Request for Proposals - swisscontact.org · Hosting environment to end of contract Services...

Swisscontact • Eastern Europe Office • Rr. Skenderbej • • Tirana, Albania • Tel/Fax: +355 (0)42 232 778 • www.swisscontact.org

Request for Proposals Develop and support the implementation of a Moodle based VLP and VTC Management

Information System

Location Tirana, Vlora, Lezha, Berat, Shkoder

Type of Contract Service Contract (output-based)

Services Requested 1 Implementation of a Moodle

based VLP

1. Customize, host, maintain and adapt in Albanian Moodle-based

virtual learning environment (VLE) for VET

2. Upload provided materials including text, videos, games,

quizzes and or SCROM data.

3. Training and Continuous support of users

4. Hosting environment to end of contract

Services Requested 2

VTC Management Information

System

1. Implementation VTC Management Information System

2. Integration with existing SMAP

3. Training of users

4. Continuous Support and Maintenance

5. Hosting environment to end of contract

Procurement Process Request for Proposals

Two-step process - only full proposals will be considered

- Technical and Financial Proposal Evaluation

- Negotiation

Number of Lots 1 Lot

Eligible applicants Eligibility Annex A.

Deadline for submitting full

proposals

19th of October 2018, at 11.00 am

Deadline for submitting

questions & receiving answers

Questions can be sent at [email protected] till 10th of October

2018, end of business day.

Answers will be provided till: 11th of October 2018, end of business

day.

Tentative starting date of service 26th of October 2018

Estimated contract timeframe October 2018 – April 2019

Service providers reports to Project Manager and VET & New Ways of Learning Component

Manager

Service providers work in close

collaboration with

Pedagogical experts of the S4J project (training, content quality)

mailto:[email protected]


Package of Application Annex B

Evaluation Criteria Annex C

Where to send applications All offers will be received in hard-copy, sealed in a covering envelope,

addressed as per this RfP notice, lodged either via the postal system or

courier service or delivered directly to the Swisscontact office: Rr.

Skenderbej Vila 49, Tiranë, and must contain an additional soft-copy in

a USB memory stick of the Technical Proposal and CVs of staff.

Project background and intention The “Skills for Jobs Project” (S4J)1 aims to contribute to developing Albania into a more competitive

economy and a socially inclusive society, by improving and increasing vocational education.

One important part of this project is to improve quality of formal Vocational Education and Training (VET)

by introducing new ways of inclusive learning (NWoIL), including the use of technologies like virtual

learning platforms, mobile devices or social media. 49 teachers from six schools in five regions have

received extensive training and have participate in developing NWoIL in their schools. 3209 students and

255 teachers have been enrolled, in partner schools, in July 2018, 367 students and 76 teachers were active

users.

1 The Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC) has mandated Swisscontact (SC), Swiss Foundation for Technical Cooperation to implement this project.


Contents Request for Proposals ................................................................................................................................. 1

Project background and intention ................................................................................................................. 2

Service 1: Implementation of a Moodle based VLP ..................................................................................... 5

1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 5

2. Scope of work & tasks ...................................................................................................................... 5

Annex 1. Tasks and Deliverables VLP ..................................................................................................... 8

Annex 2. Basic Functionalities Required ................................................................................................ 10

Services 2: VTC Management Information System module ...................................................................... 12

1.INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 12

2. PURPOSE OF THE SYSTEM ........................................................................................................... 12

3. DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES...................................................................................................... 12

4. OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTATIONS ............................................................................................. 13

5. TARGET GROUPS ............................................................................................................................ 13

6. SPECIFIC TASKS .............................................................................................................................. 15

7. PLATFORM MODEL, BASIC FUNCTIONALITIES ...................................................................... 16

7.1. Operations design ......................................................................................................................... 16

7.2 Multi-channel access and services interface ................................................................................. 16

7.3 User Groups ................................................................................................................................. 17

7.4 Search engine ................................................................................................................................ 18

7.5 Geographical location ................................................................................................................... 18

7.6 Email notifications ........................................................................................................................ 19

7.7 Online application ......................................................................................................................... 19

7.8 Reports .......................................................................................................................................... 19

8. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS ...................................................................................................... 20

7.1 System security ............................................................................................................................. 20

8. COMMUNICATION WITH OTHER SYSTEMS ............................................................................. 21

8.1 Technical requirements of the system ........................................................................................... 21

Annex 3: Tasks and Deliverables VTC MIS .......................................................................................... 25

Annex B: Eligibility of the Consultants ...................................................................................................... 26

Annex C: Submission procedure ................................................................................................................ 28


