Terms of Reference for Evaluation of Skills Development and Self-employment Programmes

Transcription

1 Bangladesh Skills for Employment and Productivity (B-SEP) Project ILO Dhaka Component 4: Improved Access to Skills Terms of Reference for Evaluation of Skills Development and Self-employment Programmes 1. Introduction The Bangladesh Skills for Employment and Productivity (B-SEP) Project is an initiative of the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) funded by the Government of Canada and executed by the International Labor Organization with support from the GoB. The project aims to accelerate the current efforts being undertaken by other organizations, donors and government to make skills in Bangladesh nationally recognized, accessible to all, higher quality and directly linked to jobs. The project is being implemented in partnerships with National Skills Development Council (NSDC), Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), Bangladesh Technical Education Board (BTEB), Bureau for Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) as well as other stakeholders including employers and workers groups. Four project components include: (1) Skills funding, Planning and Support services; (2) Competency-based Training and Assessment (CBTA) Quality and Relevance; (3) Industry skills development; and (4) Improved access to skills. The B-SEP project implementation period is from January 2014 to December A team of international and national experts and short-term consultants, headed by the Chief Technical Adviser, is responsible for delivering the project outcomes. Key project partners include several government ministries and departments namely Ministries of Education, Labour and Employment, Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment and the departments under these ministries, organization of employers, trade unions, employers in five selected sectors, and NGOs involved in skills training. Direct project beneficiaries are: Staff of partner organisations; and Instructors, trainers & Master Crafts persons; and Workers & market entrants. 2. Background of the assignment The National Skills Development Policy (NSDP) 2011 emphasizes on increasing participation of women, disadvantaged persons and persons with disabilities in skills development and employment. It envisages an overall enrolment target of 40% for women and 5% for persons with disabilities across the skills development programmes. In line with the NSDP, the B-SEP 1

2 project is to design and deliver (a) skills training programmes for the women in non-traditional occupations, (b) skills and enterprise program for people with disabilities and (c) enterprise development program, including green jobs in the project s priority sectors- Agro-food processing, tourism, furniture, ceramics and pharmaceutical. Based on the experience of TVET Reform project, the B-SEP project is developing and demonstrating approaches to make skills and enterprise development accessible to the underprivileged groups including women, persons with disabilities, and unemployed youth, both male and female. In April, 2015, the component 4 of the project initiated piloting non-traditional courses for women, specific programmes for the persons with disabilities, and self-employment programmes including green jobs for the disadvantaged groups for skills and enterprise development. ILO identified and established partnerships with five NGOs BRAC, UCEP, Muslim Aid, TMSS and Akhter Furniture Academy for skills development in NTVQF courses in nine occupations of Tourism (housekeeping, food and beverages services and cooking), Agro-food processing (baking and refrigeration) and furniture (carpentry, lacquer polishing, upholstery and wood working machine operation) sectors. All trainees are women and five percent of them are men and women with disability. Further, ILO established partnerships with BRAC, CMES, Access Bangladesh and Waste Concern for enterprise development in the value chain of the above mentioned priority sectors. 3. Objective and expectations The objective of this ToR is to conduct an external evaluation of the pilot initiative for promoting inclusion in skills and enterprise development, including green jobs. Inclusion refers to making skills and enterprise development accessible to the poor and disadvantaged women and persons with disability (both men and women). The evaluation will focus on the targeting of the disadvantaged groups and their mobilization for admission, training facilities, training processes, results, lessons learnt and the capacities of the partners for replication and up-scaling of the programs. It will also examine the potential of linkages that partners have established between supply and demands and the perception of employers. The processes and potential of market linkages need to be examined in the case of enterprise development component. Other areas of the evaluation focus will be the processes adopted and results of disability inclusion, capacities of the trainers, initiatives and success in getting Registered Training Organization status of the training institutes, preparation for NTVQF certification and sustainability measures. The contracted evaluator (the Contractor) is expected to assess efficiency, efficacy and quality of the training and employment (both wage employment and self-employment). 2

