Request for proposal for strengthening pre-service and in-service for teachers training in North East

Request for proposal for strengthening of pre-service and in-service teacher training provisions in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states in North East Nigeria

 

TERMS OF REFERENCE - see attached for more details

 

Technical Assistance on “Strengthening pre-service and in-service teacher training provisions in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states in North East Nigeria”

 

Period of Consultancy:   one year

Programme area and specific project involved: Education Programme, Output 5.4 on Education in Emergencies, with specific reference to increased capacity of teachers, education managers and relevant government officials to provide quality basic education.

 

v    Purpose of the consultancy

 

The overall purpose of this consultancy is to strengthen pre-service and in-service teacher training provisions and to support the State Ministry of Education (SMoE)/State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and Colleges of Education in North East Nigeria to enhance teachers’ capacity for quality classroom teaching and improved learning outcome in basic education.

 

v    Background/Scope of Work

 

Background

 

The protracted conflict in North East Nigeria has placed teachers directly in harm’s way.  Approximately 1,400 schools UNICEF (2017). More than half of all schools remain closed in Borno State, epicentre of the Boko Haram crisis in northeast Nigeria. https://www.unicef.org/media/media_100953.html have been damaged or destroyed. An estimated 19,000 teachers have been displaced with hundreds of teachers killed since 2009.

 

The Joint Education Needs Assessment conducted in November 2017 shows that Teacher’s morale in the northeast is at rock bottom. Low salaries, poor conditions, a lack of recognition and the impact of the crisis itself have all taken a toll Education in Emergencies Working Group Nigeria (EiEWGN) and acaps, Joint Needs Assessment, Northeast Nigeria, November 2017.

 

Due to poor living conditions and prevailing insecurity, displaced and reassigned teachers are not willing to risk their lives and take up teaching assignments in IDP camps. For example, only three out of the 23 teachers posted to Bama town in the Banki Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno State are reporting. In many locations members of the community have volunteered to play the role of, and in fact, replace teachers. But volunteer teachers in several communities also reported that they have not received payment for their work Ibid, p.30.

 

The issue regarding teachers is threefold: Firstly, inadequate teacher deployment before the crisis and conflict-induced has seen very few government teachers catering for enormous number of children.  In most of the internally displaced person (IDP) camps, a teacher takes care of more than 170 students. Secondly, many assigned teachers do not teach due to a variety of reasons including difficult living and working conditions, lack of proper accommodation, a need to travel to the state capital to collect their salary Banks are no longer available in many less accessible/hard to reach locations; a teacher may have to pay up to NGN 7,000 for return transport to collect his/her salary , etc. This absenteeism trend is particularly obvious in IDP camps and in areas of return. Thirdly, volunteers stand in for teachers but are not earning a living. The lack of or repeated absence of teachers results in further child drop outs and decreased demand for education as parent do not see the purpose of sending their children to schools without teachers.

 

There is no teaching without a teacher. The quality of learning depends on the quality of teaching and there is no point in providing other key components of the education intervention - child-friendly learning spaces, gender-sensitive WASH facilities, teaching and learning materials - if teachers are not present and motivated to teach. This consultancy will focus on developing the capacity of master trainers to contribute to quality education.

 

Access to education in high security Local Government Areas (LGAs), where this scheme is to be implemented is typified by a limited number of open schools making use of temporary structures Joint Needs Assessment, op.cit, p. 3 and mostly staffed by unpaid volunteer teachers. Teachers are demotivated with continuing poverty and hunger Ibid, p.3.

 

This consultancy is in line with the Guidelines on Cluster School Model for Teacher Development in Nigeria endorsed by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) which emphasizes the following:

 

·    The teacher is the implementer of the national education curriculum. Her/his role among others, include inculcating positive values and attitudes in pupils and students, guiding them towards the discovery of new knowledge, exposing them to useful skills, counselling them on personal and societal issues. Above all, the teacher has the responsibility of moulding and equipping the pupils and students to fit into, and adjust, in their ever-changing social and political environment, equip them with the necessary orientation in term of attitudes and values to cope with challenges as well as give them the skills that will make them functional contributors to the economic development of their society.

·    For the teacher to satisfactorily discharge these onerous responsibilities, she/he must be adequately prepared through initial training and continuous professional development that lasts her/his entire teaching career. As the National Policy on Education declares, “no nation may rise above the quality of its teachers”.

·    In recognition of the enormous task before the teacher, the National Policy on Education states that “teacher education programmes shall be structured to equip teachers for the effective performance of their duties” (p. 39 – 40) and sets the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) as the minimum teaching qualification and for entry into the teacher profession. It further states that “in-service training shall be developed as an integral part of continuing teacher education and shall also take care of all inadequacies” (p. 40).

·    However, the situation on ground, especially at the basic education sub-sector shows that the ideals espoused in the National Policy of Education are yet to be achieved. For example, the report of the 2010 National Personnel Audit of basic education schools conducted by the UBEC reveal that 34% of teachers in public schools were yet to attain the minimum qualification of NCE as shown in the following Table.

Table 1: Basic Education Teachers in Public Schools by Level and Qualification.

