1. Background info on the project

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 scheduled to last until July 2022. The Project is implemented by FCG International.

The project has national coverage and it focuses on supporting the New Ukrainian School (NUS) reform, especially in the primary education, and is designed around three thematic clusters which are inter-linked: Teacher Competence Development, Education Promotion, and New Education Environments.

The total budget is 8 million euros out of which 6 million euros is Finnish funding. In addition, there is a 2-million-euro top-up funding tool for enhancing the quality of instruction in Ukrainian as a Second Language among national minorities, provided by the EU.

1. 2.     Context of Assignment

The new Law on Education was adopted in Ukraine on September 5, 2017. Article 7 of the Law refers to an increase in subjects taught in the Ukrainian language for national minorities at the secondary education level.

In a letter dated September 29, 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine addressed the Venice Commission, an advisory body in the field of constitutional law, to conclude on Article 7 of the Law on Education, which regulates the use of the state language, as well as minority languages and other languages of education.

In 2018, the Ministry of Education and Science prepared a Roadmap for minority languages, focusing on the need to improve the quality of teaching Ukrainian among ethnic communities, especially in Zakarpattia and Chernivtsi regions.

Zakarpattia is a multinational and multicultural region with Hungarian and Romanian among the minority language groups. The following districts are densely populated by national communities - Hungarians: Berehovе, Vynohradiv, Uzhhorod, and Romanians: Tiachiv. In 2019/2020 school year, in Zakarpattia region, there are 72 schools with the Hungarian language of instruction; and 27 schools with Ukrainian and Hungarian languages of instruction; 12 schools with the Romanian language of instruction and 2 schools with Ukrainian and Romanian languages of instruction. In total, 17192 students receive instruction in Hungarian and 2591 students receive instruction in Romanian in this region.

The above-mentioned schools deliver instruction mostly in minority languages, while the Ukrainian language is learned only as a separate subject. These schools do not provide students with enough proficiency in the language to enter tertiary education in Ukraine. A high percentage of the school graduates are failing in independent evaluation tests in the Ukrainian language and literature that is an integral component of their admission to further education.

The results of baseline study in Zakarpattia and Chernivtsi regions “At the educational crossroads: the evidence-based dialogue with national minorities in Chernivtsi and Zakarpattia regions” show that the communication campaigns in targeted regions are of high importance due to the fact that there is miscommunication between the Ukrainian media on the one hand, and Hungarian and Romanian media on the other hand. Ukrainian-language media mainly focus on the need to study the state language, emphasizing the poor results of the external testing (ZNO). The national communities emphasize a violation of rights to education in their native language. Thus, the strategy of positive communication should be developed that should rely on positive achievements of the project and success stories uniting people.

The results of the successful communication campaigns have to be evaluated by the percentage of coverage of the target audience, increased level of knowledge and understanding by the target audiences of the advantages of studying the Ukrainian language in the general secondary education institutions, established pool of supportive journalists in the Hungarian and Romanian languages mass media and engagement in the communication campaigns of the opinion leaders who have a significant influence on the Romanian and Hungarian communities.

The implementation of the foreseen activities in the project’s duration period are articulated on the basis of the annual work plan. A summer academy for teachers of Ukrainian language, summer camps for students from Chernivtsi and Zakarpattia regions were already held in 2019, in the frames of the Project’s Language Component activities.

1. 3.     Goal

The goal of the communication campaign is to form positive attitudes to Ukrainian as the language of the interethnic communications in multilinguistic and multicultural environments.

1. 4.     Objective

The overall objective for the Service Provider is to design and implement communication campaign(s) in the target regions on the benefits of the bilingualism and multilingualism.

The activities of the Language Component’s communication campaign will be aligned with the activities implemented in the frames of the clusters mentioned above, to harmonise the efforts and ensure the sustainability of the results.

1. 5.     Scope of work

The Service Provider will be contracted to:

5.1. Design the concept and implement the communication campaign(s) “Ukrainian as a language of interethnic communication”.

The campaign should be starting in March 2020.

The supervision of the campaign will be carried out by the staffs of the Project Learning Together and MoES.

Targeted groups: 1) Direct: Parents and wider public; teachers; schools administrations; and students; 2) Indirect: Local authorities; leaders and influential figures, institutions and organisations, international community.

Key messages: 1) Ukrainian is a language of interethnic communication; 2) The reforms are designed to integrate preserving your national identity; 3) Knowing Ukrainian your child will have a free choice.

