Inviting Quotations for Consultancy on Developing Course Content for Newly-introduced Non-Credit Compulsory ESL Course Units

Consultancy on developing course content for newly-introduced non-credit compulsory ESL course units
AHEAD/RA2/ELTA-ELSE/SJP/FAS/DSS/CON/ 02

 

The AHEAD Operation of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura invites Expressions of Interest from interested parties for consultancy on designing and developing two English courses, under the ELTA-ELSE DP for Department of Sports Science (DSS), Faculty of Applied Sciences (FAS).

 

1. BACKGROUND

 

The development of the higher education sector is of central importance to enable Sri Lanka to make the transition from a Lower-Middle Income Country to an Upper Middle-Income Country. Recognizing this, the World Bank has agreed with the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to support the higher education sector through a Bank-funded Accelerating Higher Education Expansion and Development (AHEAD) operation of Sri Lanka. The AHEAD Operation financed by the World Bank mainly focuses on accelerating the developments various arenas in the higher education sector in Sri Lanka to produce qualified, quality graduates who fit into the modern global demand.

 

2. OPERATION

 

The AHEAD operation is organized into two components. The first is a Program Component that supports the national Higher Education Development Program. The second is a systems strengthening, capacity building and technical assistance component that will assist GoSL to strengthen the higher education sector and achieve the objectives of the AHEAD program component. This second will also cover monitoring and evaluation, policy analyses, program coordination and communication.

The implementing agency is the Ministry of Higher Education and Highways (MHEH). The University Grants Commission (UGC) will coordinate the activities of the universities. There will be an Operations Monitoring and Support Team (OMST) which will coordinate and support all AHEAD activities between the MHEH, UGC, and the universities.

 

AHEAD has three Results Areas:   

• Results Area 1: Increasing Enrollment in Priority Disciplines for Economic Development
• Results Area 2: Improving the Quality of Higher Education
• Results Area 3: Promoting Research, Development and Innovation

 

1. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE CONSULTANCY

Thus the major objective of the grant received by the department under the AHEAD project can be summarized as to improve the employability and communication skill of undergraduates (UG). As a part of the proposed project, five activities are proposed and one of it is dedicated to improving English language skill of UG. Thus, the DSS intends to introduce two new English Language courses for UG following the B.Sc. Honours in Sports Science and Management (SSM) degree programme under the ELTA/ELSE Department Grant.

The mere requirements of improving the English language amongst the Sports Science UG are not only to increase their employability but also to exchange their capabilities with different stakeholders around the world. The gaps in relation to English competencies were identified collaboratively during several meetings and discussions held among the members of the DSS along with the UG and external stakeholders. Based on the outcomes of these meetings, among the five activities proposed under the project, Activity 5 was demarcated for the purpose of improvement of communication skills of UG students through interactive learning methods. In order to achieve the said objective, sub activities are also proposed with a re-emphasis of introducing two new non-credit compulsory English as Secondary Language (ESL) courses to the SSM curriculum under the proposed English language skill development programme. For this purpose, consultancy services are required from the Field of English education.

2. THE SCOPE OF THE CONSULTANCY

The scope of this contract includes the following;

1. Conducting a need assessment in improving the English knowledge and skills of the Second year UG of DSS to a level which is required to become world-class sports professionals; Submit a summary report of the need assessment along with the work schedule for the complete assignment.
2. Developing an action plan to deliver lectures to achieve the objectives of the courses
3. Designing and developing course manuals for the two ESL courses to be introduced to the curriculum of the SSM degree programme, which focus on enhancing listening, reading, writing and speaking skills of UG
4. Conducting training sessions for instructors to deliver lectures

 

3. KEY TASKS AND ACTIVITIES

Manuals must be developed according to the guidelines and requirements of the DSS mainly focusing on the context of Sports Science and Management. Related guidelines will be provided by the lecturer/s in charge when and where necessary. During the time in which the need assessment is conducted and the manuals are designed, developed and finalized, it is necessary to have several meetings with relevant lecturers of the Department and the reviewers. The main duties and responsibilities of the consultant are described as follows.