Annex D: Evaluation of RFQ...................................................................................................................... 29

Annex E. S4J and blended learning implementation strategy ..................................................................... 29


Service 1: Implementation of a Moodle based VLP

1. Introduction S4J is supporting the customisation, implementation, maintenance and user support of a Moodle based

learning platform in Albanian language. The project has also developed digital on-line learning materials

for 19 subjects containing different formats including in SCORM standard such as text in book format,

glossaries, pictures, schemes, clips, videos, quizzes, interactive content, PPTs, for 3 vocational directions

(ICT, Tourism & Hospitality, Economy). Five teachers created their own courses and uploaded the

materials. It is expected that starting from October 2018, an approximate number of 80 teachers and 2300

students from 6 schools will be registered in the platform. Teachers expected to use the platform regularly

are approximately 20, while the rest will use it in selected hours/weeks.

For the remainder of the current project phase (until May 2019) S4J aims to migrate the content from the

Moodle pilot solution to a dedicated Moodle Solution for VET schools in Albania. During the next 7

months, S4J will support the participating schools in using and consolidating the developed content and

platform features of this new server. The plan is to extend the use in the next project phase of 4 years after

May 2019, which might involve more schools.

Teachers will continue to be in the center of intervention. They will be supported by pedagogical experts

on the best use of teaching and learning technologies and the review of online material. Teachers need to

be supported by VLP experts to open a course, register students, retrieve reports and use other

functionalities as per need.

2. Scope of work & tasks

S4J is looking for a partner company to support this transition as of now until April 2019 by the following

deliverables:

Provision of dedicated Moodle platform

1. Provide and customize a MOODLE platform version 3.5, dedicated to VET schools, including the

functionalities on Annex 2

2. Migrate the provided content, including text, quizzes, DOCX, PPTX, PDF, SWF, and SCORM

format. Materials should be marked as DRAFT

3. Translate all required elements / plugins in Albanian

Provision of continuous services

4. Maintenance for 4 months, including usage reporting. With possibility of extension (Table 1)

5. Offer full support (1st,2nd and 3rd-level/line)

6. Capacity building of teachers (participation in workshops, online support, online tutorials etc.)

7. Support teachers to implement improvements of content and adopt features based on the users

experience and pedagogical review.

8. Test hosting environment will be required during the period of contract.


The deliverables are expected to be developed in the following time frame:

Table 1: list of tasks & deliverables

No Task & Deliverables Timeframe

1 Detailed work plan including milestones 2 weeks after contract signature

Deliverable 1 Workplan, milestones and approach agreed 2 weeks after contract signature

2 Deploy a first version of the platform with the

basic features and basic design

4 weeks after contract signature

3 Migration of content 4 weeks after contract signature

Deliverable 2 1st interim report 4 weeks after contract signature

4 Training of Users 4-7 weeks after contract signature

5 Complete all features in Albanian 4-7 weeks after contract signature

6 Implement improvements of content and features 4-7 weeks after contract signature

Deliverable 3 2nd interim report 8 weeks after contract signature

7 Support Maintenance Start of contract to April 2019

Deliverable 4 Final report End of Contract

For a detailed list of tasks, deliverables and milestones, please refer to Annex 1


Annex 1. Tasks and Deliverables VLP No Tasks and Deliverables Timeframe

1 Detailed work plan including milestones 2 weeks after contract

signature

Objectives

Activities and Tasks

Persons in Charge

Timeline

Milestones

Reporting

MS1. Workplan, milestones and approach agreed 2 weeks after contract

signature

2 Deploy a first version of the platform with the basic features

and basic design (basic list of features required Annex 2)

4 weeks after contract

signature

Rebrand the developed materials and mark them as DRAFT

Prepare the list of features and modules in collaboration with

S4J experts

Prepare a design approved by the S4J experts

Specify the hosting requirements

Deploy a basic version of the platform with the basic features

and basic design including logos, in collaboration with S4J

experts. Moodle sandbox in Albanian.

