Reannouncement-Y3S1/2 Training Materials and Online Course Development

Call for Proposal

Consulting Firm/ Organization

Year 3 Semester 1 and 2 Training Materials and Online Courses Development

UNESCO Myanmar Strengthening Pre-Service Teacher Education in Myanmar (STEM)

Organizationalunit: UNESCOMyanmar Project Office

DutyStation: Yangon,Myanmar

Type of Contract: Contract for Services

Tentative Duration: May2023- November 2023 (6 months)

Deadline of Application: 24 May 2023 at 17:00 Hours (Yangon time)

I. Background:

UNESCO works to Strengthen Pre-Service Teacher Education in Myanmar (STEM). The project addresses four fundamentally important aspects of pre-service teacher education. These include:

1. formulating a policy framework of pre-service teacher education and identifying standards for quality assurance,
2. improving a system of pre-service teacher training institutions by designing the new four-year degree programme of pre-service teacher education and creating good networks to accumulate and share knowledge and experiences,
3. developing institutional/management and human resource capacities, and
4. mainstreaming inclusion and equity issues in teacher education.

Under the project, UNESCO is developing new pre-service teacher education curriculum and training resources for the new four-year degree programme. Year 1 curriculum was developed and rolled out starting December 2019, and Year 1 orientation trainings were implemented in October-November 2019 (Semester 1) and May-June 2020 (Semester 2), respectively. Likewise, Year 2 curriculum was finalised, and Year 2 training materials were developed. UNESCO’s training materials (Year 1 Semester 2 and Year 2 Semester 1 and 2) include training manual, PowerPoint presentations, videos, video scripts, etc. As Year 1 Semester 1 training was delivered through in-person cluster training, videos were not developed.

UNESCO continues to develop training materials by adapting a hybrid, innovative approach, and plans to develop online training courses using these materials and make them available at the Myanmar Teacher Platform (MTP) web version (www.mmteacherplatform.net) and mobile app version. These training courses are aimed at engaging more educators (teacher educators, teachers, trainers, etc.) in continued professional development opportunities. The trainings/courses will enable the educators to be able to: i) demonstrate their understanding in pedagogical theory and content knowledge required to deliver pre-service teacher education curriculum by semester; and ii) plan, prepare and deliver their subject/learning area, applying various teaching strategies and assessment approaches to meet the needs of diverse learners in classrooms. Online courses for Year 1 Semester 1 and 2, and Year 2 Semester 1 have been developed in both English and Myanmar languages, and they are now available on MTP. Year 2 Semester 2 is currently under development. These courses include various components such as lectures, videos, video scripts as well as a range of interactive activities including comprehension questions, graphic organisers, practice exercises and quizzes.

The Contractor will i) develop, revise, edit and finalise Year 3 Semester 1 and 2 training materials and online course materials, including but not limited to a training manual, PowerPoint presentations, videos and online course components (lectures, practice activities, quizzes, assessment questions, directions, etc.), by reviewing Year 3 Semester 1 and 2 curriculum, 14-18 subjects per specialisation track (See Table 1), conducting further research, integrating international practices and approaches to the content and the pedagogy, and mainstreaming inclusion and equity.

Table 1. List of Year 3 curriculum materials

Primary School Specialisation Track

Middle School Specialisation Track

Core Subject

Semester 1

11 subjects/learning area syllabi, TBs and TGs

15 subjects/learning area syllabi, TBs and TGs

3 core subjects/ learning area syllabi, TBs and TGs

Semester 2

11 subjects/learning area syllabi, TBs, TGs and handbooks

15 subjects/learning area syllabi, TBs, TGs and handbooks

3 core subjects/ learning area syllabi, TBs and TGs

II. Work Assignment

The Contractor will perform the tasks under the overall authority of the Director of UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office in Bangkok, the direct supervision of the Head of UNESCO Myanmar Project Office, and the day-to-day guidance of the Curriculum Specialist and in close collaboration with the STEM project team.

