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Request for Proposals: ECED School Leadership and Play-Based Learning Pilot (Indonesia)

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Location: Indonesia (Sidoarjo, East Java and Magelang, Central Java)

Apply by: 11:00 PM (UTC), 4th May 2026

Read this document carefully to understand the proposal requirements.

Global School Leaders (GSL) requests proposals from data collection organizations with a presence in Indonesia to conduct research activities for our Early Childhood Education and Development (ECED) Pilot. The study is jointly funded by Tanoto Foundation, Quantedge Advancement Initiative, Nomura, and  Ishk Tolaram Foundation.

Background to the ECED Indonesia Pilot

Globally, over 300 million children will not achieve minimum proficiency levels in reading by the end of primary school by 2030, highlighting the urgent need for stronger Early Childhood Education and Development (ECED) foundations. In Indonesia, over 60% of children enter primary schools without having gone through preschools, and only 32% of preschool teachers have a diploma or bachelor’s degree in education. 

Global School Leaders (GSL), in collaboration with Ishk Tolaram Foundation (ITF), is implementing a pilot to strengthen ECED in Indonesia. This pilot aims to address critical gaps in ECED by developing a targeted leadership training curriculum for preschool principals that can enhance teacher training.

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This pilot focuses on:

  • Training preschool leaders to support teachers in adopting play-based, developmentally appropriate practices

  • Improving teacher practices, classroom environments, and early learning outcomes

  • Generating evidence on the role of school leadership in ECED

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The study will be conducted in 200 preschools across two districts and will assess how school leader training supports both Ishk Peduli Anak Indonesia (IPAI)-trained and -untrained teachers.

Research Questions

  1. What is the impact of school leader training on ECED teaching practices and classroom environments?

  2. Can trained school leaders effectively support:

    • Teachers who have received prior training?

    • Teachers who have not received prior training?

  3. What are the early indications of changes in student development outcomes?

Research Design

The pilot will run for one year (July 2026 – July 2027) and include 200 preschools, divided into four groups (see table below). 

Group

SL training

Teacher training

No. of schools

A (Both SL + Teacher training)

50

B (SL training only)

50

C (Teacher training only, control for Group A)

50

D (No training, pure control)

50

The study will use a mixed-methods design, including research activities such as: (a) phone surveys with principals and teachers across 200 schools at baseline and endline, (b) classroom observations in 120 schools at endline, and (c) qualitative interviews and student assessments in 12 schools at baseline and endline. 

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Findings from the study will contribute to regional and global knowledge on ECED and school leadership. Through this program we aim to also develop and test global training and mentoring guides, and Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) toolkits.

Scope of Work

The research design and instruments will be developed and finalized by GSL.  Ishk Tolaram Foundation, along with a Senior Project Consultant based in Indonesia, will aid in acquiring the necessary permissions from the government for data collection.

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The selected research agency will be responsible for:

  • Hiring survey team and enumerators, mobilization, and management

  • Instrument translation (Bahasa Indonesia ↔ English), as needed

  • Coordination with local government and stakeholders, as needed

  • Enumerator training with pilot testing in non-sample schools and instrument finalization

  • Securing ethical board permission locally, as needed

  • Verify and finalize the contact list of respondents before data collection

  • Secure respondents’ consent before data collection 

  • Data collection and quality assurance

  • Data cleaning and submission

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The data collection organization will submit both the raw and clean datasets back to GSL, along with complete Do Files, codebooks, audio files, interview transcripts, and other documents that outline the data cleaning process clearly. GSL will be responsible for analyzing the data. Further details about the scope of work are in the table below:​

Research Activities at Baseline and Endline

Research Activity

Note

Quantity

Estimated Duration

Teacher survey

Phone-based 

Baseline

  • 2 teachers per school

  • 400  teachers in total

Endline

  • 3 teachers per school

  • 600 teachers in total

~ 15-20 mins each

School leader survey

Phone-based 

Baseline and endline 

  • 1 school leader per school

  • 200 school leaders in total

~ 20-30 mins each

Classroom observations

Endline only

  • 120 schools

  • 2 classrooms per school

~ 30-40 mins each

In-person

Qualitative interviews

In-person

Baseline and endline

  • 12 schools

  • Interviews with 1 school leader and 2  teachers

~ 30-45 mins each

Student assessments

12 students per school (in the same schools for qualitative research)

Baseline and endline

  • 12 schools

  • 144 students total

~ 20-30 mins per student

Budget

The total estimated budget for data collection is: USD 50,000 - 55, 000 (inclusive of all costs, overheads, and taxes)

Delivery Timelines

Output

Timeline

Tool adaptation and training (baseline)

1st week of June 2026 

Baseline data collection

June 2026

Baseline data cleaning and submission

July 2026

Tool adaptation and training (endline)

May 2027

Endline data collection

May-June 2027

Endline data cleaning and submission

July 2027

Eligibility Criteria

The organization submitting the proposal:

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  • Must be a registered entity

  • Should have a strong presence (team/personnel/office) in Indonesia

  • Has conducted at least:

    • Two education-related data collection projects in the past 3 years

    • Three research/evaluation studies in the past 5 years

  • Has experience with:

    • School-based phone surveys (teachers and school leaders)

    • Classroom observations 

    • Student assessment in ECED/ early-grades setting

    • Qualitative research

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on:

Criteria

Description

Weightage

Cost and Compliance

Financial proposal and adherence to requirements

25%

Experience & Qualifications

Past experience, team profile, and quality assurance systems

35%

Technical Proposal

Methodology, implementation plan, and timelines

40%

Submission Instructions
Key Dates and Deadlines

Activity

Date

RFP announcement

April 16th

Information session (optional)

April 28th

Proposal submission deadline

May 4th

Shortlisting of organizations

May 8th

Panel Interviews 

May 11th - 14th

Compliance and reference checks

May 18th

Final selection

May 20th

Project start (including contracting, vendor registration, co-ordination, induction)

May 20th and onwards

The proposals must be submitted by 11:00 PM UTC on May 4th, 2026. Please upload the following documents by clicking the 'Apply Here' button below:

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  • Technical Proposal [click here to download the template]

  • Financial Proposal [click here to download the template]

  • Organization Profile, and qualification requirements for the data collection personnel (as part of the technical proposal)

  • CVs of key team members (maximum 5)

  • Company Registration Certificate

  • Audit Statements (last 2 years)

  • Any other relevant documents (previously completed project completion/ research/ evaluation reports/certificates, as part of the technical proposal)

Contact Information

For any inquiries or clarifications, please contact Tejas Airodi at tejas@globalschoolleaders.org 

Online Information Session

For inquiries or clarifications, we are organizing an Information Session on Zoom on April 28th at 11:00 AM  (UTC). You can sign-up using the button below.

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About GSL

School leaders have the potential to make incredible changes in the lives of students by building a strong school culture and helping teachers provide great instruction. Yet, school leadership has not been prioritized in low and middle-income countries. GSL works to change that through the following workstreams:

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  • We catalyze and support local partner organizations to deliver and scale high-quality training to school leaders.

  • We generate insights from our partners and the broader research community to inform education policymakers, researchers, and practitioners on the best ways to support and develop strong school leadership. 

  • We connect our partner organizations with each other for deep learning between themselves and amongst the broader school leadership community - governments, funders, and policymakers.

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