Foreign economic-aid-related services

Tender description

DFID is doing more to support Higher Education (HE) which is key to driving sustainable economic development and inclusive growth. SPHEIR (Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education Innovation and Reform), is a new 45 000 000 GBP Fund to catalyse ambitious and high-value partnerships to transform the quality, relevance, inclusiveness and value of HE in Lower Income Countries (LICs).This marks a new commitment to be innovative and ambitious in testing what works to enhance the impact of HE. We expect partnerships to help boost the relevance and quality of courses, promote new technologies and delivery models, and capitalise on UK expertise to generate employment ready, productive and entrepreneurial graduates. Examples of partnerships include:— Building distance learning capacity to increase access (e.g. open universities)— Improving affordability and financing (e.g. innovative delivery models)— Improving relevance of degrees and graduate employability (e.g. tailoring curricula to market need) SPHEIR will provide 45 000 000 GBP over 6 years and be managed by a Fund Manager consortium led by the British Council, in association with PwC, and the UK Higher Education International Unit. Depending on the demand and performance, there is scope to extend the programme and increase the level of funding for a further 4 years. DFID intends to outsource the evaluation management of this programme through a competitive process to drive value for money in delivering ambitious, results-orientated partnerships. The Evaluation Manager will lead and manage a rigorous monitoring and evaluation framework to assess effectiveness and impact, in addition to supporting the dissemination of lessons.