National Recovery Program Bureau

Fostering Resilient Learning Project: Development MIS framework

Last update: Aug 30, 2022 Last update: 30 Aug, 2022

Details

Location:Sint MaartenSint Maarten
Category:Consulting services
Status:Awarded
Sectors:Information & Communication Technology
Contracting Authority Type:Government / Public Sector
Eligibility:Individual
Budget:N/A
Date posted:20 Oct, 2021

Attachments 1

Associated Awards

Project cycle timeline

STAGES
EARLY INTELLIGENCE
PROCUREMENT
IMPLEMENTATION
Cancelled
Status
Programming
Formulation
Approval
Forecast
Open
Closed
Shortlisted
Awarded
Evaluation

Associated tenders 1

Status

Date

Description

Project ID: P172753

Project Title: FOSTERING RESILIENT LEARNING PROJECT

Borrower Bid Reference: SX-NRPB-205593-CS-INDV

 National Recovery Program Bureau

Terms of Reference

For a

Ministry Management Information System Consultant

Short term consultant

  1. Background

On September 6, 2017, Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 hurricane, made landfall on Sint Maarten, causing significant destruction. Irma was shortly followed, on September 19, 2017, by the smaller-scale Hurricane Maria, which further damaged the country’s infrastructure. While the loss of life was limited, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) estimated damages and losses related to Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria at US$1.38 billion (129.5 percent of GDP) and at US$976.5 million (91.8 percent of GDP), respectively. Moreover, 90 percent of all infrastructure and significant parts of the natural environment were affected.

Access to quality learning environments has declined since 2017. As in other sectors, Hurricane Irma significantly affected education infrastructure. Moreover, 17 percent of daycare centers were damaged beyond repair, while 37 percent of them required repairs and 46 percent sustained minor damages. MECYS also reported that 64 percent of sports facilities sustained major damage; 46 percent of these sports were not operational at the time of the assessment and needed major repairs and 23 percent of them were semi-operational (National Recovery Program Bureau-NRPB).[1]

To support rapid and sustainable recovery from Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the Government of The Netherlands has established a EUR470 million (about US$517.5 million equivalent) Single Donor Trust Fund (SDTF) managed by the World Bank.[2] The SDTF, governed by a Steering Committee, finances selected activities in support of recovery, reconstruction, and resilience under the framework of the NRRP. US$35 million were allocated from the SDTF to develop and implement an education project to address damages and strengthen the resilience of the education sector.  This allocation resulted in  a US$5 million grant to the NGO UNICEF-The Netherlands (UNICEF-NL) to implement the Child Protection and Development Project (CDPP – P172582, currently under preparation).[3] In addition, US$ 30 million is allocated to the proposed Fostering Resilient Learning Project (FRLP). The Project’s objectives are to (i) restore access to a safe education, learning and cultural environment; and (ii) improve the resilience of Sint Maarten’s education system. For the latter, the project seeks to design and build an improved Ministry Management Information System. 

  1. National Recovery Program Bureau

In parallel to the establishment of the Trust Fund and the execution of the NRRP, the Government of Sint Maarten has developed an institutional structure for the implementation of Trust Fund financed projects. This structure has materialized in the form of the National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB) and serves as the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) for Trust Fund projects for which the Government of Sint Maarten enters into a Grant Agreement with the World Bank. As such, the NRPB execute those projects on behalf of the Government of Sint Maarten in the implementation of Trust Fund financed projects. 

All NRPB activities relate to projects or preparations thereof, approved by the Trust Fund Steering Committee, which consists of representatives from Sint Maarten, The Netherlands and the World Bank. In its capacity of PIU, NRPB works closely together with the line Ministries in the preparation, coordination, execution and evaluation of the Trust Fund projects. In addition, the NRPB is responsible for all reporting and fiduciary responsibilities towards the World Bank.

The NRPB is currently preparing the Fostering Resilient Learning Project. In order to do so, the NRPB is currently implementing a project preparation grant (PPG). This consultation will be financed under this PPG.

