TERMS OF REFERENCE Research Consultant Qualitative and Mixed-Method Studies
Organization Save the Children

Posted31 Mar 2022

Closing date8 Apr 2022

1. Background

Data from 2018 indicates that in Mozambique, the completion rate of grade 5 (primary school) is 62% for boys and 65% for girls, while for 7th grade (complete primary school), the completion rate drops to 51% for boys and 45% for girls. General secondary school enrolment is only 18% for both boys and girls.

Among the various factors that contribute to school dropout are extreme poverty; menstrual hygiene and the taboo around menstruation; early pregnancy; child and forced marriages and unions (CEFM); harmful cultural practices that devalue education; and violence in the school environment, including bullying (teachers to students, students to students), and SGBV including sex for grades. In Milange, Morrumbala and Derre districts, the project's baseline survey shows that the percentage of girls and boys aged 10 to 14 who claimed to be in school was 88% for both boy sexes. For adolescents aged 15 to 19, the percentage of school attendance dropped to 78% for boys and 49% for girls.

In general, rural areas are the most affected by this dilemma as it is where the socio-cultural and economic factors that cause school dropout are most profound. Girls, due to gender and cultural norms and systemic inequality, are typically the ones with the highest dropout rate.

In response, Save the Children (SC) is implementing a project called Reaching the Poorest: Supporting Quality Sexual and Reproductive Health Services, locally known as the Ungumi Project, with funding from Global Affairs Canada (GAC). The ultimate goal for this 4.5-year long project is to improve sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for rural adolescent girls and boys in and out of school across 43 communities and ...