National Education Quality Improvement Program II (EQUIP II)

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Ministry of Education

National Education Quality Improvement Program II (EQUIP II)

Term of Reference

Implementing Partner (IP) for Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)

1.0  Background

Ministry of Education (MoE) is the imperative Ministry in the Governmental frame of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which aims to provide quality and equity Education for all Afghans on the base of approvable laws and regulation of Afghanistan. In order to response to the requirements and criteria of International standard, Ministry of Education is in the process of implementing Education Quality Improvement Program (EQUIP) with the fund provided by the World Bank (WB). The objective of the project is to improve the quality of educational inputs and processes as a foundation for a long term strategy to enhance the quality of educational outcomes.

The support of the (WB) to MoE is multidimensional and one to the important part is its support to the infrastructure part, construction of building for educational facilities i.e. schools, teacher training centers, administration building, hostels and etc.

The mutual discussions were held between the World Band (WB) and the Ministry of Education (MoE). After through study of the outcomes of infrastructure projects under the Education Quality Improvement Program (EQUIP), need of outsourcing the IP for the task of M&E was identified and it was decided to recruit a third party for monitoring of construction works in the sector of education supported by WB. The agency to be appointed will play a more extensive in construction supervision project implementation in order to improve quality and create more transparent environment, develop capacity of ISD staff at center and in the provinces.

This TOR is prepared for the IP as guidance to enable the IP to understand the requirement of MoE from them in connection with the aspects of M&E of all infrastructure projects contracted through the national competing bidding (NCB) and CC projects being implemented by School Management Shuras under EQUIP which are financially supported by the WB.

2.0 Scope of Work

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is an important and integrated part of any project. It is for the interest of those involved in, and affected by these infrastructure development projects. M&E serves to drive accountability and transparency, inform decision making about project design and management, and provide lessons learned for future projects. When done in a participatory manner, monitoring can be a valuable process for building trust across diverse stakeholder groups, incorporating local knowledge and preferences, improving program outcomes, triangulating findings, and institutionalizing local engagement.

School buildings suffer from quality, despite the high cost. The durability of construction facilities is another issue not only for the ministry of education but it is of great concern to the WB and the donor community. There might be issues of not applying the international design standard, not preparing precise BoQs and not using the proper materials suitable for the relevant construction sites, but one of the most critical and important issues that has grab the attention of the MoE leadership and the donor community is the lack of proper Monitoring and Evaluation procedures and practices.

3.0 Objective:

The main objectives are to:

1.  Prepare proper M&E plan to ensure the timely progress of the construction work

2.  Prepare proper format for reporting the activities after each M&E visit to the project sites

3.  Ensure the work is accomplished as per the engineering (architectural and structural) designs and specifications

4.  IP to provide on the job training to provincial M&E staff of ISD, through joint monitoring for Quality control purposes as well as arranging monthly workshops for ISD M&E Staff

4.0  Strategy:

The ministry of education, jointly with the World Bank is aiming to improve the mentioned weaknesses in order to ensure that the quality work is done for the students, proper material suitable for the construction sites are used, standard procedure are adopted for carrying construction supervision and reporting

In order to achieve the objectives, the leadership of the ministry and the World Bank has jointly decided to recruit a qualified International/National firm as the Implementing Partner (IP) to perform the practical M&E work of 1562 NCB and 124 CC projects through advisory and technical support to project implementation and to transfer the knowledge to MoE/ISD technical staff in order to stand on their own feet by the completion of contract period with the concerned Implementing (IP) this could be done through involvement of MoE provincial and central staff in conducting of quality control process i.e. observational, or practical testing for quality control purpose, dealing with contractor for correction measures or stopping the works till fixing, monthly workshops for ISD staff and reporting to the clients.

5.0  General: IP to do:

IP shall be given a comprehensive package of information concerning NCB projects along with their targets and time frame for performing the monitoring and evaluation of (1562) NCB and (124) CC)projects throughout the country. The detail information concerning the types and locations of these projects are provided in the table (1) in below.

The implementing partner will provide there construction supervision expertise and support in the following forms:

A.  Advisory support to construction Project Management

1.  The IP has to develop M&E system taking into consideration the following: The IP has to prepare a framework on how to design and execute M&E for ISD construction projects. The framework shall be consisted of:

a.  Logic Model and Indicators:After finalizing logic model for planning and management purposes, associated indicators should be createdin consultation with stakeholdersto monitor achievement at every step of the project, from inputs and activities to outputs and outcomes.

b.  Validate Indicators with Stakeholders:Developing indicators is a key opportunity for participatory approach. By providing input on the indicators, the project owners (public) and the clients (MoE/ISD) are not only made aware of, but more importantly provide input to, project design and objective setting.

c.  Conduct Baseline Assessment:An assessment of current conditions is necessary in order to create a baseline against which to measure progress over time. For example, one can only effectively gauge an improvement in the work quality from different aspects if there is information on initial levels of work quality (comparison will be easy).

d.  Set Targets and Scale:After finalizing the list of indicators that will be measured to monitor progress, targets should be set for each indicator

B.  Technical Support to the Project implementation

1.  IP Responsibilities for construction supervision of NCB Projects

The IP will have the responsibility of day to day construction supervision of the contracted NCB projects and will be providing reports and recommendations to employer.

The Construction Supervision Phase will be initiated by an authorization letter. The employer may give the consultant authorization for the Construction Supervision Phase for portions of the work following the procurement process of the designed sections.

