The purpose of the consultancy is to provide high-level national technical expertise to lead the analysis, drafting, consultation, revision and validation of the National Framework for Inclusive Education in Syria, in close coordination with the Ministry of Education, TDH Italy and the designated technical stakeholders.

The assignment will result in a rights-based, contextually grounded and operationally relevant Framework that will adopt a system-wide approach to inclusive education while maintaining a specific and substantive focus on the rights of learners with disabilities, in line with national legislation and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:

• defines a national vision, principles, intended results and strategic directions for inclusive education;
• clarifies the scope of inclusive education across relevant education levels and pathways;
• identifies the policy, institutional, pedagogical, accessibility, support-service, data and financing reforms required;
• sets out governance arrangements and responsibilities at national, sub-national and school levels;
• provides a basis for phased implementation, monitoring, accountability and future technical guidance; and
• reflects meaningful participation by persons with disabilities and their representative organisations, learners, families, education personnel and other relevant stakeholders.

3. Objectives

• Consolidate and critically analyse available national legislation, policies, data, studies, consultation findings and relevant international standards.
• Identify systemic barriers, institutional gaps, enabling factors and priority reform areas for inclusive education in Syria.
• Develop an agreed structure, conceptual foundation, theory of change, strategic results and substantive content for the National Framework.
• Draft successive versions of the Framework through a structured and documented review process.
• Support inclusive technical consultation and national validation of the draft Framework.
• Develop an initial implementation and results framework that supports translation of the Framework into phased national action.
• Ensure coherence with any regional or international technical review subsequently provided, without weakening national ownership or contextual relevance.

4. Scope of Work and Key Tasks

4.1 Inception and methodological planning

• Participate in an inception meeting with TDH Italy, the Ministry of Education and designated stakeholders, held online or in person according to need and agreement.
• Review the assignment, available documentation, consultation processes completed or planned, decision-making arrangements and expected approval pathway.
• Prepare a detailed inception report setting out the proposed methodology, workplan, document map, stakeholder engagement approach, quality-assurance arrangements and detailed outline of the Framework.
• Identify information gaps, issues requiring policy decisions and any additional targeted consultations or technical inputs required.

4.2 Desk review and national situation analysis

• Review relevant Syrian legislation, decrees, executive instructions, education policies, curricula, standards, strategies, plans, administrative procedures and available data related to education and disability.
• Review the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, particularly Article 24; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; Sustainable Development Goal 4; and relevant international and regional technical guidance.
• Review , in agreement with TDH Italy, relevant national inclusive education frameworks from comparable contexts to identify transferable lessons, while avoiding the direct replication of external models.
• Analyse available consultation reports and distinguish between verified evidence, official data, stakeholder perceptions and issues requiring further validation.
• Prepare a concise situation and gap analysis identifying systemic barriers, existing capacities, opportunities, risks and priority areas for reform.
• Prepare a benchmarking matrix comparing selected international guidance and relevant frameworks from comparable contexts against the Syrian legal, institutional and educational context, identifying transferable practices, contextual limitations and implications for the National Framework.

4.3 Consultation consolidation and supplementary engagement

• Review the methodology, tools, representation and findings of consultations already undertaken.
• Consolidate overlapping, complementary and divergent findings into a traceable analytical framework.
• Identify stakeholder groups, geographic areas or technical themes requiring supplementary consultation.
• Prepare interview guides, discussion tools or technical questions for any agreed supplementary consultations.
• Facilitate or technically support agreed meetings, interviews or working sessions, including engagement with organisations of persons with disabilities, education personnel, families and learners where feasible and appropriate.
• Document how consultation findings have informed the Framework and how significant divergent views have been addressed.

4.4 Development of the Framework architecture and substantive content

• Develop a clear conceptual and rights-based foundation for inclusive education, including definitions and distinctions between exclusion, segregation, integration and inclusion.
• Clearly define the scope of the Framework as system-wide, while ensuring that the barriers, rights and support requirements of learners with disabilities remain a central and substantive focus across all strategic pillars.
• Propose the national vision, overall goal, guiding principles, theory of change, strategic results and strategic pillars.
• Define policy directions, priority actions, institutional responsibilities and expected results under each strategic pillar.
• Develop a coherent model for the identification of barriers, provision of classroom support, reasonable accommodation, individualised planning where required, referral, follow-up and transition between education levels.
• Propose governance, coordination, accountability, financing, implementation and monitoring arrangements.
• Ensure that the Framework addresses cross-cutting issues, including gender, protection, conflict sensitivity, displacement, poverty, geographic inequality, data protection and education in emergencies.

