ANCP Baseline Assessment Consultant – Tonga

· Short term consultancy assignment

· Commencing January 2026, concluding April 2026

· Tonga

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About the project:

The Tonga Safe and Resilient Children project aims to address education and child protection challenges in a comprehensive approach that combines classroom-based interventions, school-level systems strengthening, and community engagement. The project introduces Social Emotional Learning (SEL) into classrooms in 21 schools to help students develop skills such as emotional regulation, empathy, and conflict resolution, building on lessons learned from previous ANCP investments. Teachers will be trained to integrate SEL into their instructional practices and to apply positive discipline strategies, creating safer and more supportive learning environments. Alongside this, the project strengthens child protection systems by establishing referral mechanisms, training school staff, and promoting student leadership in violence prevention and online safety. At the community level, the project delivers targeted psychosocial support (PSS) for caregivers—particularly families of migrant workers, families affected by climate change, and families of children with disabilities—and engages faith-based actors and community leaders in Social Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) campaigns to shift harmful norms and promote child safety.

The project will be implemented in at least 20 mainstream primary schools and one special/inclusive education school. The project will be implemented in 10 schools in Years 1-2 on Tongatapu during the initial pilot phase (Years 1–2). Then in Years 3–4, the project will expand to other schools and two outer island groups, scaling activities to additional schools and communities to strengthen reach and impact. This phased approach allows for rigorous testing and adaptation of the Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Psychosocial Support (PSS) packages during the pilot phase before transitioning to scale, ensuring that interventions are culturally relevant and effective in diverse contexts.

A place to make a difference:

Save the Children is seeking a consultant to conduct a baseline assessment that will establish a robust evidence base against which the project’s progress and impact can be measured. It will provide critical insights into the current status of key indicators related to child protection, school governance and environments, and community engagement. The evaluation will also inform adaptive programming and contribute to the project's learning agenda, which includes testing the effectiveness of Save the Children’s SEL kit in Tonga.

In this consulting assignment you will:

· Develop a detailed inception report including a participatory methodological approach, sampling frame, and tools

· Recruit (if relevant), train and manage field level enumerators

· Plan for and independently conduct data collection activities in the target communities, including conducting quality assurance

· Translate, clean and analyze qualitative and quantitative data

· Produce and present findings in a narrative report and presentation for key stakeholders, integrating feedback to finalize a comprehensive report

· Share final clean and raw datasets in line with Save the Children's data protection policy

For detailed information, the full Terms of Reference are available here.

This consultancy requires experience in:

· Designing and conducting (baseline) assessments or evaluations with qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis.

· Conducting studies in the field of child protection and education

· Conducting studies in the Pacific and having existing networks of enumerators. Submissions by local consultants or in partnership with local consultants will be highly regarded.

· Conducting ethical and inclusive studies involving children and child participatory techniques, as well as involving other marginalised, deprived and/or vulnerable groups in culturally appropriate and sensitive ways.

· Managing and coordinating a range of government, non-government and community group stakeholders.

Does this sound like the place for you?

We’d love to hear from you. To apply please send an application that includes:

· Technical proposal, i.e. proposed methodology and approach

· Project plan with key activities, timeline and LoE/ days needed to carry out activities

· A letter expressing interest and outlining the consultants’ experience and track record of conducting similar studies. This should also include key personnel and their role(s), how the team will be managed, and the team's ability to commit the skills and resources to the study over the period

· A copy of CV(s) or details of expertise in your research institution, or consultancy firm/agency, if applicable

· Sample of minimum two previous works, relevant to this consultancy

· Contact details of at least two references

· Financial proposal that should include personnel allocation (role / number of days / daily rates / taxes), as well as any other applicable costs (i.e. travel, support costs)

Applications must be received no later than January 18, 2026 and can be sent to Louisa Carpenter, Pacific MEAL Technical Advisor (louisa.carpenter1@savethechildren.org.au) and Fositina Kama, MEAL Coordinator PMU - Tonga (fositina.kama@savethechildren.org.au)

Save the Children Australia is a child-safe organisation. All consultants are required to undergo an International / National Police Check, a Working with Children Check where necessary, and sign our Child Safeguarding Policy and Code of Conduct.