Sierra Leone Skills Development Project: Hire a Consultant for the Training of SDF Graduates on job Readiness and Business Development Skills

According to the World Bank, Sierra Leone’s population is young and growing rapidly, and a majority live below the poverty line. Between 2004 and 2015, the population grew on average 3.3 percent per annum, and almost onehalf (45.8 percent) of the population is under the age of 15.  While the poverty rate declined from 66.4 percent in 2003 to 53.8 percent in 2011, the number of poor remained relatively constant at around 3 million due to population growth. While more than 75 percent of the poor live in rural areas, there has been a significant increase in urban poverty rates. Between 2003 and 2011, the incidence of poverty in the  capital  of  Freetown  increased  from  14  percent  to  21  percent  due  to  urbanization,  ruralurban migration, the slow pace of job creation in Freetown, and high rates of inflation.

The  labor  market  in  Sierra  Leone  is  characterized  by  relatively  high  participation  and  low  unemployment, as well as high underemployment and informality. In 2014, the labor force participation rate was 65 percent with only 2.8 percent unemployment.  However, the low unemployment rate, particularly in rural areas, is misleading: while 90 percent of the workforce is selfemployed, the majority are concentrated in smallscale agriculture (59 percent) and over 35 percent of wage employment and 88 percent of nonagricultural selfemployment is in the informal sector.  The youth unemployment rate is two times higher than the average among workingage adults. While  the  differences  in  labor  market outcomes by gender are small, there are substantial differences in labor market outcomes between urban

and rural populations and among individuals with different levels of education.

The Sierra Leone Skills Development Project (SDP), which is led by the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education (MTHE) and financed by the World bank, is mainly aimed at enhancing the current TVET system to produce skilled youth who can be readily absorbed by the labour market or become successful entrepreneurs.

The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to increase access to demand-led skills training and building the foundations for a demand-led skills development system in Sierra Leone.

The Skills Development Fund (SDF), Component 1 of the SDP,  is a challenge fund for support to labor marker relevant skills training. An important element of the initiative is to facilitate collaboration between training providers and industry to promote demand driven skills development with special attention to innovative modes of training.

So far, the grantees under the SDF have completed training for 10,712 trainees. Data Collected by SDF Secretariat show that 4,902 graduates are employed (formal and self-employed), but the majority are in informal self-employment. The data indicates that the remaining 5,810 are unemployed or engaged in activities unrelated to their training area.

The SDP has recognized the urgent need to provide career service, entrepreneurship and business development skills training for graduates to boost their employment prospects in the formal and informal sectors.

The SDP is seeking the services of a consultancy firm to undertake training for 3,000 trainees  (representing 60 per cent of the original target of 5,000 graduates in the Project Appraisal Document). The firm shall conduct the training in phases over five months. The training will be carried out concurrently in the South/East Region and the North/North-West Region.

2) OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT AND SCOPE OF WORK

Objective

The assignment's general objective is to improve SDF trainees' employability by providing targeted training to meet their employment and business needs.

The SDF Private Sector Engagements in December 2021 show that trainees and employers agree that career readiness, and soft skills, are necessary to obtain and perform well in a job post-training.

This assignment aims to foster trainees' understanding and skills in producing unique commodities (innovation) and pioneering profit-oriented and sustainable entrepreneurship. The SDP hopes that trainees will be able to be creative both in products and services that can generate profit and be sustainable. By the end of the training, the SDP expect some trainees to have acquired job readiness skills. At the same time, some will be entrepreneurs, not only getting income for themselves but also opening up job opportunities for others. 

Scope of Work

The firm/training service provider is expected to deliver an integrated package of capacity-building services, as outlined below to 3,000 beneficiaries nationwide. In undertaking this assignment, the firm/training service provider will work in close collaboration with the SDF and the other SDP partners to undertake the following specific tasks:

• Assess the target group with the view to identify training needs in the areas of:
  • Career services for job readiness
  • Entrepreneurship and business development
• Group trainees for career service training and business development and entrepreneurship
• Based on the identified training needs, develop and adapt relevant training materials to suit the situation of the target trainees.
• Engage the project stakeholders to validate the training materials
• Conduct 1-week training in each district and by batch for effective interaction.
• Provide financial literacy training and facilitate financial linkages
• Mainstream career services, entrepreneurship and business development training in grantee institutions
• Provide training of trainers for sustainable implementation with future trainees
• Support trainees with a guide on business registration, accessing finance, business collaboration, accessing incubators and accelerators, pitching, and other related skills
• Provide draft and final reports to the SDFS

Selection Criteria

The firm will work with the project stakeholders especially the grantees in the final selection of the 3,000 target trainees. All graduates with formal employment will be excluded from the training. The primary targets will be job seekers and those trying to set-up their own businesses or have start-up businesses.

After excluding the employed graduates, the resulting number will be the target selection for each grantee. To arrive at the 3,000 target beneficiaries, each institution will be proportionally represented based on their number of unemployed graduates/job seekers and those seeking to start-up or improve their businesses. The selection by the grantee institutions will also cut across all training courses offered.   The final selection of unemployed graduates will be made by the grantee institutions in an equitable way and in close collaboration with the Skills Development Fund Secretariat. As a guide:

1. Where the number of job/business seekers per institution is   = X
2. The total number of job/business seekers is for all grantees     = Y
3. Target trainees is                                                                                 = 3,000
4. Representation per institution (Z)  is                                                  =  (X divided by Y ) multiplied by 3,000

Training Days

• Some of the training to be done after working hours and over the weekend to target those who are currently engaged.
• Trainees will be grouped into batches of maximum 30. Each group will have 2 days of training.
• The trainings will be done between Monday and Saturday and the trainees will opt for their preferred two-days.