Activity	Specifications to be satisfied	Timeframe (after signing the contract)
Conducting a need assessment in improving the English knowledge and skills of the Second year UG of DSS; Submit a summary report of the need assessment along with the work schedule for the complete assignment.	·      Conduct a need assessment to develop suitable methods to identify the English proficiency of the second year students to facilitate in the development of the course and the manuals ·      Submit a summary report of the need assessment to the DSS ·      Submit the work schedule including a Gantt Chart	01 April 2020 – 29 April 2020
Developing an action plan to deliver the course units to achieve the objectives of the courses	·      Develop a plan to enhance reading, writing and speaking ability of students ·      Design the teaching-learning methods, learning materials and other training programmes to achieve the course objectives ·      Design the evaluation process for the two courses	30 April 2020 – 01 June 2020
Designing, developing and submission of course manuals for the two  proposed ESL courses (Draft version)	Manuals for the two proposed ESL courses must be developed. Each course manual should provide a detailed description of the following: ·         Course overview and objectives ·         Intended Learning Outcomes ·         Introduction and an explanation of each of the topics covered in the course ·         Learning activities used to cover each topic of the course ·         Learning resources and sample work ·         Details on continuous assessments   Repetitions of content should be avoided and linkage must be maintained between two courses.	02 June 2020 – 22 June 2020
Submitting the finalized course manuals	Hard and soft copies of the final versions of course manuals must be submitted after making amendments based on the comments/suggestions of the panel of reviewers.	23 June 2020– 06 July 2020
Conduct training sessions for instructors to deliver lectures	Develop the evaluation process	07 July 2020 – 31 July 2020

 

4. REPORTING THE DELIVERABLES

The consultant shall closely coordinate and report to the Project Coordinator and Activity Coordinator of the AHEAD ELTA-ELSE DP for DSS, FAS, USJ. The consultant should report his progress of the work to the Project Coordinator and the Activity Coordinator after every four-week period during the project time.

 

5. SUBMISSION OF REPORTS AND COURSE MANUALS

After signing the contract, actions relevant to the need assessment process should be communicated to the DSS to arrange the resources and a summary report of the need assessment must be submitted on the dates specified in Section 5.

Drafts of developed course manuals in soft and hard versions should be submitted to the Project Coordinator on the dates specified in Section 5.

Hard and soft copies of the Final versions of the course manuals must be submitted to the Project Coordinator on the dates specified in Section 5.

 

6. DURATION OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The contract will run for three (03) months from the date of signing the contract (1 April 2020 – 31 July 2020).

 

7. MODE OF PAYMENT

Conducting need analysis, development of course material for delivery of the lectures and other learning activities, developing two course manuals, training instructors to deliver the courses = Rs. 300,000.00.

The payment plan of the consultancy project is indicated below.

1. 10% of the total value will be paid at after submitting the report of the need assessment and work schedule
2. 40% of the total value will be paid after submitting the developed learning materials and draft versions of the course manuals (both soft and hard copy)
3. Balance 50% will be paid after submitting the final version of the course manuals (both soft and hard copy)

 

8. OWNERSHIP OF THE ASSIGNMENT

This assignment is funded by the MHEH via AHEAD-OMST under the programme component of AHEAD. As such, the University shall be the owner of the assignment and will reserves the Intellectual Property Rights for all deliverable of the assignment under the terms and conditions given in the IP policy of the University. The Consultant will have no right of claim to the assignment or its outputs once it is completed and no rights to use Data and Information gathered through the assignment for other purposes without written permission from the Vice-Chancellor. Any Reports/Data/Information produced as a part of this assignment shall be handed over to the Client in soft and hard forms.

 

9. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
   1. A Bachelor’s Degree in English from a recognized university
   2. Minimum 05 years of experience in teaching English to undergraduates or adult-training
   3. Extensive experience in developing English courses and course materials
   4. Experience and understanding regarding corporate/business communications
   5. A fair knowledge/exposure in the field of Sports is preferred

 

10. REQUIRED PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES
    1. Ability to meet the given deadlines
    2. Ability to be innovative and creative and ability to successfully deliver the module content to the undergraduates
    3. Team working skills and good interpersonal relations
    4. Ability to coordinate and facilitate implementation of processes and procedures
    5. Ability to analyze and resolve implementation issues effectively
    6. Extensive knowledge on the subject content and the practical applications of the same

 

11. Application and Particulars:

Sealed quotations will be received by the Deputy Director/Procurement (OTS), AHEAD Operation, 1^st Floor, Vice Chancellor’s Lodge, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Gangodawila, Nugegoda on or before 2.30 p.m. of 28-02-2020.

You are hereby requested to provide your work schedule along with your CV and any other data which you may think are relevant for accepting your quotation.

 

Dr W.G.S.Kelum
Director/OTS,
AHEAD Operation

 

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