Call for Tender: Evaluation of the School Leadership and Management (SLaM) Programme

Call for Tender: Evaluation of the School Leadership and Management (SLaM) Programme

Nepal (Sustainability Assessment) and Somalia (Localisation & Contextualisation Study) Intro Save the Children Norway's Evidence & Learning Unit is commissioning an independent evaluation of the School Leadership and Management (SLaM) Programme , a school improvement model developed in Nepal and now being adapted in other contexts. The SLaM model strengthens school leadership, governance, and community engagement to improve transparency, accountability, participation, and ultimately children's learning and well-being.

Originally developed and tested in Nepal between 2019 and 2022 using a Developmental Evaluation approach, SLaM is currently being implemented in all Save the Children-supported schools in Karnali Province and has recently been adapted for implementation in Somalia.

This evaluation will generate evidence on the effectiveness, sustainability, localisation, and future scalability of the SLaM approach by examining two distinct implementation contexts:

Nepal: assessing the sustainability and institutionalisation of SLaM after several years of implementation.

Somalia: assessing how SLaM is being adapted, contextualised, and implemented within a fragile education system.

Purpose and Key Tasks Purpose

The evaluation aims to:

Assess the effectiveness of the SLaM model in strengthening school leadership, governance, participation, transparency, and accountability. Examine the sustainability of SLaM practices and structures in Nepal. Assess the localisation and contextualisation of the model in Somalia. Test and refine the SLaM Theory of Change. Generate actionable recommendations for future adaptation, scale-up, and revision of the SLaM Toolpack. Key Tasks The consultant/team will be responsible for:

Designing and implementing a mixed-methods evaluation framework. Including support to developing country-level documentation frameworks.

Conducting qualitative fieldwork in Nepal and Somalia. Analysing programme monitoring and outcome data provided by Save the Children. Assessing sustainability, effectiveness, localisation, and contextualisation of the SLaM approach. Conducting comparative analysis across countries and implementation stages.

Producing key deliverables including:

Inception Report Nepal Sustainability Assessment Report Somalia Localisation and Contextualisation Report Cross-Country Synthesis Report Validation workshops and presentations Final evaluation report and supporting annexes.

The consultant will work closely with Save the Children Norway's Evidence & Learning team and relevant education colleagues, with support from country offices for access to data, stakeholders, and logistics.

Timeline and Methodology Timeline

Start date: September 2026

End date: December 2028

Key milestones:

Inception and design phase Country-level documentation and fieldwork Nepal sustainability assessment Somalia localisation assessment Cross-country synthesis Final reporting and dissemination.

Scope and Level of Effort

Estimated consultancy budget: up to NOK 800,000