BRITISH COUNCIL ETHIOPIA: Invitation for Consultancy Service
Consultancy Service: For Preparation of National Strategy for English Language Education Development
The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations operating in more than 110 countries and territories worldwide and has been in Ethiopia for the last 71 years.The British Council, which is one of the major partners of the Federal Ministry of Education of Ethiopia, has been involved and has made contributions to the development of the education sector in Ethiopia. Currently, through the Quality Education Strategic Support Programme (QESSP) funded by DFID, British Council is supporting the Ministry of Educations on capacity building; policy dialogue and enhancing evidence-based decision making capabilities.
It goes without saying that the recent phenomena related to globalization and world competitiveness have resulted in a major and multifarious transition in terms of business, education, science, and technological progress. They call for provision of quality education at all levels. To this effect, the Ministry of Education (MoE) of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) has made vigorous efforts in producing qualified and competitive human capital to be deployed in all fields of professional careers. This is expected to happen chiefly through education and training, which today are seen as ever more critical to fuelling the effort of becoming middle-income country. In the current Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II) and Education Sector Development Programme (ESDP V) documents, education is stated as a major vehicle to drive the country’s economic growth and development.
If education is the key to development, then English is the key to Ethiopian education since the curriculum is delivered through the medium of English in some second cycle of primary schooling and throughout secondary and higher education. Although enrolment rates have increased dramatically over recent years, the quality of the education provided has been called into question. With the launch of the General Education Quality Improvement Programme (GEQIP) in 2008, the focus across the education spectrum was geared towards quality and therefore the role played by English as a subject as well as medium of instruction becomes central.
The idea behind teaching English starting from grade one is to allow children to experience English language in their early ages. So they will have adequate proficiency of English skills by the time they complete their eight year primary education where they may either join the broad based agricultural and informal work force or continue their general secondary education which is taught in English. Besides, the potential advantage of being proficient in English for communications and global partnerships and for improved public diplomacy and business has been well envisioned in the education and training policy.
Considering the multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-linguistic realities of Ethiopia, and being well conscious of the advantages of citizens’ being multilingual for broader employment and other opportunities in the national and international labour markets, the policy has also addressed bi-and multi-lingualism in which children should have access to learn other local languages as their second and third languages and other foreign languages such as French, Arabic and so forth based on their interest.
However, there hasn’t been a comprehensive national strategic guidance hitherto to support the implementation of the policy at grass root levels. Therefore, the Ministry of Education has decided to prepare a national strategy for mother tongue and English language education development in line with the umbrella national vision of achieving a middle income economy by 2025.As a result, this strategic activity of language education development has been planned to be accomplished as part of the second Growth and Transformation Plan and ESDPV which emphasize on improved mother tongue and English languages skill proficiency of both teachers and students.
For expedited and timely completion of the English language education development national strategy, it has become necessary to undertake procurement of a competent consultancy firm experienced in the development of policy, strategy and planning of English languages education in multi-lingual, multi-ethnic and multicultural countries such as Ethiopia.
British Council Ethiopia therefore invites interested service providers to submit a tender for: “Preparation of National Strategy for English Language Education Development” in accordance with the Request for Proposal (RFP) Pack available from British Council’s e-Tendering portal hosted at https://in-tendhost.co.uk/britishcouncil.The following Bid Pack is available to download from the Portal:
List of Annexes forming part of the RFP
1. RFP- Request for proposal bid document
2. Terms and Conditions of Contract
3. Supplier Response
4. Pricing Approach
It is expected that the consulting firm will designate a team leader for this assignment. The consulting firm is expected to have the following essential qualifications and experience:
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