SfP Malaysia - Terms of Reference (TOR) for International Consultancy – Review of Institutional Mechanism for Industry Engagement in TVET / Skills Training (Service Contract)_21 June 2021 – 20 October

Skills for Prosperity in South East Asia Programme (SfP-SEA) – Malaysia

Terms of Reference (TOR) for

International Consultancy – Review of Institutional Mechanism for Industry Engagement in TVET / Skills Training

(Service Contract)

1. Background

The Skills for Prosperity in South East Asia Programme (SfP-SEA) aims to contribute to increasing national capacity to achieve sustained and inclusive growth through the enhancement of skills development and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

To achieve this objective, the programme works with government agencies, employers’ organisations, trade unions, educational institutions and other partners in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines to facilitate review and reform of the countries’ skills development and TVET system strategies and policies. In the region, the SfP-SEA provides opportunities for mutual learning among the three countries and the other ASEAN nations, and beyond—not only showcasing the results of the pilots and lessons learned from the programme but also facilitating the sharing of best practices in the region and other parts of the world.

In Malaysia, the Programme focuses on increasing skills development and TVET systems’ readiness to meet the skills needs of the future of work and those of vulnerable groups, through enhancing four areas of the TVET system and delivery:

• Equity:  Inclusiveness in skills development and TVET systems
• Quality: Future-ready & coordinated skills development and TVET systems
• Relevance: Demand-driven skills and TVET/skills recognition
• Cost-Effectiveness: Improved skills/TVET financing models

The SfP Malaysia Project focuses on TVET inclusiveness, quality, relevance and readiness whilst addresses skills mismatch issues in the area of critical needs for skills development and TVET to support the industry development and socio-economic progress. It intends to assist national partners in improving policies to ensure industry-led TVET in public and private sectors and increase employment and career progress opportunities for TVET students at national and sub-national levels. The national and sub-national activities at two states, namely Sabah and Kedah, will target:

• The primary beneficiaries: youths (ages 16-25) and women; and
• Other beneficiaries (vulnerable groups):
  • Members of the B40
  • Persons with Disabilities
  • Individuals Not In Employment Education or Training (NEET)
  • Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
  • Workers in the informal economy
  • Self-employed individuals
  • individuals employed in the gig economy

Under the Relevance pillar, the SfP Malaysia Project is conducting the review of the past and existing experiences of institutional arrangements for industry engagement in TVET and skills development in Malaysia. The results of this analysis will be utilized to refine activities to improve or develop viable institutional mechanisms for industry engagement in TVET / skills training in Malaysia. This assignment should contribute to improve the quality of the review through the provision of international perspectives.

1. Objective

The objectives of this assignment are to:

• Provide comprehensive analysis of the function, achievements, and challenges of previous and existing sectoral institutions for industry engagement in TVET in the countries selected from Asia and other regions, focusing on the construction and food-processing industries.
• Provide the comparative analysis between sectoral skills bodies in selected countries and those in Malaysia from the viewpoints of functions and the roles of industry, government, and other social partners.
• Provide decision-making tools and options for stakeholders to identify suitable institutional mechanism in Malaysia.
• Assist national partners to refine the work plans to develop viable industry-led institutional mechanisms in Malaysia.

1. Scope of Work

Under the supervision of Chief Technical Advisor and with guidance from Senior Project Officers, regional specialists of the ILO, the main responsibility of the international contractor is to:

• Conduct international comparative analysis of institutions for industry engagement in TVET, which provides the overview of policy and arrangements for sector-based institutional mechanisms and examines selected cases in the manufacturing (i.e. food processing) and construction sectors focusing on their functions, achievements, and challenges, and draw lesson learned based on case studies.
• Provide international perspectives in the research design, data analysis, and report drafting regarding case studies in Malaysia, which will be prepared by national consultants and the SfP Malaysia team. The national consultants have been separately recruited to conduct field research on review of institutional mechanism for industry engagement in TVET at the national level.
• In consultation with the national consultants, identify options for stakeholders to identify suitable institutional mechanism in Malaysia.