  1. Objectives of the consultation

The objective of this assignment is to prepare the MMIS activities and to deliver a framework on how the MMIS will be implemented, including the design of a Monitoring & Evaluation framework of MECYS. The deliverables evolve around the preparation of system architecture and relevant procurement documents for the implementation of the system. The MMIS shall fit within the Government’s Management Information System to ultimately function as a comprehensive information management system connecting all data from all entities within the Ministry of ECYS and some external technical organizations within other government institutions. Databases available at  the Government’s global information system include but not limited to: 

  • Civil Registry Database
  • Social Registry Database
  • Address Database 

By providing quality and timely information to decision-makers, the MMIS will support short- and long-term policy planning, monitoring and evaluation based on meaningful data, improve overall governance of the sector by quickly identifying important issues to be addressed, and more broadly, supply general information for research and other government purposes, with strong potential to ultimately improve the performance and resilience of the education, culture, youth and sport sector.  

Currently, the Ministry of ECYS is implementing an Excel-based system (manual) that measures limited data on performances and that does not provide real-time information nor financial data. Data available within technical entities are not yet systematically made available to the relevant monitoring functions, departments and strategic management for decision-making.  

The current hardware infrastructure includes: The ICT environment operates on a Virtual Infrastructure utilizing Virtual Machines operating on Windows Server 2016 or Server 2019 systems. This infrastructure is located in a Tier 2 Datacenter with replication to the cloud and also includes HP Host Servers, Cisco Switches and Fortinet Firewalls for networking and traffic protection and monitoring.

The software used are: Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Civil Registry’s PIVA system (Oracle Database) Currently, there is no regulatory framework for the Government’s information system and the MMIS. 

It is expected that, eventually, critical data collected at various levels in the education and other MECYS’ sectors will be interfaced with the MMIS on aggregated levels, as well as disaggregation of data for example the tracking of individual performances, transfers, needs and challenges. In addition, the interface to monitor key data in the culture, sport and day care sector level needs to be linked to the MMIS. Finally, the MMIS is expected to be connected to a coordination and data sharing mechanism with other government agencies involved in child development and protection especially during emergencies. This mechanism is currently under development.

Lastly, synergies with other Government digitization initiatives, such as the Digital Government Transformation Project (DGTP) should be sought to avoid duplication and ensure a proper integration of MMIS into the Enterprise Architecture of Government. 

Methodology

The consultant shall execute an Analysis of the existing [1] information management, [2] technical IT infrastructure, [3] organizational and [4] business processes. Subsequently, the consultant will formulate recommendations on how to design, develop and implement an adequate MMIS. This system should be integrated in the Government’s information system to ultimately function as a comprehensive information management system connecting all relevant data from all entities within the Ministry of ECYS and some external technical entities within other government entities. 

The Consultant is expected to do desk research and have interviews with key stakeholders in the Ministry of ECYS and Ministry of General Affairs. In addition, the Consultant is expected to organize two workshops on Sint Maarten for collection of data and for presenting the draft MMIS Framework Document.

To this extent, the consultant will develop:

  1. A diagnostic of the existing data architecture, data coverage, data analytics, serviceability, processes, flows resources and legal framework and organization structures, and accessibility/operational use currently in place and gaps to fill. It will include recommendations and an action plan to design an efficient MMIS, integrated into the Government’s information system;
  2. A framework document for the MMIS including data architecture, data collection, data analytics, operational and institutional aspects and an implementation strategy and design for a renewed MMIS. 

The expected time-effort of this assignment is 70 days. Missions to Sint Maarten will be subject to clearance from the NRPB and will only take place if the COVID-19 situation allows it.  

  1. Deliverables

The MMIS Consultant is responsible for the following deliverables:

  1. Work Plan

A Detailed work plan explaining the Consultant’s planning for the implementation of the assignment. The work plan shall include information on the project background and objectives, as well as the planned schedule of key activities. The Consultant shall describe the expected resources needed and shall present the methodology for implementation of the assignment.

  1. Draft Analysis Report and MMIS Framework

This Document will provide a detailed analysis of the following as it relates to the further development and implementation of the MMIS:

  • data architecture of the data related to Education, Youth, Culture and Sports
  • data coverage for data related to Education, Youth, Culture and Sports
  • data analytics for data related to Education, Youth, Culture and Sports
  • serviceability of data related to Education, Youth, Culture and Sports
  • data processes and flows for data related to Education, Youth, Culture and Sports
  • human resources available
  • legal framework
  • organization structures,
  • accessibility/operational
  • Existing IT infrastructure for the system

The Documents will subsequently propose the MMIS Framework, which will include at least the following: 

  • key performance indicators for education, youth and sports needed to measure and evaluate the implementation of public policies, programs, projects and activities in the sector;
  • determine the primary and secondary sources of data collection for the key performance indicators mentioned above;
  • design the logic program for MECYS the log frame based on which part of the data architecture will be based on;
  • Design the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework, including:
    • Operations Manual for M&E system for key performance indicators
    • Structure of a MECYS yearbook to assess performance based on key performance indicators
    • Training Plan for M&E of MECYS’ policies, programs, projects and activities
  • Advice on business process changes required
  • Advice on organizational improvements required
  • Advice on required IT infrastructure (hardware and software)
  1. Draft Scope of Work, Terms of Reference, Technical Specifications

For the procurement of services and/or goods required for the building and implementation of the MMIS. The specific services to be procured depend on the proposed MMIS Framework.