3 Migration of content 4 weeks after contract

signature Nr. of Courses in text or book format with in SCORM standard:

30

Nr. of videos: 80

Nr. of illustrations (picture, gif, H5P): 130

Nr. of quiz questions (true false, multiple choice, drag and drop,

open questions etc.): 2120

Link of games: 55

Other resources: text in book format for each subject

Nr. of users (teachers, students, guests): 2400

MS2 1st interim report 4 weeks after contract

signature Full design completed including colours, logos, consistent

design through the platform

Developed content migrated

Users informed, and contacts established

Full implementation of all requested features/blocks or

plugins List findings and extra options needed to be implemented in

collaboration with the platform users and S4J experts

4 Complete all features in Albanian 4 7 weeks after contract

signature The system is fully functional, and all elements of the platform

are translated in Albanian

5 Training of Users (onsite training) 4 7 weeks after contract

signature Shkolla “Pavarësia” Vlorë, 4 days (30 hrs)

Shkolla “Tregtare” Vlorë, 2 days (15 hrs)


Shkolla “Kolin Gjoka” Lezhë, 3 days (20 hrs)

Shkolla “Kristo Isak” Berat, 2 days (15 hrs)

Shkolla “Hamdi Bushati” Shkodër, 3 days (20 hrs)

Shkolla “Gjergj Canco” Tiranë, 4 days (30 hrs)

Create and upload on the platform, a video tutorial of the

product

6 Implement improvements of content and features based on

structured feedback

4 7 weeks after contract

signature

Participate in workshops organized from S4J for teachers

guided feedback

Engage teachers in the process of content revision as a capacity

building exercise

Document teacher’s competence and need for capacity building

to create and upload content online

MS3 2nd interim report 8 weeks after contract

signature

Nr. of users trained.

Report on usage of the platform

Implementation new blocks or plugins needed as a result of

the findings in the first 40 days of the deployment

Fix any issues or bugs identified during this period

Improved content is uploaded

Teachers are better skilled to use and revise content online

Recommendations based on challenges analysed

7 Support & Maintenance Start of contract to April 2019

End user support available during business hours. Provide

contact person and dedicated phone and email.

1st, 2nd and 3rd level support during the entire contract


Support teachers in coninous improvement of content

Provide monthly reporting and platform analytics to the

stakeholders

MS4 Final report End of Contract

Platform fully finalized and customised with approval from

S4J experts without any known issues or bugs

Entire source code, source files and content submitted

Completed Migration to the final hosting solution

Completed documentation on use and maintenance


Training finalised

Recommendations


Annex 2. Basic Functionalities Required 1. User management; manages access to the VLE in terms of role/ permission, migration during

course or end of course and group management. The following roles are required:

Administrator – Full access to the platform

Student – Authorised to use training materials as assigned

Teacher – Authorised to upload and update training materials and online tests, create

groups, learning plans, grades

Contributors – Authorised to upload and update training materials and online tests

Stakeholder – Authorised to monitor materials and statistics

2. User interface with ease of use, (in agreement with S4J experts)

(content management, activity user tracking, grading feedback, group learning.)

3. Educational functionality such as:

Personalised and group assignments, forums, (different forms of) quizzes,

Resources, blogs, peer (group) learning and assessment,

Use of video / audio, extranet resources,

E-portfolio for each teacher and student,

E-library, wiki

Blog

Categorised (fields of study and subjects; authors; language; typology; level etc.)

Containing multimedia (audio, video, animations etc.), text, structured lectures,

assignments, games etc.

Group selection

Chat

Database

Dialogue

Discussion forum

Workshop

Interactive Content – H5P Plug-in

SWF

IMS/SCORM packaging import/export.

4. Course management the ability to manage;

Resource availability

Enrolling Students

Course structure

- Local Files

- Extranet

Course content

- Book

- File

- Page

- Lesson, LAMS lesson

- HQ Video (locally and embedded)

- Audio

- URL

- File upload

- Glossary


- Quiz

Create and delete courses

End of course management

Course and activity navigation

Learning Plan

Assign student to plan

Personal Learning plan

Tracking process and capturing statistics.

Course checklist

Course status tracker

Students tracker

Restriction by course

Grades

Homework

▪ Assignment submission, tunitin assignment

▪ Voicetool

▪ Certificate module

5. Monitoring tools

Analytics graphs

- Grades chart

- Content access chart

- Number of active users

- Assignment Submission chars

- Statistics about the on-line use of the lessons, e-library per user and course,

- exportable to csv, user access

Assessment

- choice

6. The solution must function device independent, with all major browsers, including mobile devices

with operating systems Android, Microsoft and iOS. Mobile site version must be enabled

7. Interface and ease of use must be agreed with S4J experts before implementation

8. The solution should be entirely implemented in Albanian

9. The solution will be implemented in a cloud or infrastructure environment.

10. The solution should be able to allow for obtaining gender disaggregated data on users’ activity.


Services 2: VTC Management Information System module

1.INTRODUCTION

Despite challenges at a conceptual, human and digital level, achieving several functional

objectives in the VT2 system is necessary not only because of the importance of this system

implementation in the economic development of the country but also because of the expectation

that all public opinion has towards it. The systems and analytical ICT capabilities that will be

presented in this model will provide support in achieving these objectives in terms of (i)

connection, (ii) access, (iii) participation and (iv) quality.