The main tasks of the contractor include:

1. Prepare the work plan to conduct assigned tasks and produce outputs in accordance with the TOR.
2. Participate in initial meeting with the ILO, national consultants, and national partners to agree on the overall plan and ways of working.
3. Participate in the meeting or events organised by the ILO and the national consultants upon request.
4. Review the case studies on previous and existing institutions for industry engagement in TVET in Malaysia developed by the national consultant, recruited separately, and provide them with technical inputs to improve the quality of data and analysis based on international comparative analysis.
5. Provide national consultants and the SfP Malaysia team with international perspectives on options of viable models and decision-making tools for the enhancement of sectoral bodies for industry engagement in TVET in Malaysia. The tools may include structural requirements for each type of institutions, such as functions, management structure, resources (e.g., infrastructure, funding, and staffing), supporting legal framework and rough roadmaps to develop each institutional mechanism in Malaysia.
6. Review a draft TOR for the steering committee(s) for an enhanced institutional mechanism for industry engagement in TVET and skills training, prepared by the national consultants, and provide technical inputs for them from international perspectives.
7. Draft the interim report on international comparison of the formal and informal institutional mechanism for industry engagement in TVET with sectoral approaches. It should include one or two cases from developed nations and Asian countries respectively, focusing on construction and manufacturing (e.g., food processing industry).
8. Provide national partners of the Project with the opportunities to understand achievement and challenges of other countries’ sectoral skills bodies for industry engagement in TVET through an on-line seminar/workshop.
9. Draft the draft final report on the comparative analysis of sector-led institutional mechanisms for industry engagement in TVET between selected countries and Malaysia and present it to the SfP Malaysia team and national partners
10. Revise the final report based on the comments from national partners and ILO/SfP Malaysia team.

1. Methodologies

The assignment may apply multiple method as follows:

• Preliminary information gathering via desk / literature review.
• Qualitative research (multiple case study) by conducting on-line interviews with stakeholders as needed and utilising the interview data collected by the national consultants for the cases of Malaysia.

1. Outputs

The contractor is required to produce the following outputs:

Output 1 (by 23 June 2021)

1. Work plan.
2. Outline of the final report.

Output 2 (by 9 July 2021)

The written comments on the report submitted by national consultants in a suitable format, which includes:

• Review of research method.
• Review of findings and analysis provided by the national consultants.
• Review of decision-making tools to assist the national partners in identifying viable institutional mechanisms in Malaysia tools provided by national consultants.
• Review of draft strategic advice and inputs on the project strategies.
• Review of draft Terms of References for establishment of steering committee(s) for an enhanced institutional mechanism for industry engagement in TVET and skills training and preliminary idea on the functions and structure of the mechanism

Output 3 (by 6 August 2021)

The interim report on international comparison of the formal and informal institutional mechanism for industry engagement in TVET with sectoral approaches. The report should:

• Provide the overview of policy and arrangements for sector-based institutional mechanisms in selected countries in Asia and other regions.
• Include one or two cases from countries in Asia (e.g. Singapore) and other regions respectively, focusing on construction and manufacturing (e.g., food processing industry).
• Provide the preliminary analysis of each case on:
  • Governance structure (e.g. leading entities, extent of sectoral focuses, resources, constituents)
  • Functions (e.g. Labour market /skill demand and mismatch analysis, training programme development for TVET institutions, training of trainers, apprenticeship, partnership development between employers and TVET institutions, policy development, etc.)
• Provide the preliminary comparative analysis between the cases in selected countries and those in Malaysia, which the national consultants will draft. 

The contract should also:

• Present the draft report to the SfP Malaysia team and national partners via on-line seminar/workshop in a suitable presentation format (e.g., PowerPoint).
• Submit a brief report of a seminar/workshop, which include the comments and inputs from national partners and ILO/SfP Malaysia team.