  1. Final Analysis Report and MMIS Framework

This report will address comments from the key stakeholders and will be presented in a final presentation to MECYS, NRPB, World Bank and other stakeholders as identified 

During the assignment, the Consultant will present, discuss and obtain consensus on deliverables from NRPB, MECYS and World Bank teams. This is achieved by the Consultant’s participation in meetings with MECYS, NRPB and the World Bank. 

The consultant will be a member of the MMIS project team and will work with the NRPB Project Team and key entities and functions within Government. 

  1. Qualification requirements

Qualifications and experience:

  • A Master’s or Bachelor’s degree, or a minimum of 5 years’ equal relevant experience, preferred in relevant field like process/project/quality/information management;
  • Candidates with a Master’s degree will preferably have at least 5 year of professional experience;
  • Candidates with a Bachelor’s degree will preferably have at least 10 years of professional experience;
  • Experience with business process reengineering in governments;
  • Experience as Analyst, programmer, project manager, with proven experience in developing solutions for the education area (at least 1 solution) and in similar area (at least 1 solution);
  • Experience in designing M&E System, framework and instruments;
  • Experience in developing operations manuals and training plan.
  • Experience with Agile development methodologies;
  • Experience with change management;
  • Experience with project management and software deployment;
  • Experience with/ on Sint Maarten is an advantage

Skills and competencies:

  • Good communication skills;
  • Resourcefulness and troubleshooting aptitude;
  • Attention to detail;
  • Demonstrated understanding of ICT system Development;
  • Experience with stakeholder engagement/participation;
  • Strong research and analytical reporting skills;
  • Written and oral proficiency in English. Dutch is an advantage;
  • Knowledge of  SIDS preferred;
  • Capacity to work simultaneously on a variety of issues and tasks, adjusting to priorities and achieving results with agreed objectives and deadlines;
  • Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively with internal/external partners.
  1. Contract arrangements

The selected consultant will be offered a lump-sum contract, in which payment is made against agreed upon deliverables. Below is the proposed payment schedule.

As part of the assignment the consultant is expected to travel to Sint Maarten if the situation allows it. The consultant will report to the FRLP Project Manager at the NRPB.

The proposed payment schedule is:

Deliverable

% of the contract amount

Approved Work Plan

10%

Draft Analysis report and Framework document for the MMIS

50%

Draft TORs for additional software/MIS experts

10%

Presentation to NRPB/MECYS/WB and acceptance of Final Analysis report and Framework document for the MMIS

30%

 
  1. How to Apply?

Interested consultants can send their CV in English by email ONLY to the email address stated below. Applicants should ensure that their application is received before 18th November 2021, 12h00 AST. Any application coming in after this date and time will not be considered.

In the subject line, clearly state the position you are applying for.

National Recovery Program Bureau

procurement@nrpbsxm.org

Your CV should clearly show the relevant experience and competences outlined in the terms of reference above.

 

[1] The assessment focused on public and subsidized schools as data on private schools was not available. The estimates for public schools was provided by MECYS based on site assessments by experts from VROMI.

[2] Sint Maarten is not a member state of and had not worked with the World Bank until the establishment of the SDTF

[3] CDPP will aim at strengthening (a) the resilience of students and staff to the emotional and physical impacts of natural disasters, and (b) the child protection systems and services to improve preparation and response to natural disasters, through: i) the establishment of a nurturing learning environment and safe spaces for children and adolescents, (ii) the strengthening of the education sector and school capacity to prepare and respond to natural disasters, and (iii) child protection.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Organization/Department National Recovery Program Bureau
Name Thijn Laurensse
Address Walter Nisbeth Road 57 Philipsburg, St, Maarten
City 
Province/State St Maarten
Postal Code 
Country St Maarten
Phone +1(721) 542-8886
Email t.laurensse@nrpbsxm.org
Website https://nrpbsxm.org/

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