Myanmar: Call for Consultancy: Interpretation Services in Education Meetings and Workshops

UNESCO Myanmar

Call for Consultancy

Interpretation Services in Education Meetings and Workshops

I.Background

UNESCO, in partnership with the Ministry of Education (MoE), is working to strengthen Pre-Service Teacher Education in Myanmar (STEM). The project addresses three fundamentally important aspects of pre-service teacher education: to formulate a policy framework of pre-service teacher education and identify standards for quality assurance; to improve a system of Education Colleges (ECs) by restructuring and redesigning courses of teacher education and creating good networks to accumulate and share knowledge and experiences of all ECs; and to develop institutional/management and human resource capacities of ECs. The project is improving teacher education in the area of governance, policy development around teacher education, and review of the learning resources and development of curriculum, building the capacity of staff in management and teaching.

Under STEM, UNESCO is supporting MoE in facilitating a number of meetings and workshops relating to teacher education, such as the development of the new Education College curriculum, the Teacher Competency Standards Framework (TCSF), and development of comprehensive teacher policy.

Furthermore, UNESCO, under the auspices of the Capacity Development for Education (CapED), has been providing technical assistance and capacity building support to the MoE in the area of sector-wide policy and planning since 2012. As Myanmar seeks to further its education reform efforts, including the implementation of the National Education Strategic Plan 2016-2021 (NESP), CapED seeks to strengthen Myanmar’s national capacities to fully realize its policy priorities, in alignment with international frameworks, particularly the Sustainable Development Goals and Education 2030 Agenda.

Under CapED, UNESCO continues to actively participate in the reform of Myanmar’s education sector coordination mechanisms and supports MoE in co-facilitating key coordination meetings. UNESCO plays an active role in the Education and TVET Sector Coordination Group (ETVSCG). In addition, UNESCO is also an assistant co-chair of the sub-sector working group on Management, Capacity Development and Quality Assurance (MCQ SSWG). UNESCO is organizing a series of workshops for key MoE officials to support the development of the EPSSim Myanmar model for the costing of the National Education Strategic Plan (NESP) and to support capacity development for the Mid-Term Review of NESP. In addition, UNESCO is also organizing the policy seminar series centered around the theme of SDG4-Education 2030.

II.Assignment

Within the framework of the “Strengthening pre-service Teacher Education in Myanmar (STEM)” project as well as the “Capacity Development for Education (CapED)” programme and under the overall authority of the Director of UNESCO Bangkok and the supervision of the UNESCO Myanmar Head of Office, the interpreter shall provide the interpretation services for education meetings and workshops during the period from 1 February 2019 to 31 December 2019.

The interpreter will provide simultaneous and consecutive interpretation (English-Myanmar and vice versa) during the full-day education meetings and workshops, on average 4 to 14 days every quarter in Yangon or Nay Pyi Taw. Tentatively, a total of 16 to 56 days of interpretation services is needed during the period from 1 February 2019 to 31 December 2019.

III.Deliverables:

The interpreter will submit the following deliverables:

a) A list of education meetings and workshops with the actual dates of interpretation services provided by 29 March 2019;

b) A list of education meetings and workshops with the actual dates of interpretation services provided by 28 June 2019;

c) A list of education meetings and workshops with the actual dates of interpretation services provided by 30 September 2019; and

d) A list of education meetings and workshops with the actual dates of interpretation services provided by 31 December 2019.

IV.Payment

1. Payment will be made based on the actual number of days interpreted.

2. If the meetings/workshops are held in the city which is different from the city of residence, the interpreter’s travel costs will be advanced by himself/herself and get reimbursement together with the payment of each deliverable as indicated in III above.

3. In case of travel, the eligible amount of flight ticket cost reimbursement is estimated based on the quotation of the round-trip and the most economical domestic flight at the time of contract creation. UNESCO will reimburse the flight ticket cost, upon the submission of the required supporting documents (such as invoices, receipts, original boarding passes and UNDSS security clearance) according to UNESCO rules and regulations.

4. The fee for the interpretation of the meetings/workshops will be authorized for payment upon the approval of the UNESCO specialists who will determine if the interpretation meets the required quality standard.

5. Any possible bank charges of the contractor by the intermediate bank(s) and/or the contractor’s bank shall be borne by the contractor and charged within the amount of the contract.

6. UNESCO reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if the quality of the interpretation work is unsatisfactory and/or if they are not delivered to the required standard of quality.

V.Required skills and experience

The contractor is required to have the following skills and experience:

· Demonstrated experience in interpretation of English to Myanmar and vice versa;

· Familiarity with the key terms used in education;

· Excellent verbal communication skills;

· Proficiency to communicate via email and phone in both English and Myanmar language;

· Paying attention to details; and

· Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines.

In line with UNESCO’ overall gender mainstreaming strategy, the interpreter is expected to integrate a gender perspective in all activities and apply gender analysis and mainstreaming concepts whenever feasible.

VI. Application

Interested individual interpreters are invited to submit an application to this consultancy to Ko Minn Nay Han of UNESCO Myanmar Project Office at mn.han@unesco.org as soon as possible and no later than 21 January 2019. In the email, please include:

1. A CV clearly showing prior experience in interpretation between English and Myanmar, preferably in the education sector;

2. A quote of the expected interpretation rate in USD.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.