interns, supporters, partners, board members, ambassadors and suppliers. We strive to keep children safe through child safe practices, and rigorously ensure we prevent, oppose, and combat all exploitation and abuse of children and vulnerable people. As part of this commitment, all people working with us will undergo relevant background checks before joining ChildFund Australia.

At ChildFund Australia, all staff must remain alert and responsive to any child safeguarding or sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment (SEAH) risks. Staff will acquire the knowledge and skills needed to understand our Child Safeguarding and PSEAH policies & procedures, promote strong safeguarding practices, and conduct themselves consistent with these policies.

In line with our values, diversity of people and ideas is critical to our work and our success at ChildFund Australia. We strive for a team culture that is welcoming, inclusive, and supportive. Childfund is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer and strongly encourages people from all backgrounds, abilities, and identities to apply.