Scope of Work
for
Hiring Agency
Qualitative study to understand boys’ experiences and engagement with the Life Skills for Equality Program
1. Organizational Overview
Room to Read (RtR) envisions a world in which all children can pursue education and develop the skills needed to shape their own futures. Since its inception in 2000, RtR has worked to create a world free from illiteracy and gender inequality through education. We are achieving this goal by helping children in historically low-income communities develop literacy skills and a habit of reading, and by supporting girls as they build life skills to succeed in school and negotiate key life decisions.
We work on the intersection of literacy and gender equality, recognizing that education is not only about access to schooling but also about enabling children to navigate social realities, relationships, and life choices.
In India, RtR’s Gender Equality Portfolio has evolved to address the deeply embedded social norms that shape adolescents’ identities, aspirations, and behaviours. While much of the focus globally has been on girls, there is growing recognition that engaging boys is equally critical to shifting gender norms in meaningful and sustainable ways.
2. Program Overview
The Life Skills for Equality Programme (LSEP) for Boys represents Room to Read’s commitment to engaging boys as active stakeholders in building a gender-equitable world. Recognizing that gender norms shape boys’ behaviours, emotional expression, and relationships from early adolescence into adulthood, LSEP adopts a gender-transformative approach to support boys in critically reflecting on these norms and developing more equitable ways of thinking and interacting.
Early adolescence (ages 10–14) is a formative period during which young people begin to internalize social expectations around masculinity, relationships, and self-expression. Without structured support, boys may adopt rigid and harmful norms that limit their emotional development and reinforce gender inequalities. LSEP seeks to address this by equipping boys in Grades 6–8 with essential life skills such as emotional regulation, conflict resolution, and critical thinking, enabling them to make more informed and reflective choices in their lives.
The programme is currently being implemented as a test initiative in the states of Chhattisgarh and Telangana, reaching approximately 500 boys across government schools. It is delivered through a teacher-led model designed for long-term sustainability, wherein school-teachers—trained and supported by Room to Read Programme Facilitators—conduct structured life skills sessions integrated within the school timetable.
A baseline assessment conducted in 2025 established pre-intervention benchmarks on boys’ life skills, gender-related knowledge, and attitudes. Building on this foundation, the present qualitative study seeks to deepen understanding of how boys experience, interpret, and engage with the programme.
2. 1 Program Features and Implementation Context:
The Life Skills for Equality Programme (LSEP) is a three-year initiative (Grades 6 to 8) designed to equip adolescent boys with critical life skills while enabling them to reflect on and challenge harmful gender norms in their own lives and peer groups. The programme positions boys as active participants in understanding masculinity and the ways in which gendered expectations shape attitudes and behaviours.
Implemented in government-run and government-supported schools, the programme primarily focuses on boys-only schools, while also being delivered in co-educational settings through boys-only sessions. A single cohort of boys is followed longitudinally from Grade 6 to Grade 8, allowing for sustained engagement and the possibility of observing changes over time. At its core, the programme is anchored in a structured life skills curriculum comprising 13 sessions per grade per year (39 sessions over three years), delivered fortnightly during the academic year. Each session, approximately 40 minutes in duration, creates a consistent space within the school timetable for dialogue, reflection, and experiential learning. The curriculum covers a range of interconnected themes, including gender roles and norms, masculinity, relationships, emotional awareness, mental health, communication, violence prevention, and decision-making, while also supporting boys in navigating adolescence and succeeding in school and life.
Sessions are facilitated by school - teachers, who receive dedicated training and ongoing support from state teams, ensuring alignment with programme pedagogy and content. This is complemented by the role of Program Facilitators (PFs), who work across schools to support implementation and lead allied components such as community engagement and mentoring. Regular review mechanisms, including quarterly and annual meetings, provide spaces to reflect on progress, address challenges, and strengthen delivery. Beyond classroom sessions, LSEP adopts a broader ecosystem approach through Family, School, and Community Engagement (FSCE). This includes parent meetings (held twice annually), home visits, community campaigns, and individual mentoring support for boys. These components are designed to reinforce programme messages, engage key influencers in boys’ lives, and create an enabling environment for practising new skills and behaviours.
The programme also emphasizes system-level integration and sustainability through active engagement with government stakeholders, including SCERT, Gender Cells, and district or block-level officials. Structured progress tracking and periodic reporting further support alignment with education priorities, strengthen accountability, and enable informed decision-making for scale-up.
The programme is currently being implemented in selected government schools across Chhattisgarh and Telangana, reaching approximately 500 boys. Over the past year of implementation, boys have participated in multiple life skills sessions, creating an opportunity to examine not only programme delivery but also how participants are experiencing and engaging with its content.
3. Study Rationale
Following the baseline assessment conducted prior to programme implementation, which established benchmarks on boys’ life skills and gender-related knowledge and attitudes, the programme has now completed a year of implementation. At this stage, there is a need to develop a deeper understanding of how boys are engaging with the Life Skills for Equality Programme (LSEP). This qualitative study is conceived as an inquiry into the lived experiences of boys within the programme. It seeks to develop a nuanced understanding of how boys relate to the content, what aspects they find meaningful, relevant, or challenging, and how they attempt to apply their learning in their daily lives. It will also explore how classroom interactions and session processes shape their willingness to engage, and how their social environments (peers, family, and community) influence their sense of dignity. At its core, the study recognizes that engagement extends beyond attendance or participation, and includes how boys reflect on, respond to, and apply what they learn. By capturing boys’ voices and experiences, the study aims to understand how engagement evolves over time, as well as the key barriers and enablers that shape this process. These insights will be useful for strengthening programme design and delivery, and for informing future scale-up.
3.1 Study Objectives
The objectives of this study are to generate insights for strengthening programme design and delivery based on participants’ experiences.
- To explore boys’ experiences of participating in LSEP sessions, including how they engage with the content, what they find enjoyable, relevant, or challenging, and how classroom processes shape their participation. Importantly, to explore how the LSEP promotes dignified learning.
- To understand how boys interpret, respond to, and apply key programme themes, including gender norms and roles, masculinity, emotions and mental health, relationships, communication, puberty and sexuality, violence and conflict, power, and responsibility, and to explore early shifts in their attitudes and behaviours in areas such as emotional expression, peer interactions (with both boys and girls), perspectives on gender roles, conflict resolution, and their roles within family and school contexts.
- To identify key enablers and barriers influencing boys’ engagement and learning, including factors related to classroom environment, teacher facilitation, peer dynamics, school context, and challenges in practising new skills and behaviours.
- To explore the perspectives of teachers, and the role of family and community contexts, in shaping boys’ engagement with and responses to the programme, including support, resistance, and facilitation practices.
HOW TO APPLY
Proposals are invited from the interested agency for the above assignment and the last date for receiving the proposal is 17th June 2026 at procurement.india@roomtoread.org [do not copy anyone from RtR]
Kindly submit two separate emails with the following subject lines:
- EMAIL (1): TECHNICAL PROPOSAL – Qualitative Study-LSEP (2026)
- EMAIL (2): FINANCIAL PROPOSAL – Qualitative Study-LSEP (2026)
Submission terms:
- All agencies are advised to thoroughly review the SoW ToR before applying.
- Technical and Financial proposals are to be shared in two different emails separately and not in a single email (mandatory)
- Incomplete applications or deviations from the prescribed process will result in automatic rejection.
- Proposals received after the prescribed deadline will not be considered.
- Only shortlisted agencies will be contacted and may be requested for face-to-face/online interaction/presentation.
For queries, please contact:
Vivek Shrawat
For detailed information, please check the complete version of the SoW attached below.