5.2. Conceptualize, layout, format, and design all promotional materials and activities of the campaign. This may involve campaigns using appropriate media such as print and posters, advertisements in newspapers, radio, TV, web campaigns, social media, knowledge management activities such as workshops and seminars, and billboards. In campaigns, the visual identity of the Project Learning Together will be used. 

5.3. Collaborate with MoES’s press service in production of press releases, blogs, brochures, and organize press briefings, media visits along with different media articles; taking into account the communication issues in the MoES’ Roadmap.

5.4. Cooperate with other possible actors such as NGOs, SCOs, think tanks, companies, brands, businesses, media professionals, and key opinion leaders and donors, as well as consider ways to engage those parties in the campaign.

5.5. Document and report activities highlighting progress, achievements and impacts of campaigns. Daily media monitoring and monthly analysis.

1. 6.     Expected deliverables

The Service Provider will submit the following deliverables:

6.1.  Present ideas and communication plan for the campaign

6.2. Design the creative concept for the communication campaign

6.3. Draft an inception report outlining the activities to be undertaken, with an implementation plan and timelines, as well as ways how the deliverables could be evaluated and monitored

6.4. Implement campaign

6.5. Provide Progress report describing the accomplishments of each sub-campaign

6.6. Provide a Final Report which shows the methodology used, activities undertaken, successes, challenges, results (planned and unplanned), lessons learned, and future recommendations.

1. 7.     Budget

The maximum Total Budget fort the assignment is 45 000€. 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.

1. 8.     Submission requirements

The Proposal must include the following:

8.1. A technical proposal not exceeding 10 pages in length including the intended approach and the planned activities, the implementation, the management of the undertaking, including an operational work plan with timelines.

8.2. Breakdown of costs

The budget breakdown must include two separate sections: ‘Fees of experts’ and ‘Other costs’. The fees shall be defined on rates based on working days or working months. The other Costs must be broken down to correspond the Technical Proposal and Work Plan. The Budget Breakdown must be in Euros.

8.3. The Curriculum Vitae of the consultant and for each member of the team (if a team approach is used).

8.4. Official documents proving the status of the organisation and the document proving the financial capacity (annual turnover and profit/loss) of the organisation.
Copies of main registration documents.
Other relevant supporting documents may be attached as an annex.

Proposal must be in English.

1. 9.     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:

9.1. Organisation (10%):
- Previous experience on similar assignments, at least one implemented nationwide communication campaign, preferably in the education sector

- Proven knowledge of the education sector.

9.2. Service Provider’s Team qualifications (40%):
- A Master’s Degree in the field of public relations, journalism, marketing or relevant field
- Minimum of five years of professional experience in media campaigns, development communications, public relations, journalism, marketing or other related field
- Capability and proven experience in developing and executing communication campaigns, and designing messages in various formats (press releases, websites, success stories, TV, radio, etc.) targeting a variety of audiences
- Familiarity with branding compliance
- Excellent written, oral and interpersonal skills; excellent communication skills in English, Ukrainian, as well as Hungarian and Romanian
- Previous experience with campaigning in Zakarpattia region, as well as experience in working with national minorities’ communities will be an asset
- Familiarity with the New Ukrainian School reform will be an asset.

9.3. Technical Proposal (40%):
- The relevance of the approach and implementation methodology
- The expected impact of the proposed methodology.

Only short-listed candidates will be invited to the interview. Interview will consist of 30 minutes candidate’s presentation of the proposal and its approaches and potential team, and 15 minutes of Q&A session.

1. 10.  Deadline for Proposals

The timeline of the tender is as follows:

10.1. All tenderers are requested to indicate their interest to submit their potential by 14 February 2020 via email at [email protected] .

10.2. In case the tenderers want to have further clarification on the competition, written questions must be sent via email at [email protected] by 20 February 2020.

10.3. All the tenderers will be provided with answers to all clarification requests by 21 February 2020.

10.4. The final application must be submitted by 23 February 2020 via email at [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.

1. 11.  Guiding principles

Manual for Bilateral Programmes by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, revised version 2018 https://um.fi/publications/-/asset_publisher/TVOLgBmLyZvu/content/manual-for-bilateral-programmes is applied in the planning and implementation of this assignment. This manual is applied in all cooperation that has been agreed between Finland and Ukraine.

1. 12.  Mandate

The Service Provider is expected and entitled to discuss issues relevant to the assignment with relevant parties, government authorities and other relevant organizations and individuals, but the team does not have any mandate to make commitments on behalf of government authorities in Ukraine and Finland, or on behalf of the Contractor, FCG International Ltd, especially.