Njoftim i datës 25 Korrik 2018 – We are looking for an IT expert for the project ”EPALE National Support Services” in Albania.

Albania’s education and training system has been still mainly focussed on the schooling of youngsters, through the ensuring of both, general education attainment and alternative vocational education and training pathways. In the recent years, the investments for capacitating schools and teaching staff, at all education levels, with minimum standard levels of performance have been the major concern of the Government, at as well as the extension of schooling years and coverage rate of youth attending further education, namely at secondary and tertiary levels. Hence, the “adult learning” opportunities in the public sector are still scarce and the engagement of active population in further education and training actions is very low (below 1% of participation of adults in education and training activities). This situation configures the background for the further development of lifelong learning opportunities to adults in Albania. Encompassing the significant on-going reform in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector, as part of the Albania pathway towards the European Union accession – which aims at bringing VET closer to the labour market needs and fostering a better cooperation with the public employment services and a stronger involvement of the private sector – it is now the right momentum for the development of the adult learning sector alongside with the Albanian Qualification Framework implementation. The National Agency for Vocational Education and Training and Qualifications (NAVETQ) as the National Support Service for EPALE has, therefore, submitted a proposal to develop a set of activities to promote the European Platform for Adult Learning in Europe (EPALE) in Albania, to be implemented between January and December 2017/2018, as a first initiative as a candidate country in this field. This set of activities comprises: (i) the design and implementation of a Communication Strategy to promote EPALE in Albania and recruit users and contributors; (ii) contributions for updating the information about Lifelong Learning in Albania available at EPALE; (iii) animation strategies through social media and virtual communities to expand the Lifelong Learning community in the country, and to motivate adult learners, adult educators, the Albanian businesses and the society in general; (iv) the maintenance of the NAVETQ webpage on EPALE, cross linking it to other public and private institutions operating in the education and training field; and (v) support to multilingualism through the uploading of contents related to lifelong learning in Albanian language, exploiting the cultural and identity dimensions of adult learning activities.

1. Objective of this assignment

The National Agency of Vocational Education Training and Qualifications (NAVETQ) of Albania was established by the Decision of the Council of Ministers no. 273 as of 10^th of May 2006, which was then replaced by another Decision of Council of Ministers (no.321 as of 21^st of April, 2011) following the changes in the VET Law of Republic of Albania. Due to the last amendments to the VET Law (Law no. 64/2014), NAVETQ is a subordinate institution to the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry in charge of employment and skills development policies, as well as labour relations and social policies. The mission of NAVETQ is to create a unified national system of vocational qualifications based on the Albanian Qualification Framework (AQF) leaning on the European Qualification Framework (EQF). Since the very beginning, NAVETQ acted and acts as a public institution providing expertise in issues of VET development and lifelong learning. NAVETQ is responsible for the development of vocational qualifications and standards (from level 2 to level 5 of the AQF), for the development of frame curricula and assessment methodologies and instruments. As the responsible body, NAVETQ supports also the development of short term courses for adults offered by public Vocational Training centres. The NAVETQ is organized in four technical units and managed by a Director. Three units are responsible respectively, for the development of the AQF, the national curricula and assessment/certification instruments. One unit is in charge of administration and information technologies (IT). NAVETQ staff is specialized in VET, Vocational Qualifications, and Adult Learning and have been providing long standing experience working with projects implemented by international partners as the IIZ/DVV of Germany, Swisscontact of Switzerland, ILO and other projects as well. NAVETQ is also cooperating with private sector organizations in order to address the labour market needs in terms of vocational qualifications for the different economic sectors, as well as with experts/practitioners of the education and training field. Furthermore, NAVETQ works on a daily basis with teaching staff and other groups responsible for VET and Adult Learning provision and exchanges with other national and international institutions in these issues. Since March 2014, NAVETQ has been nominated as the National Support Service (NSS) to EPALE in Albania by the Government, through the Mission of the Republic of Albania to the European Union in the framework of ERASMUS + programme. The current project aims at promoting EPALE in Albania through the recruitment of users and the development of specific activities related to adult learning, including the allocation of the necessary human and financial resources to NAVETQ, and networking. In its scope, there is a need for an Information Technologies (IT) Expert which will provide services to NAVETQ as the National Support Services (NSS) of EPALE, namely on the development of IT solutions for storing and publishing Adult Learning information related to providers, experts, activities and key-resources, as well on the maintenance of the IT infrastructure and software, including social media, in the framework of EPALE promotion in Albania.

