International consultant to develop and integrate entrepreneurship and financial Literacy in the school curriculum in Guinea-Bissau

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Contract

This is a International Consultant contract. More about International Consultant contracts.

Background

It is often argued that entrepreneurship offers a means through which people can have opportunities to economic prosperity for a growing economy. Indeed, the creation of new businesses is an essential engine of economic growth and helps to boost the economic fabric. They play an important role in the renewal of the business park. Entrepreneurship is also seen as an avenue for employment, poverty reduction, national income and ultimately, economic growth in a country. Scholars and business organizations have recognized poor population as a large potential market for selling a variety of goods and services with the ability to achieve full economic prosperity.

An in-depth analysis of targeted entrepreneurship cannot ignore the cultural and historical factors and the mentality of the same community or country (population), from which most of the challenges and issues will find their origins. It is surprising to young people that they have a mind almost devoid of any constraint, leading them to respond creatively to questions that were once unanswered. And creativity is essential to the development of a new entrepreneurial activity. It is because the creator of a new product or service manages to get out of (and change) his framework of thought that he finds a concrete and appropriate solution to a given problem.

Despite the economic potential that Guinea-Bissau presents in terms of natural, mineral, touristic and agricultural resources, its entrepreneurship ecosystem is in the embryonic form and far from the prospects that have been assigned due to the various challenges and issues. which the country is facing. A recent stakeholders consultation identified several structural challenges faced by the private sector in Guinea-Bissau. These challenges have led to increasing costs and risks of starting and/or running businesses in the country and deterred foreign domestic investments. Among other challenges, the education system is unanimously qualified as deteriorated and disconnected, leading to a shortage of workers with the right skill set to meet the private sector demand.

Besides, entrepreneurs cite limited availability of finance as a major obstacle to their activities. Indeed, the environment of financial institutions is underdeveloped in Guinea Bissau, where the World Bank estimated that only 2.7 percent of businesses have access to bank credit and financial services, as opposed to 20.7 percent of businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. Credit is often only granted to the country’s largest firms that operate on cashew farming and excludes most small businesses, and are short-term, thereby limiting opportunities for investment. The banks’ margins are high due to limited market size, high transactions costs and institutional instability. Furthermore, the microfinance sector is setback by regulatory and supervisory weaknesses, despite mechanisms introduced by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO). It should also be noted that Guineans rely mostly on remittances; for example, a study by Samuel Hall showed that 48% of Guinean receive funds through remittances and another study estimates that remittances benefit 70% of Guinea-Bissau families.

For entrepreneurs to properly appraise risk and prospects between competitive options, it is necessary to understand certain key financial concepts. These concepts require financial literacy, which is very relevant to business operation, such as keeping track of expenses, revenue and investment choices. Overall need to plan the start-up of an enterprise and the fundamental for all this is financial literacy. While finance may not be the first or even the most important fundamental of entrepreneurship development – managerial capacity and markets come first – adequate capitalization is one of the crucial building blocks. This reflection leads us to believe that including entrepreneurship modules in the school curriculum can contribute and trigger the spirit and motivation within young people and eventually the entire Bissau-Guinean population.

UNDP Guinea-Bissau is conducting an initiative to enhance financial inclusion through the creation and provision of innovative low-costs financial services and solutions that caters to the most vulnerable groups in local communities, Micro, small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), women, and the informal sector to improve inclusiveness in value chains, with a focus on youth and women entrepreneurship empowerment. Within this initiative, there is a support for designing, developing and integrating of Entrepreneurship and Financial Literacy Modules in the School Curriculum in the country. To this end, and under the supervision of the Head of the Strategic and Economic Unit a.i., UNDP Guinea-Bissau is hiring a Senior International Consultant to assist the Ministry of National Education.

https://www.borgenmagazine.com/credit-access-in-guinea-bissau/

http://www.unesco.org/education/edurights/media/docs/93b0c189718eeb2e921036d4045f5fe0d2a1def0.pdf

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the Assignment

The main objective of this work is to assist the Government of Guinea Bissau, specifically the Ministry of National Education, in the development and integration of Entrepreneurship and Financial literacy modules in school curriculum of Guinea Bissau. This includes conducting a thorough analysis of current curriculum, asses the proper points of introduction of new modules and designing of Entrepreneurship and Financial literacy modules.