Training Approach

• Each week, two sets of training will be done concurrently in two different districts. If one training is happening in the Northern Region another should be happening in the South.
• Presentations/ Introductory lecture - activities conducted by the facilitator or a resource specialist to convey information, theories, or principles
•  Brainstorming - a spontaneous group discussion to produce ideas and ways of solving problems
• Case Study Scenarios - Descriptions of real-life situations used for analysis and discussion; Oral or written
• Role-Plays - two or more individuals enacting parts in scenarios related to a training topic
• Simulations - enactments of real-life situations

Training Areas

1.  Job readiness skills  (including job searching, CV/Resume development, behavioural, interpersonal and  soft skills)
2. Introduction to Business & Enterprise Development(Including Business plan development and Business ethics )
3. Sustainable Business Model - Organisation, Leadership & Operation Management (Including Occupational Safety and Health)
4. Legal and Regulatory Framework
5. Marketing Management ((including social media marketing)
6. Production Management
7. Financial Management

3) EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES

• Inception Report including revised Workplan and budget outlining the work/activities to be undertaken, including implementation plan and timelines
• A detailed course outline and training timetable.
• Individual and Consolidated Training Report showing the methodology used, activities undertaken, successes, challenges, results (planned and unplanned), lessons identified, and recommendations for addressing those lessons.
• Attendance lists and documentation of training processes, including photos and short videos of the target group in various stages of training, is required

Deliverables/ Outputs

Estimated Duration (days)     

Target Due Dates

Review & Approvals Required

Deliverable 1: Inception Report including revised Workplan and budget outlining the work/activities to be undertaken, including implementation plan and timelines (15 Days)

Activity 1:

• Review of Project documents and desk research on the assignment
• Consultative meetings with SDFS, MTHE and some grantees

7

SDFS/MTHE/WB

Activity 2: Review of trainee completion data and group trainees for career service training and business development and entrepreneurship

8

SDFS/MTHE/WB

Deliverable 2:  A detailed course outline, training materials and training timetable (30 Days)

Activity 1:

•  Engagement with key employers in 6 priority sectors etc (3 per sector across all regions in the country)
• Engagement with administrators and instructors of grantees and non- grantee training providers ( 4 per provincial regions)

Engagement with key ministries, departments and agencies linked to the key priority sectors of the SDF

15

Activity 2:

Draft course outline for the following training areas. The training materials/curricula will be based existing versions developed by ILO or GIZ. However, it will be tailored to fit the needs of the skills development project.

• Job readiness skills  (including job searching, behavioural, interpersonal and  soft skills)
• Business & Enterprise Development
  • Generate your business
  • Start your business
  • Improve your business
  • Expand Your Business
• Sustainable Business Model - Organisation, Leadership & Operation Management (Including Occupational Safety and Health)
• Legal and Regulatory Framework
• Marketing Management (including social media marketing)
• Production Management
• Financial Management

12

SDFS/MTHE/WB

Activity 3:

Validation of training materials and timelines

3

SDFS/MTHE/WB/NCTVA

Deliverable 3:  Individual and Consolidated Training Report showing the methodology used, activities undertaken, successes, challenges, results (planned and unplanned), lessons identified, and recommendations for addressing those lessons. (100 Days)

Activity 1:

Conduct  1-week (6 days, 5 hours a day) training in 14 administrative districts[1] and by batch of 30 trainees for effective interaction.

70

SDFS/MTHE/WB

Activity 2:

• Training of Trainers (grantee instructors) in 2 batches
• Provide instructors of grantee institutions with training manual and other relevant training tools

5

SDFS/MTHE/WB

Activity 3:

Training Report Writing showing the methodology used, activities undertaken, successes, challenges, results (planned and unplanned), lessons identified, and recommendations for addressing those lessons

10

SDFS/MTHE/WB

Activity 4:

• Support sample trainees (maximum 100 trainees) with a guide on business registration, accessing finance, business collaboration, accessing incubators and accelerators, pitching, and other related skills.
• This will target trainees with high prospects of being job creators

5

SDFS/MTHE/WB

Deliverable3: Preparation of sector-specific training manual and toolkits for each of 5 sectors

• Presentation of Draft manual
• Review of draft by key stakeholders and response
• Peer-to-peer review of the draft Manual-substantive inputs provided as required
• Finalization and approval on manual & toolkit

13

SDFS/MTHE/WB

Deliverable 4:  Attendance lists and documentation of training processes, including photos and short videos of the target group in various stages of training, is required (5 Days)

TOTAL

days

150

Criteria

Maximum Scores Allocated

FIRM QUALIFICATION 30

Should have the required team composition( Team Leader/Manager, Human Resource Development /Training Expert)

30

FIRM EXPERIENCE 70

Firm’s Experience in labour market development issues, knowledge of the TVET sector and working with employers (max 15 points (10 points allocated for similar assignments; + 3 points for knowledge in TVET; + up to 2 points for working with employers).

15

Evidence of completion of at least 2 assignments on capacity building with Government and/or its Multi-lateral Development Partners

20

Demonstrate ability to effectively coordinate and develop professional training on job readiness and  business development in the agriculture, construction, tourism, fisheries, ICT and mining sector/sub-sector

10

Experience conducting training and other capacity development activities

10

Working experience with the Government of Sierra Leone or its affiliated organizations

5

Knowledge of working or consulting for World Bank projects

10

TOTAL SCORES

100