International Expert to guide the development of basic literacy curricula for adult unemployed jobseekers in Albania

Contract

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Background

According to the latest UNESCO data (2012) only (95.5%)[1] of the Albanian population (25+) completed primary (ISCED 01) education, leading to roughly 14,000 people potentially illiterate.

The total of unemployed in Albania are 172,700 individuals according to the LFS elaborated by the National Institute of Statistics (NB: the total population is 2.8 million, and the total workforce 1.3 million). In June 2019, a total of 72,700 individuals were registered in the National Employment Services (NES), most of them in the urban areas. Out of these some 1,800 are illiterate (with no educational certificate whatsoever) registered adult (29+) jobseekers; some other 2,450 (29+) only completed primary education (ISCED 01) and additional 3,500 (30-39) completed lower secondary education (ISCED 02) but are reported to lack both professional skills the other soft and technical skills indispensable to obtain a job. In addition, poor primary education provided in some remote areas, does not guarantee learning outcomes, even when a certificate was obtained. These roughly 7,750 vulnerable, low educated registered jobseekers are among the most difficult unemployed to activate, they are currently not supported at all by Active Labour Market Programmes (ALMPs) or targeted services.

The “Supported Continuous Unemployed Learning” (SCUL) project, financed by the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI), implemented jointly by the National Agency for Employment and Skills and UNDP Albania, aims to contribute to the active participation of vulnerable low qualified jobseekers to the society and their transition to the labour market through the provision of quality, flexible, targeted trainings on basic skills. The action is expected to have an impact on the literacy ratio in Albania (95.5% in 2012). The action is fully in line with the National Employment and Skills Strategy (NESS 2019-2022), the long-term programmatic document with which the government of Albania committed with its citizens in promoting sustainable growth through social and economic inclusion.

Currently in Albania very limited targeted support is provided to low skilled unemployed people. The whole intervention is conceived as a capacity development project at the institutional level. Most of the deliverables provided under the project will lead to the establishment of a structure to support this target group. The intervention follows an integrated approach, both in the analysis of target group, its needs (educational and socio-economic) and in the service delivery. The ratio is that employment services complement other social services; the development of specific procedures to support the target group will include references to other social institution in charge of complementary services. This approach is expected to create bridges between different key-actors in the provision of social service, with the long-term ambition of building an integrated case management system.

The ambition of this intervention is to establish a structure and enhance the capacities to address the specific needs of the target group, building on which, hopefully, trigger systemic upskilling mechanisms in the longer term, progressively reducing the size of the group and facilitate its transition towards the labour market. The intervention aims to achieve the following outputs:

Output 1: Vulnerable jobseekers are referred to tailored basic learning provision or other social services

Output 2: Low skilled job seekers benefitted from quality, flexible, targeted trainings on basic skills

Output 3: Training provision is constantly improved based on collected evidence.

The project has started its implementation in 2020. Its second work package (WP2) focused on conducting an in-depth analysis of the target group. Digging into demographic characteristics, social-economic factors, geographical provenience, the need for complementary health care or social services, the analysis helped on identifying specific sub-groups based on criteria other than age and educational attainment. The third work package (WP3) employed international and national expertise to adapt a literacy assessment tool and further asses the basic literacy skills of one sample of the target group (1000 persons). A feasibility study articulated the steps, and the possible pathways in implementing a skills assessment methodology and tool based on tested international successful models. For this, a consultation was carried, which guided the selection of a skills assessment methodology and tool with the purpose of addressing low-skilled adult learners’ existing competencies. The fourth work package (WP4) is developing capacities by providing training to the NES staff of the implementation of new procedures (applying the training of trainers' approach). The fifth work package (WP5) (current one) aims at developing a set of tailored, flexible and quality learning opportunities to be offered to jobseekers not having completed primary education in Albania. The need for the provision of trainings on basic skills, such as literacy and numeracy and basic digital skills; teaching methods and materials will be adapted to the needs of adult students, capitalising on best practices already tested in the country, capitalizing the multiple lessons learnt from the implementation of existing offers (concerning formal and informal education). New technical curricula will be developed in the framework of diversifying the employment programmes portfolio and improving the employability levels of the jobseekers, allowing the combination of different modules and provision of flexible solutions. The delivery of training will make use of structures already in place, such as VTCs, and, if needed, employment offices, community and social centres or local NGO’s. This intervention will as well the help through equipping teachers of basic skills training with the pedagogical tools necessary to facilitate learning of adults with low cognitive equipment.

The offer of tailored curricula and capacitation will lay the ground for the implementation of training delivery (WP 6), as well as the final objective of the project, to design tailored roadmap for the whole target population and all the relevant stakeholders involved. This will desirably pave the path towards the creation of an adult learning national strategy in the long run.

