1. 1.     Background

Learning Together is a four-year collaborative project that started between Ukraine and Finland in July 2018, and was joined by the EU in late 2018. The work is scheduled to last until July 2022. The Project is implemented by FCG International.

The project focuses on supporting the New Ukrainian School (NUS) reform, especially in the primary education, and is designed around three main clusters and cross-cutting elements. These clusters are (1) teacher preparation, (2) education promotion, and (3) education environment.

Learning together is now seeking to contract a qualified and experienced media company or other suitable organization to undertake work associated with the design and implementation of project’s online-communication and media services related with New Ukrainian School reform. The purpose of this Terms of Reference (TOR) is to call for competitive proposals for this task. This assignment focuses on education promotion.

1. 2.     Objective

The objective of the Service Provider is to provide qualified expert communication assistance to the international technical assistance project “Finland’s support to the Ukrainian school reform”, to promote the values of the project to improve the quality of education and the perception by citizens of the New Ukrainian School reform for the educational community. The objective of the Service Provider is to design and implement online-communication and media services to strengthen the positive identity of the NUS reform.

3. Scope of Work

The service provision lasts from 1.09.2019. until 31.04.2022. The Service Provider will be contracted to:

• develop a separate page of the project “Finland’s support to the Ukrainian school reform”
• write at least 12 articles on topics that relate to the Learning Together project per year
• at least 10 expert interviews on specific topics relevant to project per year
• at least 60 news publications about the events of the project per year
• 8 publications on international experience shared by project team per year
• 8 infographics on topics related to the project per year
• announcements of events about the project
• 12 photo reports from the events of the project
• at least 100 posts on Facebook page (also in Twitter and Instagram) with information about the project.
  • collaborate with MOES’s press service in production of communication materials.
  • document and report activities highlighting progress, achievements and impacts of campaigns. Monthly media monitoring and analysis.

In addition, the Service Provider should be able to provide additional services such as texts for booklets or other visual materials, production of promo films, video clips, or other material. These will be regulated by a separate contract.

The supervision of the campaigns will be carried out by the Project Learning Together and the staff of MOES.

The targeted groups: The campaigns should be targeted to teachers, school principals, education administrations, and education experts nationwide.

The scope of work may be amended during the contract period.

4. Budget

The budget, details of the assignment, terms and conditions will be specified in the contract between the FCG International Ltd (Contractor) and the local Service Provider. Payment milestones will be based on the acceptance of the key deliverables by the Project Management Team. The service provider is requested to propose a draft budget.

5. Submission requirements

The Proposal must include the following:

5.1 Technical Proposal not exceeding 2 pages in length including the intended approach and the planned activities the implementation, the management of the undertaking, including an operational work plan.

5.2 Breakdown of costs

The budget should state the fees of communication team members. The budged does not cover any other additional costs like materials or office costs. The fees shall be defined on rates based on working days or working hours. The Budget Breakdown must be in Euros.

5.3 The Curriculums Vitae of each member of the Service Provider’s team.

5.4. Official documents proving the status of the organization and the document proving the financial capacity (annual turnover and profit/loss) of the organization. Copies of registration documents (including a copy of the certificates of state registration of legal entities which the Participant plans to apply for the provision of services, a copy of the tax certificate; an Extract from the Statute indicating the activities).

5.5 References to the previous work on communication of the New Ukrainian School Reform.

Other relevant supporting material may be attached as an annex. 

The Proposal must be in English.

6. Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on Quality (90% weight) and Price (10% weight).

The quality of the proposal will be evaluated based on the following:

Organization:

• Previous experience on similar assignments
• Proven knowledge of the education sector
• Own web-resource with educational content and feedback possibilities
• Proven expertise of the New Ukrainian School reform communication.
• Wide expertise of communication team covering the Contractor’s needs.
• Proven ability to reach the targeted audience nationwide.

Technical Proposal:

• The quality of technical proposal
• The quality of respond Contractor’s requests.

The Service Provider’s team should have the following qualifications:

• Team leader’s minimum of 5+ years of professional experience in development communication, public relations, journalism, marketing, or another related field
• A master’s degree in the field of public relations, journalism, marketing or relevant field
• Experience of working with Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science and NGOs
• Thorough knowledge of the New Ukrainian School Reform
• Capability and proven experience in developing materials for online media.  
• Ability and proven experience in taking initiative and working effectively under pressure
• Excellent written, oral and interpersonal skills; excellent communication skills in English and Ukrainian

7. Deadline for Proposals

The timeline of the tender is as follows:

1. All tenderers are requested to indicate their interest to submit their proposal by 27 July 2019 via email [email protected].
2. In case the tenderers want to have further clarification on the competition, written questions must be sent via [email protected] by 27 July 2019.
3. All tenderers will be provided with answers to all clarification requests by 31 July 2019.
4. The final application must be submitted by 3 August 2019 via email [email protected].

Please note that all written communication must be in English. Further instructions for the tender are given only from the email mentioned above. Any further information or advice obtained from other sources may be disregarded in the tender evaluation.