2. PURPOSE OF THE SYSTEM

The strategic purpose of the project proposal is the implementation of a digital and all-inclusive

"Vocational Training Center" infrastructure that is capable to perform:

• Online support of processes and actors towards a job-oriented Vocational Training system.

• VT improvement by facilitating online interaction among broad-spectrum actors and

consequently improving education methods, curriculum, training programs.

• Increase of access, transparency and involvement in the VT system through information

and providing of online services and programs, making some factors irrelevant such as

location, time, gender, age, or inability for people with disabilities.

3. DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES

The VT portal concept introduces a modular and innovative design closely structured around five

principles of a result oriented service:

• Good management of resource and administration of training provision

• The involvement of the VT provider in the process of policy making, decision-making and

increasing the degree of credibility in the VT system;

• Rapid reaction to the continuing change of market needs, laws and VT regulations.

• Added value for the trainee, instructor, provider, business;

• Ease of access and use, integrating source, administrative, educational services and markets

into a multi-channel system, which makes the current fragmentation of the inexistent

system.

2 VT-Vocational Training; QFP / VTC(Vocational Training Center)(Albanian:Qender e Formimit Profesional)


4. OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTATIONS

The purpose of this platform is to inform the public about the opportunities offered by the

Vocational Training Provider, to provide online access to resoures as well as all actors who take

part in the course creation to update their data.

The portal aims to bring the Vocational Training sector to the user through information and the

opportunity to be part of this system through online application. The users of this portal will be all

interested in obtaining information on Professional Education, the Labor Market and other

valuable information to be part of this system. Also, the system will allow registration in courses

and audit of VT policies by relevant institutions. The ability to search according to the courses, the

employment trends and the geographic area in which the user is located will be the main goals of

the portal.

An VT electronic platform guarantees that stakeholders give, take, and exchange administrative

services combined with new mechanisms for participation by the actors in the system, as industry

consultative information, impressions/opinion and system reports in the shortest possible time,

within a single environment. The concept implements a work environment that allows VT to serve

as a central space through which (i) the needs and expectations of other industry/contributors,

providers, trainees are collected in a single WEB interface, processed in the end systems and return

to the reformatted WEB interface to promote actions that correct and improve the system.

5. TARGET GROUPS

Among the actors connected to the VT system we can mention:

1. The National Employment Service (ShKP)( Albanian: Shërbimi Kombëtar i Punësimit) -

to assist with labor market analyzes and identify the needs for skills and competences of

the private sector. In this context, ShKP will create a database of information through

periodic national evaluations on: (i) company profiles in terms of their current and future

employment and economic trends; (ii) skills and specialization of existing staff skills in

terms of non-availability of certain skills for any category of work; (iii) formal and informal

professional trainings.

• Labor Offices (ZP)(Albanian: Zyrat e Punës), which are subordinate structures of

the QFP, in the perspective of the QFP scheme development, will be contributor to

the information of jobseekers who will be offered professional courses.

2. National Agency for Vocational Training and Qualifications (AKAFPK)(Albanian:

Agjencia Kombëtare e Formimit Profesional dhe Kualifikimeve) has the mission of

creating a unified and recognized VT system at national and international level based on


the Albanian Qualifications Framework (KShK)(Albanian:Korniza Shqiptare te

Kualifikimeve). The scope of AKAFPK's work covers the design of curricula for

professional qualifications, needs definition for teaching staff trainings, certification and

assessment of students and trainees, preparation of teaching materials, etc.

3. Private Vocational Training provider is an integral part of the VT system, either as an

entity with a similar function to VT public provider, as collaborator in capacity building,

producing content, but also as a direct competitor in the system and well-supported in

resources.

For this reason, the VT structure aims to avoid duplication of VT programs between VT

regional providers, including private providers, by centralizing in a single platform all the

VT courses and their curriculas allowing the visitor to check all possibilities without

overlaping. The system aims to match the VT's offers with the results of national and

regional skill analysis and having no overlap, so the programs complement each other.

The private provider is a regular user/consultant of VT systems, regarding content

information, labor market needs, VT offerings, geographic scope, and so on.

4. Business, is interested party as a beneficiary of new specialists from all fields trained by

VT providers, and it has existing resources for active co-operation with the VT system,

starting from identification of skills needs, curriculum development, development of

teaching staff and students vocational practices.


