Study on assessing out-of-school children and youth and those at risk of dropping out in Thailand   UNICEF Thailand Country Office (TCO) is seeking a qualified institution (company, academic institution, and/or foundation) with expertise in the areas of education and skills, economics, and social development to conduct a study on assessing out-of-school children and youth and those at risk of dropping out in Thailand.   Background The story of the education sector in Thailand over the last decade is one of expansion of access to education across all levels and socioeconomic groups thanks to a progressive and generous education policy that provides 15 years of free education for all children. In the last 10-15 years, these gains have been most evident in pre-primary and secondary education levels, while primary education—which already had strong enrolment rates - has become nearly universal. 9 out of 10 children entering primary school have completed at least one year of pre-primary education and attendance at the primary level is at 94 per cent. Lower secondary education has also expanded to 85 per cent and 74 per cent in upper secondary schools. The decrease coincides with the end of compulsory education in Thailand; however, attendance in upper secondary education is substantially lower than the expected rate in keeping with Thailand’s level of economic development (measure using per capita GDP). In 2024, the Royal Thai Government unveiled a new initiative aimed at achieving “Thailand Zero Dropout,”ensuring that all children and youth are included in the education system. Eleven agencies including Ministry of Education and Equitable Education Fund (EEF) signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation to address the issue of children and youth outside the education system, facilitating their return to school or providing tailored learning support. By integrating individual databases of children and youth aged 3-18 across 21 educational management agencies nationwide with the civil registration database of the Ministry of Interior, it is shown that the number of children aged 3 to 18 in Thailand, spanning from kindergarten to upper secondary, who are out of school of the education system, is 1.02 million people In Thailand, the primary age bracket spans from 6 to 11, the lower secondary age bracket ranges from 12 to 14, and the upper secondary age bracket covers 15 to 17. Against this background, UNICEF is commissioning an institutional consultancy to support the Royal Thai Government’s initiative on “Thailand Zero Dropout” to conduct a quantitative and qualitative review and analysis of excluded children based on a contextualized and localized 7DE model and develop recommendations to support the Thailand Zero dropout initiative.   Objectives, Purpose & Expected results UNICEF Thailand Country Office is seeking a qualified institution (company, academic institution, and/or foundation) with expertise in the areas of education and skills, economics, and social development to conduct a study on out-of-school children and youth including those at risk of dropping out, review the existing research, data, policies and guidelines, and relevant initiatives in Thailand and globally (as appropriate). The purpose is to increase awareness and understanding of children who are excluded from education or at risk of exclusion and contribute to the research and evidence-base to inform the Thailand Zero Dropout initiative.   Specific objectives are: 1) To scope and review the existing research, data sources, policies and working definitions and understanding of out-of-school children and those at risk of dropping out, and initiatives relevant to excluded children (out-of-school children and at risk of dropping out) in Thailand. 2) to conduct secondary data review/analysis on the overall situation and create profiles of excluded children (out of school and at-risk of dropout) in Thailand. 3) to conduct in-depth quantitative/qualitative analytical deep dives on the causes of exclusion for 3-4 groups which may include gender, children with disabilities, girls in informal union, pregnant adolescents, area-based patterns, and others to be jointly determined during the secondary data review with key stakeholders. 4) to provide actionable recommendations to support Thailand Zero Dropout initiative. Expected Results: In the end we expect to have comprehensive report which includes a review of existing research, data, policies and definitions, generation and analysis on excluded children profiles based on a localized OOSCI 7DE model, and accompanied by a qualitative in-depth analysis on children with disabilities and other specific groups and recommendations to support the Thailand Zero Dropout initiative.   Location and Duration - The assignment duration is foreseen from June 2025 – May 2026, during which time all tasks are expected to be completed and all deliverables achieved. The detailed timeline will be agreed between the awarded institution and UNICEF, bidders are expected to include their specific timeline in the technical proposal, which is subject to review and approval by UNICEF. - The assignment will be mostly completed at the contractor’s premises, and it is expected that the contractor is based in Thailand. The contractor will be responsible for acquiring resources and facilities required for its completion, including any travel arrangements. - Travel is expected based on the geographic focus defined in the methodology. The cost of travels needs to be included in the proposal. - If safety concerns are present due to COVID-19 restrictions, the FGDs and KII will be conducted virtually, and a contingency plan should be in place. For full details, please refer to the attached Terms of Reference   This tender will be run through the UNICEF e-submissions system (UNGM). By clicking on the blue ‘Express Interest’ button in the UNGM tender notice, the full UNICEF e-submission system instructions to bidders document (including instructions on how to access the tender documents and submit an Offer) will be automatically emailed to the ‘contact persons’ included in your UNGM registration. Alternatively, the full UNICEF e-submission system instructions to bidders document is publicly available on the UNICEF supply internet pages here: https://www.unicef.org/supply/index_procurement_policies.html . In the tender management site, if you navigate to the documents tab and opt in to confirm your intention to submit a Bid – you will then see the mandatory placeholders for documents that must be attached prior to submitting your Offer (you will also see if there are any mandatory questionnaires to complete). As such, you are recommended to `opt in` well before the submission deadline so you are clear exactly what documents are required to be uploaded prior to completing your submission. Please note that in order to access the full-set of tender documents through UNICEF’s e-submissions system, vendors must: (1) be registered with UNICEF in UNGM as a company/NGO; (2) have successfully completed all mandatory information currently required by UNGM when registering. Please ensure that any files submitted as part of your bid are not corrupt or damaged in any way. Please exercise caution when using compressed files. Any corrupt or damaged files may lead to your Bid being invalidated. All vendors are strongly recommended to regularly log-in to the UNICEF e-submissions system to check for any deadline extensions, new clarifications, new correspondence or updated tender documents relating to this tender. Should you have any questions against this solicitation, please submit your queries to [email protected] no later than 9 May 2025  so that all queries could be clarified and circulated to all bidders before the deadline. The closing date of e-submission on UNGM is 16 May 2025 at 10:00 AM Bangkok time. We look forward to receiving your proposals within the given timeline. Best regards, UNICEF Supply team