4.5 Drafting, review and revision

• Prepare a detailed annotated outline for approval before full drafting.
• Prepare in Arabic the first draft of the National Framework, including references and agreed annexes.
• Present the draft to the technical group and other designated stakeholders.
• Maintain a comment-response matrix recording each substantive comment, its source, the action taken and the rationale.
• Prepare a second draft that reflects consolidated and approved feedback and clearly flags outstanding issues requiring a policy decision.

4.6 National validation and finalisation

• Prepare the technical materials required for national validation, including a presentation, discussion questions and structured feedback tools.
• Present and technically facilitate the validation of the draft Framework in coordination with TDH Italy and the Ministry of Education through in-person workshop.
• Consolidate and analyse validation feedback, distinguishing technical revisions from policy decisions.
• Revise and finalise the Framework based on feedback approved through the agreed governance mechanism.
• Coordinate, in agreement with TDH Italy, with any regional or international expert or another partner and address agreed quality-assurance comments through the comment-response matrix.
• The validation process shall be Ministry-led and structured to distinguish matters requiring technical revision from those requiring formal policy or institutional decisions.

4.7 Transition to implementation

• Develop an initial phased implementation plan identifying priority actions, sequencing, responsible and supporting actors, indicative timing, dependencies and resource considerations.
• Develop a results and monitoring framework with proposed indicators, definitions, data sources, frequency and responsible actors.
• Prepare a list of secondary policies, standards, guidelines, tools and capacity-development packages required to operationalise the Framework.
• Prepare an executive summary, a short policy brief and a final presentation for decision-makers and partners.

5. Minimum Technical Coverage of the Framework

The final structure will be agreed during the inception phase. At a minimum, the Framework should address:

• purpose, scope, methodology and relationship with relevant national policies and legislation;
• national situation and barrier analysis;
• legal, conceptual and rights-based foundations and definitions;
• vision, overall goal, theory of change, national results and guiding principles;
• legislation, policy, governance, accountability and inter-ministerial coordination;
• access, admission, attendance, retention, progression and transition across education levels and pathways;
• curriculum, teaching and learning, assessment, examinations and reasonable accommodation;
• teachers, school leadership, resource-room personnel, specialised staff and multidisciplinary support;
• physical, communication, information and digital accessibility;
• identification of barriers, educational assessment, support planning, referral pathways, assistive technology and related services;
• learner protection, psychosocial wellbeing, prevention of violence, bullying and discrimination, and safeguarding;
• participation of learners, families, communities and organisations of persons with disabilities;
• disability-inclusive education data, research, monitoring and data protection;
• financing, resource allocation and sustainability;
• phased implementation, risk management and education in emergencies; and
• institutional roles, results framework, indicators and accountability mechanisms.

6. Expected Deliverables

1. Inception report

Methodology; detailed workplan; proposed allocation of the 60 working days; document map; stakeholder engagement and quality-assurance approach; information gaps; decision points; and annotated outline of the Framework

Within 10 working days of contract signature

*2 .*Desk review and situation/gap analysis

Review of national and international references; synthesis of available evidence; analysis of legislation, policy, systems, institutional and workforce capacities and current practice; identification of capacity-development priorities; and initial reform priorities.

Within three months duration based on the consultant offer

3. Consultation synthesis report

Consolidated findings; representation and evidence gaps; divergent views; supplementary engagement completed; and traceability between findings and proposed Framework content.

4. Framework architecture and annotated outline

Agreed vision, theory of change, strategic results, pillars, proposed chapter structure, governance logic and initial results chain.

5. First draft

Full draft of the National Framework, including references and agreed annexes, ready for structured technical review.

6. Second draft and validation package

Revised draft; comment-response matrix; validation presentation; discussion questions; and structured feedback tools.

7. Final validated Framework

Final Arabic Framework incorporating approved validation and quality-assurance comments; final comment-response matrix; and technical review of the English version prepared by an external translator to verify accuracy and consistency with the final Arabic version.

8. Implementation and communication package

Initial phased implementation plan; results and monitoring framework; list of required secondary tools; executive summary; policy brief; and final presentation.

Note: The proposed allocation totals 60 working days. Except for the inception report and the final deadline, the Consultant shall propose detailed delivery dates in the technical proposal and confirm them in the inception workplan. All deliverables must be completed within three months of the contract start date. Acceptance of each deliverable will depend on written approval by TDH Italy following consultation with the Ministry of Education and the designated technical reviewers.