Output 4 (by 20 August 2021)

The final report on international comparison of the formal and informal institutional mechanism for industry engagement in TVET with sectoral approaches. The report should:

• Provide the overview of policy and arrangements for sector-based institutional mechanisms in selected countries in Asia and other regions.
• Include one or two cases from countries in Asia and other regions respectively, focusing on construction and manufacturing (e.g., food processing industry).
• Provide the in-depth analysis of each case on:
  • Governance structure (e.g. leading entities, extent of sectoral focuses, resources, constituents)
  • Functions (e.g. Labour market /skill demand and mismatch analysis, training programme development for TVET institutions, training of trainers, apprenticeship, Partnership development between employers and TVET institutions, Policy Development, etc.)
• Provide the comparative analysis between the cases in selected countries and those in Malaysia, which the national consultants will draft. 
• Be formatted according to the ILO House Style.

The contractor should also:

• Present the draft report to the SfP Malaysia team and national partners via on-line seminar/workshop in a suitable presentation format (e.g., PowerPoint).
• Submit a brief report of a seminar/workshop, which include the comments and inputs from national partners and ILO/SfP Malaysia team.
• Revise and finalise the report by incorporating the feedback from national partners and ILO/SfP Malaysia team.

1. Timeline

The estimated number of workdays for this assignment is 42 days spreading over about 3 months tentatively from 21 June 2021 until 20 September 2021. The starting date and workdays will be finalized after completion of the hiring process.

1. Required Qualifications

The assignment should be carried out by the contractor who should have the following qualifications:

Education: Advanced university degree, desirably doctoral degree, in economics, social sciences, and public administration, with expertise in the field of industrial engagement, institutional comparative analysis, and TVET/skills development.

Experience:

• A minimum of 15 years of experience in working on industrial development and/or skills development and TVET.
• Experience in undertaking qualitative and policy-oriented research, especially for international comparative analysis of institutional mechanism for industry engagement in TVET and publishing research results in the area of skills development or industrial development from internationally recognised journals, publishers, and organisations.
• Experience in producing high-quality reports in English.
• Experience in working for international organisations and/or international development cooperation projects.

Qualifications:

• Excellent understanding of situations related to industrial engagement and/or institutional comparative analysis, and TVET/skills development in area of skills development in Malaysia or Southeast Asia or developed countries.
• Excellent analytical and writing skills in English.
• Solid understanding and skills on qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to engage with national consultants and stakeholders.
• Ability to use a variety of computer applications and software to carry out data collection and analysis

Languages: Excellent command of English.

1. Application

Interested companies or organizations must submit the proposals, which include following documents/ information to demonstrate their qualifications.

• Curriculum Vitae of team members
• Technical proposal describing how a contractor will approach and conduct the work, including the indicative cases and target countries and the number of days (10 pages maximum)
• Work Plan.
• One writing sample, such as a research report or working paper.
• Estimated budget (financial proposal) in the USD, which include professional fees (daily rate and expected number of working days) and additional expenses for completing the work.

The interested contractors are requested to submit the above documents electronically to jmori@ilo.org and mohdbadrin@ilo.org by 7 June 2021 by 4:00 pm Malaysian Time. 

The short-listed candidates will be contacted for interview.

1. Contract duration

The contract will commence tentatively from 21 June 2021 – 20 October 2021. The actual date will be finalized after completion of the hiring process.

1. Payment terms

Payment terms will be as follows: 

• 1st payment: 10% upon the delivery and acceptance of Output 1.
• 2nd payment: 30% upon the delivery and acceptance of Output 2.
• 3rd payment: 30% upon the delivery and acceptance of Output 3.
• 4th payment: 30% upon the delivery and acceptance of Output 4.

Attachment

• Terms and conditions applicable to contract for services.