Tasks of the consultant

The main task of the consultant:

  • Lead the collaboration with the Ministry of Education;
  • Undertake a review of model Entrepreneurship and Financial literacy modules in other countries;
  • In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, conduct a thorough analysis of current school curriculum and identify the most appropriate entry points for introducing Entrepreneurship and Financial literacy modules;
  • In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, design and introduce Entrepreneurship and Financial literacy modules. The modules should include instructions and guidance for teachers;
  • Design a training-of-trainers modules for educators and support the delivery of initial training to teachers.

Deliverables

  • A brief review of best practices and model Entrepreneurship and Financial literacy modules in other countries
  • A concise analytic report on the current school curriculum and identify the most appropriate entry points for introducing Entrepreneurship and Financial literacy modules.
  • Entrepreneurship and Financial literacy modules, including instructions and guidance for teachers.
  • Training-of-trainers modules for educators.

Payment milestones

  • 20% after submission and acceptance of a brief review of best practices and model Entrepreneurship and Financial literacy modules in other countries
  • 20% after submission and acceptance of the report on the current school curriculum and identify the most appropriate entry points for introducing entrepreneurship and financial literacy modules.
  • 40% after submission and acceptance of the entrepreneurship and financial literacy modules, including instructions and guidance for teachers.
  • 20% after submission and acceptance of the training-of-trainers modules for educators

Competencies

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

  • Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards.
  • Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP.
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
  • Treats all people fairly without favoritism
  • Ability to work with a multi-cultural and diverse team

Functional Competencies:

  • Excellent analytical skills.
  • Excellent quantitative skills
  • Excellent communication skills.
  • Results driven, ability to work under pressure and to meet required deadlines;
  • Good understanding and practice of capacity development.
  • Cultural sensitivity.
  • Diplomatic skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

Advanced university degree in Education, Finance, Economics and/or related fields.

Work experience

  • Have at least 10 years of relevant experience related to entrepreneurship, financial education, financial inclusion.
  • Experience designing entrepreneurship and financial literacy modules.
  • Experience designing and delivering training programmes in the areas of finance and financial literacy

Language requirement

  • Excellent written and spoken Portuguese and English.

Application procedure

The candidate should submit a package containing to file (one technical proposal and one financial proposal).

Technical proposal

The technical proposal will contain the following (to be uploaded as one pdf file):

  • A brief description of why the applicant considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment; and
  • Personal CV or P11 indicating all past experience from similar projects and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least three (3) professional references.

Financial proposal

  • Financial proposals must be expressed as “an all-inclusive daily fee” in USD.
  • Travel costs will be covered by UNDP in accordance with UNDP rules and procedures.
  • Payment will be made upon submission of a certificate of payment request, indicating outputs achieved and days worked to be verified and cleared for payment by the supervisor.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer:

The selection of the best offer will be based on a Combined Scoring method – where the technical evaluation (desk review) will be weighted a maximum of 70% and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a maximum of 30%. The 70% rating shall be based on how well the Offer or meets the minimum qualifications/competencies described above.

The technical evaluation will be based on the following criteria with the corresponding points (out of a total 70 points):

  • Advanced university degree in Education, Finance, Economics and/or related fields (20 points)
  • At least 10 years of relevant experience related to entrepreneurship, financial education, financial inclusion (20 points)
  • Experience designing entrepreneurship and financial literacy modules (10 points)
  • Experience designing and delivering training programmes in the areas of finance and financial literacy (10 points)
  • Excellent written and spoken English and Portuguese and/or French (10 points)

Only applicants with a minimum of 45 points on their technical proposal will be considered for financial evaluation. The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = 30 (µ/z),

Where

  • p=points for the financial proposal being evaluated
  • µ=price of the lowest priced proposal
  • z = price of the proposal being evaluated

The contract will be awarded to the applicant who receives the highest combined score.

Added 2 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: jobs.undp.org