TERMS OF REFERENCE

Title PR support for publishing articles/news reports in national newspapers
Objective Publish three articles/news reports on issues related to Sudokkho interventions in three national dailies
Period The task is intermittent for the period 15 January 2019 to 14 March 2019
Reports to The consultant/firm will work closely with Sudokkho’s Skills Development unit, Business & Market Development unit and Communications Advisor. The primary reporting will be to the Communications Advisor.

Background of Sudokkho

Sudokkho is a 5-year skills training and employment programme under the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) of the Bangladesh government. The programme is funded by DFID and SDC and implemented by Palladium International 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 and employers. The programme’s target is that 65,000 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 Private Training Providers (PTPs) and Industry-based training (IBT) 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 of Bangladesh government. The Government 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.

Target Audience of the articles/news reports

  • Government, donor community, industry leaders, TVET experts, academics, civil society and media

Rationale for the consultancy assignment

Sudokkho is publishing the articles/news reports to aware the stakeholders about private training market development approach aiming towards a policy shift in the long run from subsidising skills development to developing a sustainable private market system.

Key duties and tasks

The consultant/firm will be responsible to produce and/or publish three different articles/news reports in three national dailies. For this purpose, the consultant/firm will utilise his/her/its network in the print media. The consultant/firm will work in close collaboration with the Sudokkho team to finalise the article/news report.

Specific tasks of the firm/consultant will include:

  • Finalising the article/news report in collaboration with Sudokkho team
  • Organising interviews with relevant programme officials, stakeholders and beneficiaries to complement the article and news report
  • Utilising network in the print media to publish the article/news report

Technical details

  • The articles/ news report will be published in The Daily Prothom Alo, The Daily Star and The Financial Express
  • The articles will be published either in the editorial section or the business page
  • The news report will be published in the business page
  • Minimum length of the articles will be 500 words and news report 250-300 words
  • The published articles/news report will be shared on the social media pages of the news papers

Deliverables

  • Three published articles/news report in print version of the newspapers with the same shared over the social media pages of the newspapers

Time schedule

The task is intermittent for the period 15 January 2019 to 15 March 2019. In between the period the articles/news report will be published as per requirement of the programme. The firm/consultant’s involvement will be limited within a specific timeframe required for publishing each item; not the whole period.

Profile/requirement of the consultant

The final contract shall be done between the firm/consultant and Sudokkho. The consultant/firm will be liable for finalising the article/news reports, establishing communication with the newspaper and publishing the items.
The consultant/firm or team of consultants should meet the following requirements

  • Track record of minimum 8 years’ experience in news media (especially print media), PR etc.
  • Proven professional and technical skills and network in news media
  • Solid understanding of development cooperation programmes
  • Knowledge and understanding of skills development, TVET, and RMG and construction sectors
  • High level verbal and written communication skills in Bengali and English

Proposal

Interested consultants/firms will submit technical and financial proposal that include the following:

Technical Proposal

  • Understanding of the assignment
  • Approach and Methodology of work
  • Detailed profile of the consultant/firm (Details of the consultant’s/firm’s capacity and experience relevant to the requirements mentioned above)
  • Value additions

Financial Proposal

  • Itemised budget (All payments are subject to deduction of VAT and IT at source)
  • Copy of VAT registration, eTIN certificate, and national ID/passport

Proposals will be emailed to info@sudokkho.org by mentioning “PR support for publishing articles/news report in national newspapers” in the subject. The closing time and date is Thursday, 8th January 2019.