The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) requires professional services for the design of four activities of an Education sector project currently under development in Timor-Leste. The four activities include: (1) institution building or strengthening focused on improving quality of secondary school teacher and school leader education and training; (2) development and implementation of a new pre-service training program for secondary school teachers and school leaders; (3) development and implementation of an in-service professional development program for secondary school teachers and school leaders; and (4) support for the revision of the national secondary education general curriculum.

The scope of services for each of these activities will include conducting preliminary contextual analyses of the education sector including institutional, financial and policy reviews, and then proposing a detailed design for each activity, including recommendations for implementation strategies, multi-year work plans, and detailed cost estimates to inform MCC’s final investment decision. These recommendations should be made in close collaboration with the key implementing entities of these investments, in particular the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Higher Education, and other donors working in the Education sector in Timor-Leste.

This work will be informed by previously conducted surveys of the secondary education system, and therefore no additional survey work will be required as part of this contract. However, the bidder should anticipate carrying out informal research and information gathering in Timor Leste.  Towards the end of the base period, the contractor will be expected to use findings from the design studies to develop terms of reference for procurements for the implementation of each of the tasks.

During the option periods tasks may include such activities finalizing Terms of Reference for the implementation of the activities, carrying out smaller scale desk reviews or studies, and advising MCC and the Government and Timor Leste on approaches to design and implementation.

Summary Draft Tasks under this Contract:

Task 1:  This task will focus on (i) determining the structure of new education and training programs or services for teachers and school leaders focused on improving secondary education quality and (ii) exploring options for institutional structure for providing these services. This may include examination of existing teacher/school leader education and training programs and institutions, including the possibility of forming a new institution.

Task 2 Summary:  This task will focus on designing the framework for a new pre-service training programs, including recommendations on the size, length and structure of the program, high-level recommendations about content and areas of focus, and detailed cost estimates for developing and implementing programs.

Task 3 Summary:  This task will focus on designing the framework for a new or improved approaches to in-service training  for secondary school teachers and school leaders, including recommendations on format, structure, and content, as well as detailed cost estimates. 

Task 4 Summary:  This task will focus on developing an approach, detailed work plan and detailed budget for a revision of the secondary education curriculum, including an analysis of the cost for a full roll-out of the curriculum, which will be a joint effort between this compact and separate sources of GoTL funding.

Task 5 Summary:  This task will focus on analyzing and identifying opportunities to improve the integration of gender and social inclusion throughout the above-mentioned activities, including identifying specific activities that would help to remove the barriers to womens’ and other socially disadvantaged groups’ full participation in this project.

This contract will be time & materials, with a base period of 12 months and two potential option years. The selected firm will be requested to mobilize and kick-off base period work in Timor-Leste no more than three weeks after notification of award, with a concentration of LOE in the first three months of the contract, with design recommendations, including cost estimates, due 12 weeks after contract kick-off.

Key staff anticipated for this contract include the following: (1) Team Leader with at least 7 years’ experience designing and managing education programs with a focus on secondary education, and with expertise in policy formulation, planning ,and delivery of general education, including secondary education, in developing countries; and (2) a Teacher Professional Education Development Specialist with at least 5 years of experience designing programs for teacher and school principal trainings, and demonstrated experience in identifying critical needs for training across an education system, as well as designing and writing training curricula and modules to address needs in developing country contexts.

Additional staff expected to be needed for this scope will include (1) a School Leader Professional Development Specialist; (2) an Education Materials Specialist; (3) a Classroom Assessment Specialist; (4) a Costing Specialist; (5) a Gender Inclusion Specialist; and (6) a Curriculum Development Specialist.