1. The Contractor will, for the development of Year 3 Semester 1 and 2 training materials:
2. Review Year 3 Semester 1 and 2 Curriculum (14-18 subject including syllabi, TBs, TGs, and handbooks per specialisation track), Teacher Competency Standards Framework (TCSF) for beginning teachers, and get familiar with other relevant documents on the training materials to ensure the development of well-aligned training materials;
3. Conduct further research to ensure Year 3 Semester 1 and 2, in terms of overarching concepts, content, learning activities, teaching and learning strategies and assessment approaches, are contextualised while reflecting the international standards and trends, including mainstreaming inclusion and equity;
4. Develop two training manuals for Semester 1 and 2 (5 modules and 12-14 sessions for each semester including core modules for both primary and middle tracks and additional differentiated modules for each specialisation track) to meet the objectives and learning outcomes of Year 3 Semester 1 and 2 training, following UNESCO style guides;
5. Revise and finalise the training manual incorporating comments provided by UNESCO;
6. Design and include illustrations to the training manual to make learning content and activities more interesting and interactive (see below section 3-5);
7. Organise and format the documents of Year 3 Semester 1 and 2 training manual including illustrations, infographics and photographs, and teaching and learning resources to make sure that they meet the requirements of UNESCO style guides, are up to standard and are of good quality;
8. Develop 24-28 PowerPoint presentations (PPTs) in English for both Semester 1 and 2, following UNESCO style guides;
9. Revise and finalise 24-28 PPTs in English, incorporating UNESCO’s comments, suggestions and ideas as necessary;
10. Develop video scripts in English by identifying key messages of each session, and revise them, incorporating UNESCO’s comments, suggestions and ideas as necessary;
11. Record videos in English language, edit 24-28 video files approximately 30-45 minutes following the specific guidelines given by UNESCO and provide all original final files to UNESCO (See below section 3-5); and
12. Communicate with UNESCO regularly to provide updates on the course material/component and revision process and to make clarifications on the comments received on course materials.
13. The Contractor will, for the development of Year 3 Semester 1 and 2 online courses:
14. Review pre-service teacher education Year 3 Semester 1-2 curriculum and training materials (manuals, PPTs, videos), Teacher Competency Standards Framework (TCSF) for beginning teachers and get familiar with other relevant documents on previous online course materials to ensure the development of well-aligned e-learning courses;
15. Develop online courses materials/components (lectures, videos, guiding questions, practice exercises, quizzes, assessment, etc.) for Year 3 Semester 1 and 2 (along with the training material development). Each course will consist of 12 to 14 sub-modules (which vary per semester), and should include lectures, PowerPoint presentations/videos, audios, video scripts, quizzes, and assessments that meet the objectives and learning outcomes of the training materials, following UNESCO online course guideline;
16. Organize and format all materials of Year 3 Semester 1-2 for online course development and make sure that they meet the requirements of UNESCO style guides, are up to standard and are of good quality;
17. Revise and finalize the materials of e-learning courses incorporating comments provided by UNESCO; and
18. Communicate with UNESCO regularly to provide updates on the course material/component and revision process and to make clarifications on the comments received on course materials.
19. The Contractor may choose the application most suitable for the production of content. However, it is recommended to utilize applications requiring minimal calibration and interface mastery, especially for repeated editing during the later stages of development.
20. Industry standards for video editing software include Adobe Premiere, Adobe Edge Final Cut Pro. These products are best for delivering the final video files in various application formats, suitable for seamless sharing on web and social media.
21. The Contractor will ensure that technical specifications for videos should have been as follows:

• Ratio: 1280×720, 1920×1080 (HD), 720p or 1080p
• Deinterlacing: YES
• Codec: H.264 / AAC
• Frame Rate: 24 – 30fps
• Image sequence: PNG, JPEG, GIF, DPX, OpenEXR, TIFF or Targa
• Video format: MOV, MP4
• Web Video (Social media): H.264 of different frame sizes with various resolutions for Facebook, Vimeo, Youtube, Twitter

III. Intellectual Property Rights

This cession of rights concerns all showings in radio and in television forms –by satellite, cable or hertzian waves- or cinematographic form, all publishings in the form of videotape, videodisc, compact disc, audiocassette, or vinyl disk as well as by any other means known or to be invented as well as on all devices and in all formats. This cession of rights is granted worldwide for the maximum period permitted by the law. If the Contractor incorporates in the programme any library material, published or unpublished scenario, dialogue, musical composition or other work, the copyright of which is vested in a third party, he shall obtain, free of cost to UNESCO, written permission from the owner(s) of the copyright therein for the Contractor and UNESCO to translate, reproduce in whole or in part, publish, communicate to the public, including communication by public projection, distribute, adapt or otherwise use such works in all versions of the programme in whatever form or language it is produced. The Contractor will prove evidence of the grant of this authorization. The Contractor warrants to UNESCO that it has the right to grant the rights mentioned in this Contract and that the programme contains nothing libelous or otherwise unlawful.

The Contractor warrants that:

1. The Work made under this contract are created by the Contractor and the Contractor is the sole and unrestricted owner of the exclusive rights in the works;
2. The Work made under this contract is free from encumbrances and no third party is entitled to any intellectual property rights with regard to the work; and
3. No third party rights have been infringed in the making of the work.

IV. Deliverables and Timeline

All deliverables are submitted in English language with original, editable files to UNESCO (such as MS-Word, MS-PowerPoint, MOV, MP4, etc.). The assigned tasks must be submitted by the following deadlines.

