REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
The Government of Saint Lucia (GOSL) has received financing from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) towards the cost of the Education Quality Improvement Project (EQuIP) and intends to apply a portion of the proceeds of this financing to eligible payments under a contract for which this invitation is issued. Payments by CDB will be made only at the request of GOSL and upon approval by CDB, and will be subject in all respects to the terms and conditions of the Financing Agreement. The Financing Agreement prohibits withdrawal from the financing account for the purpose of any payment to persons or entities, or for any import of goods, if such payment or import, to the knowledge of CDB, is prohibited by a decision of the United Nations Security Council taken under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. No party other than GOSL shall derive any rights from the Financing Agreement or have any claim to the proceeds of the Financing.
The Department of Education, Innovation and Gender Relations the Executing Agency, is now seeking to engage consultancy services for the development of a National Qualifications Framework (NQF).
The objective of this consultancy is to establish a national framework of qualification equivalencies across the education sector, both formal and non-formal, to allow for horizontal and vertical movement, and multiple pathways to certification.
The duration of the assignment is expected to be for a maximum of 100 person-days over a period of nine (9) months. The consultancy team should possess at least eight (8) years’ experience in undertaking similar assignments in education, accreditation, institutional and legislative assessment/review, development of qualifications frameworks within the sub-region and beyond, monitoring and action plans, and the preparation of communications strategies to build awareness and sensitise stakeholders. Individual resumés are not required at this stage of the procurement process.
The consultancy team should have post-graduate expertise in educational assessment, with specific experience in accreditation, evaluation of education qualifications, and determination of equivalencies. The Consultants should also demonstrate capacity for strategic thinking, as well as excellent communication and analytical skills. Knowledge of the education sector in Saint Lucia as well as those in the Region would also be an asset.
The Department of Education, Innovation and Gender Relations now invites interested eligible consulting firms to submit Expressions of Interest for the provision of these consultancy services.
Consultants shall be eligible to participate if:
(a) in the case of a body corporate, it is legally incorporated or otherwise organised in an eligible country, has its principal place of business in an eligible country and is more than 50 per cent beneficially owned by citizen(s) and/or bona fide resident(s) of eligible country(ies) or by a body(ies) corporate meeting these requirements;
(b) in the case of unincorporated firms, the persons are citizens or bona fide residents of an eligible country; and
(c) in all cases, the consultant has no arrangement and undertakes not to make any arrangements, whereby any substantial part of the net profits or other tangible benefits of the contract will accrue or be paid to a person not a citizen or bona fide resident of an eligible country.
Eligible countries are member countries of CDB.
The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to paragraph 1.9 of CDB’s Guidelines for the Selection and Engagement of Consultants (2011), setting forth CDB’s policy on conflict of interest.
In the assessment of submissions, consideration will be given to technical competence, qualifications and experience, local and regional experience on similar assignments, financial capability and existing commitments. All information must be submitted in English. Further information may be obtained from the Address 1 below between 09:00 and 16:00 hours Monday to Friday.
ONE electronic copy, in Portable Document Format (PDF), and ONE hard copy of the Expressions of Interest must be received at the email and address provided below in Address 1 no later than 16:00 hours on April 24, 2020 and ONE electronic copy must be sent simultaneously to CDB at the email provided below in Address 2. The sealed envelope containing the required hard copy submission to the EQuIP (Address 1) should include the name and address of the applicant and shall be clearly marked “Expression of Interest – Consultancy Services for Development of a National Qualifications Framework”. The subject of the electronic copy should also read: “Expression of Interest – Consultancy Services for Development of a National Qualifications Framework”.
Following the assessment of submissions, a short-list of not less than three and not more than six applicants will be provided with full terms of reference and invited to submit technical and financial proposals to undertake the assignment. GOSL reserves the right to accept or reject late applications or to cancel the present invitation partially or in its entirety. It will not be bound to assign any reason for not short-listing any applicant and will not defray any costs incurred by any applicant in the preparation and submission of Expressions of Interest.
Address 1
Address 2