Weekly coordination meetings will be held at which, as a minimum, Employer’s Senior engineer or his/her designee, the Consultant’s Project Manager, the site Superintendent, and the Consultant’s Quality Control Manager shall be present. The supervisor has to visit the project site 5 times during the projects implementation period i.e. at the beginning, 25%, 50%, 75% and completion stages. In addition, the supervisor will visit the site along with the provincial engineers while endorsing the work progress for billing or any other projects related purpose.

IP specific responsibilities include but not limited to:

·  Supervise contractor’s quality management plan, works program, method statements, material sources, manpower and equipment deployment etc, this operation will be based on the agreed technical specifications.

·  Ensure at all times the contractor works in strict compliance with the contractor’s quality management plan, work plan, and contract specification, including instruction issued as per contract and non-compliance notifications.

·  Oversee and supervise the setting out process of all contract Activities.

·  Provide monthly progress report and highlight the construction quality, materials used and workmanship including the bottlenecks and reasons if the contractor is not performing as per the work plan.

·  Review the proposed variation orders, verify the case and the request for change, determination of rates of works and advise the Employer on any alternatives.

·  Review the time extension requests of contractors and certify contractor’s justification for legitimacy of the claim.

·  Supervise the Contractor’s work in all matters concerning safety and care of civil works including provision of necessary lights, guardrails, fencing and security, following to contract documents, technical specification and safety regulations.

·  Interpret working drawings and issuing instructions to the contractor as required in accordance with the contract specifications and Contractor’s qualify management plan.

·  Make measurements of accomplished works and keep measurement records.

·  Maintain records, correspondence and diaries.

·  Certify work volume and the amount of money (bills) that the contractor shall receive for the work accomplished.

·  IP and the provincial engineers shall certify the substantial completion of part or all of the works.

·  Inspect the works at appropriate at the work commencement, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% completion stages. and report to the employer on weekly and monthly bases with clear recommendations

·  Assist the employer’s Representative with processing the contractor’s possible claims and disputes.

·  Ensure compliance with the environmental and social impact mitigation requirements of civil works contracts, including environmental management plan.

·  At the completion of the works, undertake a joint project monitoring with employer’s representative in the format acceptable by the employer.

·  Check and certify the final accomplished quantity.

·  Provide the Employer with complete records, and inception, monthly and completion reports.

2.  IP Responsibilities for construction supervision of CC Projects:

MoE/EQUIP has engaged an NGO/Consulting firm as Implementing Partner (IP) to facilitate and expedite the social mobilization and construction supervision processes in efficient cost effective manner, in addition to performing social mobilization activities, the NGO/IP is involved in Facilitation, and provision of support in financial and technical aspects to implement the Community Contract Projects to address the infrastructure needs of the respective School

1.  The Implementing Partner (IP) for Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) will supervise the facilitation / supervision work undertaken by the IP for social mobilization for the construction of CC projects

2.  Ensure that IP for social mobilization and construction supervision has provided Facilitation to SMS in implementation of CC projects in pre-construction, during construction and post construction activities

3.  Inspect the works at appropriate at the work commencement, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% completion stages and report to the employer after each site visit about the quality of works, materials used, workmanship and with clear recommendations

4.  Interpret working drawings and issuing instructions to the SMS as required in accordance with the contract specifications and Contractor’s qualify management plan.

5.  Certify work volume and the amount of money (bills) that the SMS shall receive after achieving the milestones in terms of physical progress at work commencement, 60% and 100% completion.

6.  Both the IP’s (Social mobilization and M&E) and the provincial engineers shall certify the quality of constructions and the substantial completion of part or all of the works.

7.  At the completion of the works, undertake a joint project monitoring with employer’s representative in the format acceptable by the employer

8.  Check and certify the final accomplished quantity.

9.  Provide the Employer with complete records, and inception, monthly and completion reports.

5.0 Project location:

The school building construction is countrywide school buildings are located all over the country, locations of assignment are where these school buildings are located. More details about projects provide in table (1)

6.0 Required Qualification and Experiences:

The IP for this project must be a qualified National or International construction/engineering company/NGO with proven experiences in civil engineering and construction management oriented works, long working experience in M&E of construction project, needs and baseline assessment survey with proven supervision experience in the field of civil engineering projects and transfer of skills to the client agency. The experience in delivery of timely and quality report about construction projects with local working experience preferably education infrastructure project at national or international level is in advantage. At least 15 years experiences in M&E of construction projects along with construction supervision experiences are highly required.

7.0 IP administration:

The minimum human capacity requirement for leading this projects is

a)  At least two international expertise with master degree holders in civil engineering along with at least 15 years working experience along with M&E working experience.

-  The M&E work will be divided into five regions, and each region must have technical and administration staff as needed. Head of the zone must be a civil engineer with minimum 10 year relevant working experience. The number of staff in each region will differ as per the number of assigned projects in the region. It is the responsibility of ISD to provide the detail list of project in each region along with the types and locations with province wise breakdown. IP is required to present the qualification and years of experience of supervising staff along with their numbers and number of projects for each supervise, both for CC and NCB projects. IP shall also clearly define the maximum man months required for each staff category in order to easily evaluate the bid. The site supervisors must be civil engineers with minimum of 5 years of working experience in supervising building construction projects. Each region should have construction scheduler who will track the progress of ongoing projects and should have the capacity to use primavera, or MS project software.

b) 

(c) M&E of projects in insecure areas: IP though its own channels may deploy local staff and train them for taking over the M&E business in school building construction project located in insecure areas and areas with difficult access.

All works and projects related tasks have to be coordinated closely with MOE, ISD provincial and central offices.

8.0 Other eligibility criteria:

a)  All staff should be computer literate and have proven skills in using Microsoft office;