Consultancy Needed - District Research Support

SCOPE OF WORK (SoW)

KREASI External Collaborator - District Research Support

Duration: 19 October 2026 – 31 Maret 2027

Estimated Working Days: 40 Days

Location: Jakarta

Background

Kolaborasi untuk Edukasi Anak Indonesia (KREASI), or Collaboration for the Education of Indonesian Children, is a program designed to accelerate the improvement of literacy, numeracy, and character education for Indonesian preschool and primary school students in 8 districts across 4 provinces in Indonesia. The program has been developed together with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE), Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA), National Development Planning Agency through Save the Children with partners in the collaborative consortium Mitra Pendidikan Indonesia (MPI). KREASI is funded by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) through the Multiplier Grant allocated for Indonesia.

KREASI is managed by Save the Children, and implemented by 6 local implementing partners in the following districts:

• Sumatra Utara : Nias Utara & Selatan
• Lampung : Tanggamus & Pesisir Barat
• Kalimantan: Ketapang & Kayong Utara
• Maluku: Halmahera Utara & Morotai

As part of implementation, each local partner across the 8 intervention districts pursues research agenda as a strategy for generating evidence. This evidence serves two main purposes: program learning and policy advocacy. Partners' research agendas are centered around the four KREASI outcomes: (i) curriculum and assessment, (ii) teaching practices, (iii) educational leadership, and (iv) child protection. As the research is carried out in parallel by eight partners with varying levels of readiness and progress, KREASI is seeking an external collaborator to guide and safeguard research quality across the 8 districts, ensuring compliance with KREASI and Save the Children research quality standards at every stage.

Objectives of the Assignment

This consultancy will support the KREASI team to ensure that the research agendas carried out by local partners across the 8 districts produce credible, methodologically rigorous evidence that can be used for both program learning and policy advocacy. The specific objectives are:

• Align the understanding of all partners and researchers with KREASI research quality standards through a research induction
  • Mentor and safeguard the quality of partners' research across all research stages
  • Ensure research meets ethical standards, including safeguarding, informed consent, and child protection.

Scope of Work

The External Collaborator is expected to perform the following key tasks:

• Research induction

Conduct one online research induction session to build a shared understanding of KREASI research quality standards among all partner researchers who will carry out the research.

• Research clinics/mentoring

Deliver online research mentoring sessions and quality checks of research products to help all partners meet quality standards at each stage:

StageQuality-Assurance Focus

1. Ideation & Formulation Ensure the research purpose and intended use are specific and clearly defined, and that research questions are framed at the outcome level as well as aligned with advocacy objectives.
2. Design & Methodology Ensure methods are appropriate and sufficiently rigorous, data sources and collection methods are relevant, samples are adequate in size and representativeness, and research activity follows ethics.
3. Data Collection & Processing Ensure instruments fully address the research questions, enumerators are competent in instrument use and data-collection ethics, and data are complete, accurate, triangulated, and well documented.
4. Analysis & Interpretation Ensure analysis is in-depth and grounded in credible evidence, with each finding well elaborated and triangulated.
5. Conclusions & Recommendations Ensure conclusions address all research questions on a credible evidence base, and that recommendations are specific, traceable to evidence, and actionable.
6. Dissemination & Utilisation Ensure research outputs (reports, presentation decks, and other knowledge products) meet Save the Children and KREASI quality standards and are ready to support disseminations.

The number of sessions and timeline will be customized based on (i) each partner's research activity timeline and (ii) each partner's specific needs. As some partners may already have research underway, not all stages will necessarily be covered for every partner.

Deliverables and Timeline

Billing can be made monthly, based on content/deliverables and actual level of effort according to the following table.

Deliverable

Description

Estimated Timeframe

Estimated Working Days

1. Agreement on workplan

With KREASI's local implementing partners, discuss and map research timelines to develop a research induction and mentoring plan.

19-20 October 2026

2 days

1. Research Induction

Develop research induction materials and conduct an online induction session.

21-27 October 2026

2 days

1. Research Clinic/Mentoring

Conduct online research clinic/mentoring sessions and quality checks of research products.

28 October 2026 – 28 February 2027

28 days

Total estimated working days 32 days

Reporting Line and Coordination

This assignment must be completed in close coordination with the KREASI team (Save the Children).

Direct Supervisor: KREASI Research Consultant

Reporting Requirements:

• The External Collaborator must meet regularly (biweekly) with the Direct Supervisor to report progress after agreement on workplan.
• Documents related to this consultancy must be stored in a Google drive that is accessible to both Save the Children and the External Collaborator.

Required Qualifications and Experience

KREASI is seeking an External Collaborator with following qualifications:

• Advanced degree in social research, education, public policy, statistics, or a related field, with at least 7 years of experience in applied quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research.
• Strong knowledge of methodologies and the full research process, including gap analysis, research design, sampling, instrument development, triangulation, data analysis, and evidence synthesis.
• Sound knowledge of Indonesia's education sector, including literacy, numeracy, character education, teaching practice, school leadership, child protection, and national curriculum and standards, with the ability to identify priority issues for evidence-based advocacy.
• Proven experience guiding, supervising, and coaching researchers, with strong facilitation and feedback skills.
• Excellent writing and reporting skills in Indonesian and English, with the ability to turn research findings into products for diverse audiences.

Application requirements

Interested individuals should submit an application with the following materials:

• Proposal outlining (1) consultant experience and qualifications, with reference to the required qualifications above, and
• CV with at least 2 references listed.

Applications can be in Indonesian or English language.