 

See table 1 in attachment (Basic Education Teachers in Public Schools by levels and qualification)

 

·    In addition, not all the teachers in the system were trained to teach in the basic education sector even though they possess the recommended minimum entry qualification of NCE. There are teachers in the basic education sector who specialized in subject areas such as physics, chemistry, etc. which were irrelevant at the basic education level.  Many others have never had the opportunity to update their knowledge and skills since entry into service.

·    As a result, many teachers in the system lack the necessary content and pedagogical skills to impart the required knowledge to pupils. It has therefore become necessary that mechanism be put in place to ensure continued professional development for all the teachers in the basic education sub-sector. The major objective of such training is to sharpen their skills and update them on their subject scope and methodology.

 

UNICEF Borno Field Office seeks a Consultancy Agency to implement a project that aims to strength pre-service and in-service teacher training provisions and to support the SMoE/SUBEB and Colleges of Education in North East Nigeria.

 

Specific Tasks for Institutional Consultancy

UNICEF Nigeria would like to engage an institution to support the SMoE/SUBEB and Colleges of Education in North East Nigeria. The institution will provide technical assistance to:

Ø    Strengthen the capacity of 225 Master Trainers (MTs) (Training of pre-primary, primary and secondary school teachers and learner-centred pedagogy in the context of overcrowded classrooms/Special Education and classroom management). MTs are from Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states in North East Nigeria.

Ø    Review state strategy on teacher training and professional development based on the capacity development component to support existing polices and finalize roll-out training workplan.

Ø    Review existing teacher training manuals and guides at Abuja and Maiduguri levels in order to finalize, contextualize and adopt three manuals for master trainers on school-based teacher training and support, quality pre-primary and primary school training and learner-centred pedagogy in the context of overcrowded classrooms/Special Education.

Ø    Development short-and long-term mechanisms for in-service teacher training, including a national roll-out plans for new training materials.

Ø    Propose strengthened coordination mechanisms between SMoE, SUBEB and Colleges of Education.

Ø    Propose recommendations for policy development, cooperation mechanism between SMoE, SUBEB and Colleges of Education (pre-service, in-service & pre-primary provisions).

Ø    Prepare consultancy report

v    The consultancy report should highlight lessons learned and follow up actions required to ensure sustainability of the intervention, especially the cadre of MTs in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.

 

Consideration related to the assignment

v    The contractor will be responsible for hiring a technical team required to deliver key tasks of the consultancy.  UNICEF will also be responsible for planning and organising the training sessions for all trainees (logistics, transportation, accommodation, lunch, DSA,…)

v    The contractor will be responsible for facilitating training workshops for MTs while UNICEF and partners will organise workshop logistics. UNICEF will be responsible for coordinating the process with government counterparts and will support arranging meetings with key government officials.

v    The step-down trainings will also be organised by UNICEF and government but facilitated by the team of MTs in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa. The contractors’ technical team will be responsible for ensuring facilitation skills are acquired for the step-down training and provide needed support to the MTs.

v    The contractor will provide names of the candidates among all trainees who are well-equipped and who will lead the training mainly in targeted LGAs as required by UNICEF.

 

4. Deliverables and timelines

see attached table 2 for more details

 

5. Reporting Relationship

 

The contractor will report directly to the Project Manager/Education Specialist based in Maiduguri while working closely with relevant Education Specialists for all agreed deliverables. In addition, the contractor will maintain close engagement with government officials in the three states.

 

6. Qualifications or Specialized Knowledge/Experience Required

 

This assignment requires a team of specialists who have relevant experience at the international level in the development of hands-on teaching materials and training packages and in the provision of technical assistance for teacher development and training to Governments, Universities, International Organizations and other relevant institutions. One of the team members will be responsible for managing the team and ensuring high quality technical support from the team on the teacher training approach as per agreed work plan.

 

The competencies required from the team of experts involved at the technical level will be the following:

·    At least three team members are PhD holders in education and related domains

·    International experience in teacher training

·    Experience in teacher development and training

·    Experience in kindergarten provision and pre-school curriculum

·    Experience in development of manuals and hand-on to teachers and curriculum development.

·    Experience in working with national government ministries.

·    Ability to facilitate participatory consultative process, including coordination, planning, and monitoring skills.

·    Analytical and conceptual thinking with good writing ability.

·    Previous experience of working in African countries.

·    Ability to work in an international environment.

·    Fluency in the English language is critical; and in Hausa or Kanuri will be an added advantage.

 

7. REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL EVALUATION AND WEIGHTING CRITERIA

Criteria for Technical Review of Proposals

70% technical + 30 financial= 100% total

 

A two-stage procedure shall be utilized in assessing the proposals, with assessment of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. Applications shall therefore contain the following required documentation:

 

Technical proposal

Submitted proposals will be assessed using Cumulative Analysis Method.  All request for proposal will be weighed according to the technical (70%) and financial considerations (30%).  Financial proposals will be opened only for those application that attained 70% or above on the technical part. Below are the criteria and points for technical and financial proposals.

