Organizational Overview

Founded in 2000 with the core belief that World Change Starts with Educated Children®, Room to Read (RtR) is creating a world free from illiteracy and gender inequality through education. We are achieving this goal by helping children in historically low-income communities develop literacy skills and a habit of reading, and by supporting girls as they build life skills to succeed in school and negotiate key life decisions. Through a holistic and innovative approach, Room to Read focuses on effecting profound, systemic change within schools in low-income countries during two pivotal stages of a child's academic journey: early primary school for literacy acquisition and secondary school for girls' education. We collaborate with governments and other partner organizations to deliver positive outcomes for children at a scale, to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children and ensure girls can complete secondary schools with the skills necessary to negotiate key life decisions. Room to Read has benefited more than 39 million children and has worked in 23 countries and in more than 182,000 communities, providing additional support through remote solutions that facilitate learning beyond the classroom. Room to Read aims to benefit 40 million children by 2025.

Room to Read India Trust, established in 2003, operates programs in twelve states: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi NCR, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. We aim to make educational opportunities and resources more available to disadvantaged children in our mission to break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy one child at a time.

Program Overview

Room to Read envisions a world where every child has the opportunity to access quality education, empowering them to become agents of positive change within their communities. At the heart of this vision lies the Girl’s Education Program (GEP), through which Room to Read engages with school-going adolescent girls from economically disadvantaged communities and vulnerable backgrounds to provide them with essential life skills. The program not only unlocks individual potential but also fosters broader societal progress. Recognizing that investing in girls' education yields transformative outcomes, the GEP embodies a commitment to shaping a brighter future for generations to come.

The GEP represents a holistic approach to supporting girls on their educational journey by creating an empowering environment tailored to their needs. Our approach involves collaborative partnerships with adolescent girls, their families, educational institutions, and local communities to effectively identify and address gender-specific barriers. The Girls' Education Program (GEP) is dedicated to facilitating the self-empowerment of adolescent girls through a holistic framework that includes life skills sessions, mentorship programs, and active engagement with families, schools, and communities.

The goal of the GEP is to equip secondary school-aged girls with the tools and life skills needed to self-advocate, think critically, empathize, stay in school, and make informed decisions about their futures. By prioritizing the development of these skills, Room to Read aims to empower girls to independently tackle challenges and emerge as self-reliant individuals capable of making positive contributions to both their own lives and their communities. To implement the program, Room to Read India employs and trains local mentors, known as Social Mobilizers, who often come from the same communities as the participating girls. These Social Mobilizers, all of whom have successfully completed their education, play a pivotal role in facilitating program activities and serve as inspiring role models for girls and their families.

Since its inception in 2005, the Girls Education Program (GEP) has provided critical support to 379,719 girls across eight states in India, namely Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh, as documented in the Global Indicator Report of 2022.

Team & Qualifications

• Agency -Organization with 5-10 years in market and track record of successfully handling Situational Analysis/Qualitative Research, in the field of Gender and Life-Skills.
• Team Leader – Must have 10 years’ experience in Mix Method Research, particularly in applying Qualitative Data Analysis Software (QDAS) for both Systematic Review of Literature and Primary Data Narrative Analysis, in the field of Gender and Life-Skills.
• Supervisor – Must be a graduate and minimum have a 5years’ experience in Qualitative and Quantitative Research, preferably in the field of Gender and Life-Skills.
• Data Collectors - Must be a graduate and minimum have a 3 years’ experience collecting Data, in the field of Gender and Life-Skills.

ü  The Individual/Consulting Partner should have detailed and demonstrated experience in research on education, gender analysis, life skills, and adolescent /youth centric work.

ü  The Individual/Consultant must have a substantial experience in planning gender specific studies in educational domain.

ü  Proven excellent analytical and report writing skills (Two/Three samples of work shall be required for evaluation where key investigator was in the lead). 

ü  A good understanding of intersectional gender lenses within the education domain.

Proposal Evaluation Criteria

• The selection committee will evaluate the proposals based upon their written technical proposals.
• Each proposal will be evaluated first on the merits of the technical proposal. Those proposals that reflect sufficient quality in technical approach, work plan, staffing and management plan and organizational experience will advance to the cost proposal review.
• The selection will be made to the offeror representing the best value to Room to Read. The offeror’s initial offer should contain the Offeror’s best terms from a price and technical standpoint.
• Room to Read reserves the right to conduct discussions or can ask the offerors for a presentation if determined necessary by Room to Read.

Selection Process:

• Round 1: Submission of technical and financial proposals in separate email. Only those agencies who are shortlisted in round-1 for technical presentation will be taken forward for the next round.
• Round 2: In-person/ Virtual interactions with shortlisted agencies to assess fitment to the assignment.
• Round 3: The financial proposals of only technically qualified agencies will be opened for review and finalization of agency.

HOW TO APPLY

Proposals are invited from the interested agency for the above assignment and the last date for receiving the proposal is 14^th Jan 2025 at procurement.india@roomtoread.org  [do not copy anyone from RtR]

Kindly submit two separate emails with the following subject lines:

o EMAIL (1): TECHNICAL PROPOSAL – GEP-Program study - MH

o EMAIL (2): FINANCIAL PROPOSAL – GEP-Program study - MH

Submission terms:

• All agencies are advised to thoroughly review the SoW ToR before applying.
• Technical and Financial proposals are to be shared in two different emails separately and not in a single email (mandatory)
• Incomplete applications or deviations from the prescribed process will result in automatic rejection.
• Proposals received after the prescribed deadline will not be considered.
• Only shortlisted agencies will be contacted and may be requested for face-to-face/online interaction/presentation.

For queries, please contact:

Vivek Shrawat

vivek.shrawat@roomtoread.org

To download the full SoW, click here

Tags Education and Education Technology (edtech) Innovations and Technology Advocacy