The Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic
ADB Project “Strengthening Education System Sector Development Program”
Terms of Reference for
Textbook Management Unit Experts
(2 national experts, full time, 36 person-months each)
Information of the Project
The Kyrgyz Republic has received the grant from ADB for the Project “Strengthening Education
System Sector Development Program” which will be implemented in 2015-2021. The proposed
program supports the government’s Education Development Strategy (EDS) 2012–2020.
The impact will be improved human resources development for competitiveness of the Kyrgyz
Republic.
The outcome will be enhanced quality, access, and efficiency of public education
The program, through separate policy-based and project components, will deliver four
outputs to improve the: (i) quality of curriculum and teaching learning materials; (ii) quality of
teachers and teacher training; (iii) access to quality education through innovative schools; and
(iv) sector and project management.
Qualification Requirements
Textbook Management Specialists will be recruited to assist the MES in TRS introduction and
management and other aspects of textbook development, evaluation, publishing and distribution.
The consultant must meet the following requirements: i) have a degree in pedagogy, governance,
management, finance or related field; ii) expertise in finance and financial analysis will be
preferred for one of experts; iii) know the provisions and requirements of MoES KR in the
development and approval of textbooks and educational materials; iv) have experience of not less
than 3 years in the development and review of policies for the publication of textbooks; v)
experience in projects on the development and publication of textbooks, funded by international
financial institutions is an advantage; vi) practical experience in the development, replication, or
the purchase of educational materials in accordance with ADB procedures; vii) experience in
organizing competitions for writers of textbooks and their publication; viii) good interpersonal skills
and skills of coordinating the work of various experts and partners; ix) working knowledge of
English, Kyrgyz and Russian languages.
Experts will report to the Manager of the PIU. Specific tasks include:
i.
Support MES in the coordination and management of all aspects of textbook,
teachers’ guide and other LTM provision to all primary and secondary schools in
the Kyrgyz Republic;
ii.
Support MES and the international TRS Management Expert in all aspects of the
design, implementation and monitoring the pilot testing of the TRS/TRF and
make recommendations for upgrading and extension as appropriate;
iii.
Liaise with the MES and other involved departments and organizations
responsible for curriculum development, review and approval as the basis for
planning the provision of the required textbooks and teachers’ guides on time and
in sufficient quantity in support of the launch of the new curriculum in all
languages of instruction;
iv.
Maintain close contact with the bidding and evaluation of bids for textbooks and
teachers’ guides and work to ensure the on-time conduct of the bidding and
evaluation process in order to avoid delays in the supply of learning and teaching
materials to schools;
v.
Ensure that the bid documents contain full details of evaluation methodology,
criteria, instruments and marking schemes so that authors, publishers and
bidders have access to all the information that they require to submit high quality
bids that are aligned with the specified objectives and learning outcomes of the
new curriculum;
vi.
Ensures that the bid documents contain detailed content, treatment and
presentational specifications and guidelines to ensure that bidders submit high
quality bids that are aligned with the specified objectives and learning outcomes
of the new curriculum;
vii.
Maintain close contact with the pilot-testing procedures to ensure that there are
no unnecessary delays caused by pilot-testing and that there are no conflicts of
interest involved in the pilot-testing process and procedures;
viii.
Become expert in the use of the Textbook MIS as an essential management and
planning tool for the efficient supply of textbooks, teachers’ guides and any other
specified LTMs to schools;
ix.
Ensure that the latest school enrolment data is exported onto the Textbook MIS in
time to inform the print runs on which bid submissions and prices will be based
taking into account the target book life and agreed loss and damage allowances;
x.
Ensure that current school textbook and teachers’ guide inventories are loaded
onto the Textbook MIS and updated annually and that the inventory is annotated
with information on the condition of the inventory (e.g. good, satisfactory, poor or
unusable) and that annual data on textbook provision against need is reported for
all schools, for different grade levels, different regions and different languages of
instruction so that investments in textbook provision can be accurately targeted;
xi.
Provide textbook distribution lists so that bidders can deliver pre-packaged and
pre-addressed consignments for each school to reduce district work on repackaging and
re-addressing bulk stock into individual school packages;
xii.
Provide Confirmed Delivery Certificates to be signed by each school to ensure
that school deliveries are accurate and undamaged and to maintain a record and
provide reports on delivery dates to districts and schools;
xiii.
Use the Textbook MIS to provide annual monitoring reports on all required
aspects of textbooks and teachers’ guide provision;
xiv.
Use the Textbook MIS to provide MIS with up to date planning information on
shortages and high priority printing requirements;
xv.
Produce an annual report on all aspects of textbook and teachers’ guide
provision in Kyrgyz Republic; and
xvi.
Prepare the relevant sections of quarterly and annual project reports;
xvii.
Work closely with the specialist international consultants on all of the above
issues.