3 4. Contractor s responsibilities Tasks The contractor will perform the following tasks: 1. Review the project documents and ToRs of partner organizations. 2. Visit all skills training and enterprise development projects for discussion with key stakeholders (implementing organizations, beneficiaries, employers and clients of the self-employed persons) 3. Examine programme delivery modality of the partner organizations including their monitoring, record keeping and reporting system. 4. Prepare criteria for ascertaining quality, efficiency and efficacy of the programme implementation in consultation with the B-SEP component 4 team and assess the performance against those criteria. 5. Assess motivation of the trainers and their capacity in conducting NTVQF courses, job placement of the graduates, satisfaction of the employers and clients (in the case of self-enterprise) etc. 6. Assess the sustainability of the enterprise and confidence of entrepreneurs 7. Find out how the women and the persons with disabilities were mobilized for training and enterprise development and how the adaptations for the trainees with disabilities were made, etc. 8. Analyse and document the challenges and lessons (what worked and they should continue working, what did not work and how should that be done differently or not to be done) learnt from the pilots and the way forward for replication and up-scaling. 9. Assess the main strengths and weaknesses of the partner organizaitons in program implementation and their potential to replicate and upscale the programs 10. Examine initiatives and success in getting Registered Training Organization status of the training institutes and preparation for NTVQF certification. 11. Examine the potential of sustainability measures adopted by the partners. 12. Share results, lessons, challenges and plan for up-scaling non-traditional courses and self-employment initiatives including green jobs with concerned stakeholders. 5. Outputs/deliverables The contractor will deliver the following outputs/deliverables: a) The detailed work plan and an inception report including methodology and time plan b) A draft report for sharing with partners and comments of B-SEP staff c) A final report upon completion of the assignment against this ToR (see consultant s responsibility section) 6. ILO s responsibilities The responsibility of ILO will be as follows: a. Monitor the work of the contractor. 3

4 b. Provide technical support/ feedback as necessary. c. Provide support for engaging stakeholders and organizing workshop. d. Ensure payment of agreed amounts, based on performance, in 2 tranches. e. Any other tasks as described in the contract document. 7. Time-frame: The Contractor shall implement the activities under this ToR during the period from the first week of January to 4 th week of January with the provision of 15 consulting days. The detailed work plan and an inception report to be submitted within one week of signing the contract, draft report within 3 rd week and final report needs to be submitted by 31 st January Payment modality: Payment will be made in the following manner: a) Submission of the detailed work plan and inception report within one week of signing the contract; 30% payment will be made. b) Submission of final report upon completion of the assignment together with supporting documents (receipts, etc.) of the amount spent ; 70% (or less) payment will be made. 9. Eligibility criteria The Contractor should: Have proven experience relevant to the nature of the assignment. Master s degree in social sciences, gender studies, Human Resource Development or related subjects. Significant experience in studies and researches related to assessment/ evaluation of the programmes/projects, particularly in gender development and inclusive skills and enterprise development projects/ programs Familiarity with TVET/skills development system 10. Competencies Have excellent working knowledge of English/Bangla and computer literacy. Have excellent conceptual and analytical skills. Have Excellent networking ability with the stakeholders including government agencies, industries, NGOs, private training organizations, etc. Working experience with ILO or any UN agency will be an advantage. Be able to meet deadline and complete assignment within the stipulated time-frame. Have ability to work in a multicultural environment. 11. Submission of proposal 4

5 The ILO invites technical and financial proposals from qualified individuals to implement the assignment. The proposals should include detailed methodology, detailed CV containing experience on relevant issues, a cover letter/ motivation letter explaining why she/he is the most suitable for the work, and a detailed realistic budget. Only a technically qualified person will be awarded contract as per ILO procurement and financial rules and regulations. Payment will be made in Bangladesh Taka (BDT) as per ILO financial rules and payment conditions as stipulated in the service contract/ purchase order and ToR. The interested persons are requested to submit their proposals (technical and financial) along with detailed CV electronically to islama@ilo.org addressed to Mr. Cezar Dragutan, Chief Technical Advisor, B-SEP Project, House No. A-9, Road No. 127, Central Gulshan 1, Dhaka 1212 or submit in hard copy to the address: Mr. Cezar Dragutan, Chief Technical Advisor, B-SEP Project, House No. A-9, Road No. 127, Central Gulshan 1, Dhaka 1212 within 20 December Please mention only the Evaluation of Skills Development and Self-employment Programmes as the subject of or top of the sealed envelope. 5