Budget: Total budget of the contract 140,756.00 € (global price)

Period: Implementation period 24 months

Beneficiary: Ministry of Education and Science (MES)

Implementing partners: IBF International Consulting in cooperation with ATC Consultants GmbH

1. Introduction

Both the VET sector and the educational system in Macedonia underwent significant changes. During the implementation reforms substantial challenges were encountered, the reasons being mainly in the slow transition of the Labor market needs in correlation  with the appropriate reforms in the VET sector. The previous phases of modernization of the Vocational Education and Training Programme aimed mainly to establish a modern system of vocational education and training and to establish and strengthen the capacity of the Centre for Vocational Education and Training and reform the four-year vocational education and training, to start the reform of the two-year and three-year vocational education and training and to adopt the Strategy for vocational education and training  in a Lifelong learning context 2013-2020.

An analysis of the existing teaching equipment, made in March 2010, stated that more than half of the existing teaching equipment is older than 30 years and in some of the schools even older. Even though, the teaching equipment is still in use, the technology is obsolete, and does not meet the needs of the new curricula for modern education and training.  A Twinning project has been completed in 2011 aiming to support the modernisation of the educational system in two-year and three-year vocational education according to the labour market needs and European standards. It is of a particular importance to achieve the successful implementation of the new curricula through use of modern educational technology in the lifelong learning context. In carrying out of this assignment the Contractor will have to encompass 52 VET schools, out of which 32 have been already encompassed with the Twinning project[1]. These 52 VET schools are all across the country.

The legal framework for this assignment derives from the Council Regulation (EC) No. 1085/2006 of 17.07.2006 establishing an Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA)  – OJ L 210, 31.07.2006 and the Financing Agreement between the Beneficiary Country and the Commission of the European Union concerning the Multi – annual Operational Programme “Human Resources Development” (CCI No.:2007MK05IPO001) under  the Human Resources Development Component of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance.

2. Objectives of the project

The overall objective of interventions under this project is to provide support for effective implementation of the Measure 2.1 “Modernising the educational and training system” within the Operational Programme for Human Resources Development 2007-2013 through a capital investment in modern teaching equipment for modernisation of the VET process in two-year and three-year vocational education particularly, and apparently for assisting the better linking of VET supply in relevance to the technological needs of the different economy sectors. Thus, the intervention will facilitate the improvement of human resources development condition and increasing of adaptability of the VET system to the labour market demand.

The specific objective of this project is to provide technical support for preparation of tender documentation for supply of teaching equipment for vocational training aiming to update the existing and procure new teaching equipment essentially related to the implementation of recently reformed curricula for conduction of modernised two-year and three-year vocational education. Based on findings from preliminary conducted Needs Analysis and Market Research, realisation of this objective will result with particular attention to delivery of technical specifications for supply contract in accordance with the latest version of PRAG procurement rules and contracting conditions. To this end, the project is aiming to  strengthen the institutional capacities for implementation of procurement process and provisional acceptance of the equipment through a series of workshops and on-the-job training interventions for capacity building on beneficial institutional level, including the relevant educational institutions, local authorities, social partners and other key stakeholders in VET.

3. Project activities

The project will be carried out in two phases – Inception and Implementation phase.

Activity 0 (A0) – Inception Phase:  Besides the start-up activities for launching the project and establishment of communication and logistical issues, during the inception the Contractor will review the existing project environment and clarify the expectations from the main beneficiaries, in order to ensure equal understanding of the project process, mutual commitments and desired outputs. A Working Group (WG) consisted of representatives of the main beneficiaries and important VET institutions will be established.

Activity 1 (A1) – Preparation of Needs Analysis for update and procurement of teaching equipment for vocational training essentially related to the implementation of the reformed curricula: using of appropriate tools and combined approaches and methods for desk-research, structured meetings, focus groups, interviews, and questionnaires for gathering of reliable data, the Contractor will carry out preliminary analysis of the current state of play of the Macedonian VET system,  the inventory list of the existing teaching equipment prepared by the technical staff from the VET Centre, and  the current state of electrical and infrastructural capacities, connections, internet etc. for installation and operation of the teaching equipment.  Based on the findings the Consultant will identify and prioritise the teaching equipment needs for VET.

Activity 1 (A2) – Conducting market research for the supply of teaching equipment for vocational training and preparation of estimated budget breakdown: following the findings and conclusions from the needs analysis, the Contractor will prepare market analysis plan aiming to identify the available products, their origin and price range, existence of sufficient number of potential suppliers and their eligibility.

Activity 3 (A3) – Preparation of technical specification in line with the latest PRAG procurement rules and contracting conditions: a draft Technical Specification will be prepared according to the rules and contracting conditions stipulated by the latest version of PRAG, and submitted to the Beneficiary institution and the Contracting Authority for approval.

Activity 4 (A4) – Capacity building to the MoES, VET Centre and VET schools and developing checklists for the provisional acceptance of the teaching equipment: capacity building interventions will be designed as horizontal supporting activity for the relevant stakeholders – IPA Structure in the MoES, Unit for public procurement in the MoES, relevant staff from the VET Centre and also from the 52 VET schools; it will cover structured on-the-job training with focus on preparation and processing of Tender dossier for supply of VET teaching equipment, but also on techniques and rules to provide technical clarifications during the tendering procedure, requested by potential applicants, developing checklists for the provisional acceptance of the teaching equipment, and a 2-day workshop on provisional acceptance of the equipment.

Final report will include a complete overview of all activities implemented during the project life and will describe the interim and finally delivered project outputs including a critical analysis of any major problems that may have arisen during the performance, Lessons learned and recommendations for improvement and future actions.

4. Duration of the project
10 November 2014 – 31 October 2016

 

[1] Contract under OIS “Support to the modernization of the educational and training system” approved by the EUD Ref.No.09-8024/1 on 05.03.2010