TERMS OF REFERENCE

Title

Business development consultants for Private Training Providers (PTPs)

Objective

Support in business development of PTPs by building capacity of Industry Relations and Placement Unit (IRPU)

Period

November 2017 to March 2018

Location

Dhaka (Bangladesh) with travel to adjoining towns and outside in case selected PTPs are located there

Reports to

The consultants will work closely with the Project Officers and directly report to Skills and Employment Director of Sudokkho.

Background of Sudokkho
Sudokkho is a 5-year skills training and employment programme, funded by DFID and SDC and implemented by Palladium in a consortium with Swisscontact and the British Council.

The programme seeks to test and scale-up market-driven, quality skills training systems within the Readymade Garments (RMG) and Construction sectors that will stimulate further investment in training by trainees, Private Training Providers (PTPs) and employers. The programme’s target is that 100,000 poor people, including women and disadvantage populations, will earn increased income in skilled or semi-skilled jobs after successful completion of training.

The programme supports PTPs and Industry-based training initiatives (supply-side stimulation), and raises awareness about the value of skills development among the trainees and industry (demand-side stimulation).

Sudokkho builds upon the TVET reform agenda in coordination with the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) of the Ministry of Education (MoE). The Government of Bangladesh (GoB) supports initiatives that facilitate greater involvement of the private sector to ensure skills training is relevant and of high quality, thereby increasing post-training employment opportunities, as stipulated in the National Skills Development Policy 2011. The programme strengthens the institutional capacity and supports key functions of the Industry Skills Councils (ISC) in the concerned sectors and supports capacity building of national training consultancy service providers (TCSP) to sustain a long-term development process.

Rationale and concept for the consultancy assignment
Sudokkho’s training system is structured around two modes of delivery that are both linked to the industry, i.e.

  1. Private Training Providers (PTPs)
  2. Industry-based Trainings (IBT)

The programme focuses on skills development training in the readymade garment and construction sectors.

The graph below illustrates these two modes of delivery, along with the potential beneficiaries, i.e. job seekers, employees and new-recruits to be trained.

The Sudokkho Training System as used by the PTPs will be recognised for its quality (of training methods and materials) and credibility (by the industry). Training that is provided by PTPs is considered a Sudokkho training under the following conditions:

  • The PTP will apply the Competency Based Training (CBT) curriculum that is supplied by Sudokkho and was developed in collaboration between Sudokkho, training providers and Industry.
  • The PTP will use the Training Manuals (trainee manual as well as facilitators guide) when available and supplied by Sudokkho. When the Bengali versions of the manuals are not available, then the English version should be used by the instructor.
  • The PTP will use the Competency Skills Log Book (CSLB) with all trainees.
  • Assessment and certification of trainees will be done with the procedures and quality standards as developed by Sudokkho.

The PTP should demonstrate contribution from industry (in cash and/or in kind and/or commit employment opportunities) and trainees at an agreed minimum level.

Methods, key duties and tasks
The consulting firm will undertake the following duties and tasks:

  1. Prepare a detailed work plan, referring to the key functions of IRPU, for the implementation of this assignment, to be approved by the Skills and Employment Director. The work plan will indicate the key activities and time frame to meet the objectives.
  2. Review relevant documents available with the projects. Consultant will visit appropriate development project(s) to find out information and learnings related to industry relations and placement unit. He/she will also have interaction programme with partner PTPs and the trainees to find out their requirements for business development. Employers will also be visited to realize their expectations which will be key for the success of business development of PTPs.
  3. Support PTPs to brokering partnerships with the industries/employers of Construction and RMG sectors which will lead to signing of the MOU between PTPs and industry for employment opportunity and fee generation from the industry.  PTP should demonstrate contribution from industry (in cash and/or in kind and/or commit employment opportunities) and trainees at an agreed minimum level.
  4. Develop operational guidelines for IRPU which will help PTPs to:
    • Increase fee paying trainees
    • Improve networking and co-ordination among trainees, employees, industry, business, PTPs etc.
    • Promote skills training among the potential trainees including women, poor and disadvantaged as a robust tool for gaining access to gainful employment
    • Provide information to the management of PTPs for clear direction of job market trends
    • Facilitate narrowing down the gaps between demand and supply of skills competencies for trained workers
    • Market training as a ‘Training Product’ to employers and targeted trainees for viable training business model of PTPs
    • Follow-up and track employment of graduates for the verification of job retention and income
  5. Estimate budget for setting up an IRPU to make it fully functional.
  6. Share and capacitate PTPs and relevant project staff to implement IRPU operational guidelines.  The final IRPU operational guidelines will be produced after getting feedbacks from the PTPs and relevant stakeholders.  
  7. By the end of the assignment, the consultant will have a debriefing meeting with the project management team. A final report will be presented formulating the methods applied, results achieved and recommendations to Sudokkho, PTPs and Industry.
  8. Consulting firm will work from its own office located in Dhaka.  Most of the PTPs are within extended Dhaka and some of them are located in Jessore, Chittagong, Nilphamari and Sunderban.

Profile/requirement of the consultants

  • Experience of minimum 10 years in business and market system development;
  • Proven track record of institutional capacity building preferably in Construction and RMG sectors
  • Familiarity with the employment support system
  • Familiarity with the skills development landscape  
  • Minimum Master’s degree in related field for the proposed consultants
  • Experience of working in Bangladesh will be an advantage
  • Excellent communication skills

Consultancy proposal
Interested consulting firm should prepare a technical and financial proposal.
The technical proposal should include:

  • Clear methodology about how the tasks will be accomplished along with strong justification and evidence as required; proposed activities/milestones with a timeline to conduct tasks and deliver results as mentioned in the TOR; any previous relevant experience
  • CV of the proposed consultants

The financial proposal should include:

  • Gross daily per-person consultancy fee including VAT/tax as applicable
  • Estimation of travel and any other relevant costs along with workshop(s) which can be reimbursed as per actual

Both proposals should be sent to the following email address not later than 10:00 AM Bangladesh time, 23rd October 2017info@sudokkho.org

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