2. Expected deliverables

 The expert is expected to produce the following deliverables within Work Package 2. Contribution to the content of the platform, Work Package 3. Animating on-line communities and interactive/social sections of the EPALE platform and Work Package 4: Maintenance of NSS pages:

• Existing database of Adult Learning providers and experts reshuffled according to the current needs of EPALE, published on-line and ready for being updated by different users (by November 2018)
• A Maintenance Plan with the identification of the frequency of uploading information according to guidelines of the CSS is drafted in cooperation with NAVETQ
• Maintenance of the IT infrastructure in order to incorporate the needs and requirements of EPALE in the NAVETQ/MoFE website and other related social media
• Updating the EPALE NSS web page for Albania, with contents in both ENG and ALB languages
• Capacity building of the IT staff in charge of administrating EPALE database at NSS and on the topics related to social media contents production and usage
• Training package on moderation of on-line discussions and e-skills to produce contents for and use social media (Facebook, Twitter, and others) and one training action to 20 participants organized and delivered under NAVETQ coordination.

1.  Qualification/Expertise of the IT Expert 

An IT Expert is going to be sub-contracted for providing services to NAVETQ as the National Support Services (NSS) of EPALE, namely on the development of IT solutions for storing and publishing Adult Learning information related to providers, experts, activities and key-resources, as well on the maintenance of the IT infrastructure and software, including social media, in the framework of EPALE promotion in Albania, as described above. The expert should have experience in providing IT services to public institutions, namely on the education and training field, producing similar high-quality systems and products, including experience on social media. In the process of evaluating expert proposals, the following factors criteria will be kept in consideration:

1. Bachelor or Master Degree in Information and Communication Technology
2. Relevance of:

• Specialized Knowledge in Information Technologies and Management Information Systems, including web tools and social media
• Experience on similar projects/activities/in organizing IT trainings and on the job support to public administration personnel
• Established methodologies for software analysis, implementation testing and support in public services

1. Similar work for public or governmental institutions or agencies would be considered an asset
2. Adequacy of the technical and financial proposal to the objectives of the present Terms of Reference
3. The expert should be one IT specialist/employee with previous experience in implementing similar solutions to public administration.
4. The expert should have 5+ years of work experience in the field of information technology and management information systems.

4. Time frame and work plan 

The deliverables described within this ToR are to be produced as per the request of the Contracting Authority, i.e. the NAVETQ, based on the annual work plan being prepared. This work plan will be shared with the selected expert by the time of the signature of the contract. The abovementioned assignment is expected to start on the 1^st of September 2018. It is expected that the contract will last until 30^th of November of 2018.

5. Administrative and financial conditions

The expert is going to work based on the work plan, however it might be required some adaptations to the defined deadlines according to specific requirements of MoFE, NAVETQ or the European Commission. Coordination and support will be offered to the expert by the technical team allocated to the EPALE project at NAVETQ, namely through its Director, specialists, and local expert. Some tasks will require the coordination with translators and the international expert. The financial proposal cannot exceed the amount of EUR 3.000,00. NAVETQ Director reserves the right to accept or refuse a product based on quality and timely deliver requirements.

6. How and where to apply 

Interested applicants are required to submit the application package to the following email address: info@akafp.gov.al. and/or the following via post to the address: AKAFPK, Street “Naim Frasheri”, Nr. 37, Tirana. The application package should comprise:

1. a Technical and Financial Offer, including at least two examples of similar projects
2. a recently updated CV,
3. an application request and
4. a copy of the diploma of the highest degree achieved. 

Deadline for application: 21^st of August 2018, 16:30 hrs (CET). More information about EPALE can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/epale/en/home-page or www.akafp.gov.al. 1_ToR-EPALE_IT_2018_EPALE 2_Request-for-expressions-of-interest_IT_2018_EPALE 3__Procnotice_IT_2018_EPALE Tirana, 25^th of July, 2018