A.   Technical Evaluation Criteria

a)   Overall Response (10 points):

·    General adherence to Terms of Reference and tender requirements

b)   Company and Key Personnel (20 points):

·    Team member(s) meet academic requirements (10 points)

·    Institution has previously conducted similar work (10 points)

c)   Proposed methodology and approach (40 points):

·    Deliverables are addressed as per TOR (10 points)

·    Proposed timelines are met (10 points)

·    Innovative and creative approaches (10 points)

·    Overall design and structure of the proposal (10 points)

 

Technical score: 70 % of 70 points = 49 points - for more details on technical evaluation criteria, please see attached

 

Technical Criteria

 

 

B.   Financial Offer

A financial proposal with a breakdown of all costs that are to be charged to UNICEF. This includes estimated number of working days, consultancy daily fees, all office administrative costs, international and local travel costs, as well as any additional requirements needed to complete project or that might have an impact on cost or delivery of products. Travel expenses should be based on the most direct route and economy fare. Quotations for business class fare will not be considered.

 

Total Financial                       30 %

The total amount of points allocated for the price component is 30. The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest priced proposal that is opened and compared among those invited firms/institutions which obtain the threshold points in the evaluation of the technical component. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price;

 

The Financial Proposal shall be submitted as a separate file, clearly named Financial Proposal. No financial information should be contained in the Technical Proposal.

 

    

         

 

9. Official Travel involved (itinerary and duration, if applicable).

 

International and Local travel and airport transfers (where applicable) will be under responsibility of the contractor in accordance with UNICEF’s rules and tariffs. All travel costs (international and local) should be planned properly in the technical proposal and included in the financial proposal. Please note that if selected, the contract can be a supporting document to obtain entry visa (if necessary). UNICEF will be unable to secure travel visas. Flight costs will be covered at economy class rate as per UNICEF policies.

    

10. PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR EVALUATION OF RESULTS

The contract will be based on the delivery of satisfactory deliverable as requested.

All tasks have been delivered in a timely manner as indicated in the TOR/Contract. High quality of work and results achieved correspond to the specification of the TORs. Good communication with social policy program specialist, ESC and other stakeholders whom the consultant will interact with.

    

11. FREQUENCY OF PERFORMANCE REVIEWS

Frequent feedback will be provided to the consultant firm on the quality and the timely submission of deliverables as necessary. Final evaluation to be conducted at the end of the contract.

Ongoing performance review, strategic direction, key deliverables and progress discussions to take place with UNICEF on a regular basis with the consultant/firm. The expert/firm will work closely with the both the Social policy specialist, ESC as well as UNICEF’s key stakeholders.

    

12. Official Travel involved (itinerary and duration, if applicable).

 

International and Local travel and airport transfers (where applicable) will be under responsibility of the contractor in accordance with UNICEF’s rules and tariffs. All travel costs (international and local) should be planned properly in the technical proposal and included in the financial proposal. Please note that if selected, the contract can be a supporting document to obtain entry visa (if necessary). UNICEF will be unable to secure travel visas. Flight costs will be covered at economy class rate as per UNICEF policies.

    

13. PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR EVALUATION OF RESULTS

The contract will be based on the delivery of satisfactory deliverable as requested.

All tasks have been delivered in a timely manner as indicated in the TOR/Contract. High quality of work and results achieved correspond to the specification of the TORs. Good communication with social policy program specialist, ESC and other stakeholders whom the consultant will interact with.

    

15. FREQUENCY OF PERFORMANCE REVIEWS

Frequent feedback will be provided to the consultant firm on the quality and the timely submission of deliverables as necessary. Final evaluation to be conducted at the end of the contract.

Ongoing performance review, strategic direction, key deliverables and progress discussions to take place with UNICEF on a regular basis with the consultant/firm. The expert/firm will work closely with the both the Social policy specialist, ESC as well as UNICEF’s key stakeholders.

    

16. CONDITIONS

The contractor will work on its own computer(s) and use its own office resources and materials in the execution of this assignment. The contractor’s fee shall be inclusive of all office administrative costs. International and Local travel and airport transfers (where applicable) will be under responsibility of the contractor in accordance with UNICEF’s rules and tariffs. Flight costs will be covered at economy class rate as per UNICEF policies. Please also see UNICEF’s Standard Terms and Conditions attached

 

Please direct any enquiries to: ngrsupply@unicef.org

    

Please note the following instructions:

- This is an RFP and as such, two proposals (technical + financial) in separate envelopes inserted into a bigger envelop is required of a prospective bidder

- The first pages of all your correspondence should have the name, phone number and email address of the contact person.

Make all your proposals on your letter head paper, duly signed with the name and contact details of the signatory.

- Submission of bids shall either be by hard copies dropped into our bid box located by the security post outside UN building; central business district - Abuja or by email to : ngrsupply@unicef.org - don't copy anybody. You will receive an automated response - please don't reply

- Please ensure you quote the RFP number on your email or envelop. Failure to do so will render your proposal invalid. Please take note

- For enquiries on this RFP, kindly contact cadomati@unicef.org or psule@unicef.org

- Please note the deadline set for this RFP. Your response MUST reach us on or before 21st November, 2019 ; noon.

Please note these above mandatory requirements