TERMS OF REFERENCE (ToR)
for
Engagement of an External Research Consultant/Agency for a Three-Year Study of the Kadam Bridge Education Programme for Out-of-School Children (OoSC)
Project: Kadam Project for Mainstreaming Out-of-School Children
Project Component: Project Research and Learning Study
Organisation: Humana People to People India (HPPI)
Deadline for Proposal Submission: 28 October 2026
Duration of Study: Three years [with yearly reporting and yearly renewal of the contract]
Geographical coverage: Sitapur, Balrampur and Shravasti districts, Uttar Pradesh; and Thane district, Maharashtra
This three-year research study will examine the functioning and effectiveness of the Kadam Programme across 100 Special Training Centres (STCs) in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, assessing children’s learning outcomes, mainstreaming, retention and sustainability of learning gains. It will analyse the Kadam model, its core elements, programme content and implementation processes, including multilingual approaches, mainstreaming pathways and government linkages. The study will identify what works, what does not, and factors influencing outcomes, while generating programme-level case studies, process documentation, evidence-based Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and recommendations for programme improvement and wider sector learning. HPPI will organise a final dissemination event to share the findings with key stakeholders.
1. Background Summary
Humana People to People India (HPPI) is a development organisation registered as a not-for-profit company under section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956, since May 1998. HPPI currently works in multi-domains of school and teacher education, community development, including women empowerment, health and environment, with an overall reach of 1.52 million people through 130 projects in 98 districts of 16 states with the support of 70 partners. The educational component of HPPI encompasses interventions, including:
- Kadam bridge education programme for mainstreaming of out-of-school children (OoSC) in Primary schools.
- Kadam+ learning enhancement programme for primary in-school children.
- Samarth targeted education intervention for secondary school children.
- Sambhavana extended programme for upper primary grade children.
- NeTT programme for enhancement of pre-service teacher training capacity of State institutions (DIETs/CTE).
- NeTT+ programme for enhancement of the role played by DIETs in the government school system.
HPPI has extensive experience in designing and implementing bridge education programmes that have reached 251,000 out-of-school children and successfully mainstreamed 212,000 children in schools in 10 states through its Kadam Programme.
Kadam addresses the educational needs of out-of-school children by bridging their learning gaps before integration into formal schools at age-appropriate grades. The bridge course covers subject competencies, including foundational literacy and numeracy and life skills, in addition to selfassessment and formative assessment processes, TRIO peer learning, MIS tracking, and parental and community engagement. Kadam bridges learning gaps through 10 learning steps encompassing grades 1-5 and 11 theme headlines, combining subject competencies and life skills with self-paced, peer learning and activity-based approaches.
Kadam Project for Mainstreaming Out-of-School Children
The project aims to bridge the learning gap and mainstream Out-of-School Children (OoSC) aged 7– 11 years into government primary schools. It includes using the government’s official list of out-ofschool children, establishing Kadam special training centres (STCs) at schools, conducting Kadam bridge course through trained community-level facilitators, and subsequently mainstreaming them into formal schooling. The project commenced in January 2026, scheduled to be implemented in a span of a 39-month period (3 months of start-up and 36 months of project implementation), and will reach approximately 9,000 children across four districts, including three districts in Uttar Pradesh (Sitapur, Shravasti and Balrampur) and one district in Maharashtra (Thane).
The objectives of the project are:
- To enable 9,000 Out-of-School Children (OoSC) aged 7–11 years across four districts in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra to attain grade-specific learning levels and enrol in and retain in formal Government primary schools.
- To enhance academic resources in 100 government primary schools in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra through the establishment of a children’s library in each school.
- To demonstrate a model approach and good practices for identifying, educating, mainstreaming and retaining Out-of-School Children (OoSC) to Government Education Officials in the four target districts, State Education Department officials of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, and other stakeholders working in the area of mainstreaming OoSC.
The key activities involved in implementing this project are:
- Setting up Kadam 100 STCs across Government Primary Schools, including 50 in Sitapur, 10 in Balrampur, 15 in Shravasti, and 25 in Thane.
- Establishing functional libraries in those 100 STCs.
- Recruiting and training programme staff, including teachers.
- Validating the names of out-of-school children through household-level surveys and enrolment verification, and adding the names of any children missed from the government lists.
- Implementing a nine-month bridge course focused on grade-appropriate learning in four subjects: Hindi, Mathematics, English and Environmental Studies, alongside life skills development.
- Following up with mainstreamed children and their schoolteachers to support continued enrolment and retention.
Proposal Timeline
- 21st October 2026 - Release of the request for proposals
- 28th October 2026 - Completed proposals with Subject line: Application for Engagement of an External Research Consultant/Agency for a Three-Year Study of the Kadam Bridge Education Programme for Out-of-School Children (OoSC) should be delivered electronically by this date to careers@humana-india.org , copy to Abhishek Kumar, LeadTeacher Education, HPPI (abhishek.humana@humana-india.org ) & Ved Prakash Yadav, General Manager- HPPI, (v.prakash@humana-india.org )
For detailed information, please check the complete version of the RFP attached below.