The international expert will be working in close cooperation with the UNDP and the NAES team as well as with the entire team of expertise of this work package: the national expert on life-long learning, ICT curricula expert and adult literacy assessment experts. The international expert is expected to guide the entire process of curricula development

[1] http://data.uis.unesco.org/index.aspx7queryid = 168#

Duties and Responsibilities

With the guidance of the Programme Specialist, under the supervision of the Project Manager, and in close cooperation with the national expert in andragogy and basic digital skills expert engaged for this assignment, the expert is expected to carry out the tasks described below:

• Draft and validate methodology to develop, adapt curricula in basic literacy skills for low literate adults, including coordination and contribution by the other experts.
• Map out and present similiar existing and successfullearning offer; curricula in the EU and/or region Wester Balkans. Utilize the data collected from the (WP2), (WP3), (WP4) to understand the institutional and legal framework caters to the needs of the target group and the service and programmes available to cater to their needs.
• Consultations with relevant stakeholders: (including beneficiaries) on the effective ways of implementing the learning offers. Employ the viewpoints and ideas on how the delivery of services will support adult literacy, numeracy, and digital literacy for an efficient continuation of civic development, education and career upskilling.
• Propose a frame curricula, and in consultation with the local experts, develop it.
• Consult/validate the curricula and finalise it together with the team of experts.
• Propose a scale-up strategy to guarantee replication and ownership of the learning offer, as well as developing and improving the learning offer continuously.
• Contribute to the international conference on adult learning and upskilling pathways, where the findings of the report and the curricula will be presented.

The expected deliverables for this individual consultancy will be as follows:

Deliverable

Tasks

Timeline

1

Methodology and work plan drafted and validated

March 2022

2

Mapping report of existing international and local curricula of adult education in basic literacy skills

April 2022

3

Curricula proposed in basic functional literacy, numeracy and digital skills

April 2022

4

Validation of curricula with engaged stakeholders in the sector and proposition of a scale-up strategy

May 2022

Competencies

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity;
• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgement;
• Self-development, initiative-taking;
• Act as a team player and facilitate team work;
• Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively;
• Creating synergies through self-control;
• Managing conflict;
• Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others;
• Informed and transparent decision-making.

Functional Competencies:

• Strong communication skills (written, spoken, composing, presentation) and ability to share expertise for capacity building.
• Excellent skills in assessing and discussing curricula development in adult education.
• Solid skills in developing curricula in basic education.
• Excellent skills in providing evidence-based policy advice.
• Prior solid experience in working with adult/lifelong learning in an international context, experience in developing procedures for instructors to implement curriculum.
• Political and cultural sensitivity and commitment to UNDP’s development objectives in the country.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications

• Master’s degree in social science, education or other related field combined with relevant working experience.

Work Experience

• Minimum 10 years of relevant professional experience, preferably in the field of social sciences, education policies, curricula development.
• Prior solid experience in working with curricula development, policy analysis and consultations concerning adult education issues, assessing and discussing curricula for adults.
• Mentor instructors in curricula planning and teaching.
• Knowledge of and hands on experience with the various education tools for adults.

Language

• Full working knowledge of English is essential.

Evaluation Procedure

UNDP applies a fair and transparent selection process that would take into account both the technical qualification of Individual Consultants as well as their financial proposals. The contract will be awarded to the candidate whose offer:

• Is deemed technically responsive / compliant / acceptable (only technically responsive applications / candidates will be considered for the financial evaluation)
• And has obtained the highest combined technical and financial scores.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max points: 70

Criteria A: Minimum 10 years of relevant professional experience, preferably in the field of education, skills, employment and social policies– max points: 20

Criteria B: Prior solid experience in working with curricula development, policy analysis and consultations concerning adult education issues:25

Criteria D: Technical Proposal outlining the proposed modality to guide the process of developing learning offer in basic literacy skills for low literate population – max points: 25

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max points: 30

Application Procedure

Interested applicants are advised to carefully study all sections of this ToRs and ensure that they meet the general requirements as well as specific qualifications described. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.

The application should contain:

• Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.
• Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability & Financial Proposal Form - please fill in the attached form. Download Here (kindly use FireFox Browser)

• Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees, please upload the P11 instead of your CV. Download Here (kindly use FireFox Browser)

• Financial Proposal in USD* - Specify Lump Sum in the United States Dollar for each of the tasks and at the bottom the Total Lump Sum for the Entire Job specified in this announcement. Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall consider various expenses incurred by the consultant during the contract period (e.g., fee and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services).

• Copy of Diplomas and copy of Passport.

• Beneficiary contact details (next of kin)
  • Beneficiary's Contact Person's Name:
  • Title (Mr/Mrs/Ms):
  • Address:
  • Telephone:
  • Email:

*Kindly note that Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and Financial Proposal are two separate documents and should be both part of your application.

How to Submit the Application:

To submit your application online, please follow the steps below:

• Download and complete the UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SCs) and Individual Contracts (ICs).
• In the P11 Form make sure to include Email Addresses of the Persons who are willing to provide References on your experience in working with them.
• Merge your UN Personal History Form (P11) for Service Contracts (SCs) and Individual Contracts (ICs), Financial Proposal Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and cover letter into a single file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded.
• Click on the Job Title (job vacancy announcement).
• Click “Apply Now” button, fill in necessary information on the first page, and then click “Submit Application;”

• Upload your application/single file as indicated above with the merged documents (underlined above).

• You will receive an automatic response to your email confirming receipt of your application by the system.

Due to large number of applications, we receive, we can inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.