Deliverables

Last Date or Submission

1. Year 3 Semester 1 training content outline and e-learning course content outline (Word Format) by 14 June 2023

2. Draft version Year 3 Semester 1 training materials (Word, PowerPoint, PDF, MOV, MP4 Format) by 14 July 2023

3. Final version Year 3 Semester 1 training materials (Word, PowerPoint, PDF, MOV, MP4 Format) by 25 July 2023

4. Draft version Year 3 Semester 1 e-learning course materials (Word, PowerPoint, PDF, MOV, MP4 Format) by 11 August 2023

5. Final version Year 3 Semester 1 e-learning course materials (Word, PowerPoint, PDF, MOV, MP4 Format) by 21 August 2023

6. Year 3 Semester 2 training content outline and e-learning course content outline (Word Format) by 28 August 2023

7. Draft version Year 3 Semester 2 training materials (Word, PowerPoint, PDF, MOV, MP4 Format) by 22 September 2023

8. Final version Year 3 Semester 2 training materials (Word, PowerPoint, PDF, MOV, MP4 Format) by 30 September 2023

9. Draft version Year 3 Semester 2 e-learning course materials (Word, PowerPoint, PDF, MOV, MP4 Format) by 15 October 2023

10. Final version Year 3 Semester 2 e-learning course materials (Word, PowerPoint, PDF, MOV, MP4 Format) by 31 October 2023

V. Condition of Payments

1. 100% of this assignment will be authorized for payment upon the approval of the UNESCO project officer who will determine if the assignments meet the required quality standard.
2. Any possible bank charges of the Contractor by the intermediate bank(s) and/or the Contractor’s bank shall be borne by the Contractor and charged within the amount of the contract.
3. UNESCO reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if the quality is unsatisfactory and/or if they are not delivered on time to the required standard of quality.
4. First payment (50%) after submission of the deliverables in III (1-5), and final payment (50%) after submission of the deliverables in III (6-10).

VI. Qualifications for Specialised Knowledge/Experience:

Organization

Eligible organisations are local and international education service providers, focused on teacher education and have extensive work with pre-service teacher education and continued professional development for educators (teacher educators, teachers, trainers, etc.) and e-learning course development. Some criteria for application are as follows:

Required Qualifications:

• Holding the necessary permission/license to provide the services as outlined in these ToR;
• Evidence of previous and current registration or ongoing application registration;
• A good knowledge of pre-service teacher education curriculum in Myanmar and learning needs of the different educators would be a great advantage;
• At least 5 years of experience in trainings and in the area of teacher professional development and related fields is required, preferably with experience in e-learning materials development;
• Sufficient technical support professionals for training materials and online course development with appropriate experience in education, international development or a related field;
• Sufficient professionals with excellent communication skills and excellent writing skills in English;
• Proficiency in using Microsoft office and appropriate tools to produce high quality audio-visual resources (Powerpoint, visual aids and organisers, illustrations, MOV, MP4, etc.); and
• Excellent project management skills, including the ability to meet the deadline and manage resources effectively.

Desirable Qualifications:

• Previous experience international organizations, and/or the UN organizations are preferred; and
• Previous experiences in developing pre-service teacher education training materials and online courses will be an advantage.

Personnel/staff who will implement the activities

Required Qualifications:

• A degree the in the field of education, development or related field;

• At least five years of experience in the field of education and/or training provision;

• Excellent knowledge on Myanmar context, particularly pre-service teacher education;

• Experience in technical support for training materials and online course development with appropriate experience in education, international development or a related field;

• Ability to think strategically and creative problem solving; and

• Ability to work with flexibility and collaboration is essential.

Desirable Qualifications:

• Previous experience international organizations, and/or the UN organizations are preferred; and
• Previous experiences in developing pre-service teacher education training materials and online courses will be an advantage.

How to apply

Interested organizations are invited to submit in writing to the UNESCO Myanmar Project Office:

• Technical Proposal clearly referencing “Year 3 Semester 1 and 2 Training Materials and Online Courses Development”, indicating 1) qualifications and experiences that make suitable for the assignment, 2) the methodology/ approaches and workplan to be adopted to carry out the assignment, 3) detailed CVs of the team for the assignment 4) profile of the organization.
• Financial Proposal indicating all the necessary cost.

UNESCO places great emphasis on ensuring that the objectives of the work assignment, as described in the Terms of Reference, are met. Accordingly, in evaluating the applications for the assignment, attention will focus first and foremost on the technical elements. From those proposals deemed suitable in terms of the criteria in the Terms of Reference, UNESCO shall select the proposal that offers the Organization best value for money.

Your application should reach [email protected] by email no later than 17:00 Hours (Yangon time) on 24 May 2023.

Only short-listed organisations will be contacted.