6. SPECIFIC TASKS

The pilot project implementation methodology includes consultancy, other activities related to it

and standard implementation techniques of a project which includes visits to each of the respective

entities, questionnaires, forms, interviews with administrative staff, trainees, representatives of the

public and business administration, agencies, open discussions and 'workshops', further needs

analysis (technology, people), and evaluation of further challenges.

In its full view, documentation with elements that directly affects the successful implementation

of the VT system should include:

• The legal and regulatory framework, which influences the development and system

standards.

• The information (legal, decisions, academic) that we have and the information we need to

provide further from the user's point of view.

• Changing the work culture from manual to digital and teamwork.

• Standards for providing online services and systems integration.

• Administration and procedures for VT system stability (front end and back end).

• Multi-channel approach to service integration.

• Electronic tools and instruments for transparency and credibility to the public.

• Initial and ongoing training of administrative and academic staff.

• Stability and redundancy of the system.

• Processing mechanism of impressions, complaints, performance measurement and

reporting.

• Instruments of data security and recovery systems.

• Capabilities and capacities for development and continuing improvement of the system.

• Promoting the VT system, public-private partnership and changing the community's

approach to interest groups in the system.


7. PLATFORM MODEL, BASIC FUNCTIONALITIES

7.1. Operations design

VT proposed platform should use a central ICT-based support system that focuses on a web

presence that integrates (i) services provided by each entity in the system regardless of the specific

role of each of them and (ii) a multi-channel end system to ensure access and integrity of

distributed information.

The system will be accessed on the Internet. Based on roles and policies, the access will be

available to all the participating entities in the system. The web portal will be the first contact

point, enabling public space and private space available from accounts of various types.

7.2 Multi-channel access and services interface

For the VT system to fulfill its goals, it is needed to maintain functional and reporting links and

serve a broad user base. The web system proposed here will provide the necessary links for all

actors in the system: central government, local government, services (eg ShKP), agencies (eg

AKAFPK), VT providers, industry/employers, producers of the content, service provider, etc. All

information will be stored in the back-office central system and the database will include laws,

orders, statistics and trends (INSTAT, industry, etc.) as well as functional and information

procedures about the system and services built by agencies and service providers (ShKP, QFP),

teaching documentation, or reports.

The components and scope of the model will extend, enable or support the following

functionalities of the VT system:

• Services of VT providers, alternated online (i.e vocational training courses, as services for

third parties);

• VT providers who exchange online information and are quickly synchronized with job

labor requirements

• VT programs, unique across the country and accessible online regardless of the location,

gender, age or potential of the audience;

• Development of new curricula

• Online communication with labor offices, as data sensors and career orientation;

• Strengthening, through online communication and promotion of Public Private Partnership

(PPP), as a key element of VT's quality development;

• Inclusion of the business community, in making VT development policies;

• Online services and good administrative management, as well as human resources and

students management;


• Appraisal systems of professional categories at the end of unified and standardized VT;

• Building practices and systems based on the legal and regulatory framework for VT and

independent of the human factor.

7.3 User Groups

This portal will aim to target, but is not limited to, young people and it will be designed to provide

the information needed to adjust the expectations and interests of this target group. However, some

actors will participate in the portal.

The first group of users will be the visitors, all the people who intend to take:

• information on professional courses,

o field of study,

o the starting/ending date of the course,

o the area where the course is located,

o prices,

o course providers,

o number of applicants,

o curriculum,

o the total hours of the course,

o licensing/diploma/beneficiary document,

o application field after completion of the course

o potential trainings,

o application areas,

o employment opportunities,

The second group of users who seek to gain access to the system.

Their registration must be confirmed by their e-mail address. The system should only allow one e-

mail registration. These users have the right for:

• registration in the portal,

• receiving notifications based on search type made on the portal (favorite search) + various

notifications,

• ability to enroll in the courses offered through online application. In this case, the course

administrator will be notified by email of new registrations.

• obtaining information privately,

• and other information that the portal offers.


The third user group will be all the users who have the right to submit their data and manage

them on the portal.

Each center that offers vocational training courses will have an administrator who will update the

latest course data that the center offers.

• Administrators of vocational training centers

o Will update the data on the courses they provide.

o Will update the relevant status of the course according to participation and online

applications.

o Confirmation of registrations in the courses.

o Different information.

o Answering questions about the courses they provide.

• Administrators of advisory offices or Career Center offices in vocational trainings centers

will update

o Various information on vocational training, the labor market and various policies

around it.

o Questions-Answers to portal users.

• Business (licensed for courses)

o It may be the creator of certain courses

o Assist with updating job vacancies

o Information on the most requested jobs

o Specialists of the National Employment Service offices(ShKP).

• The specialist of National Agency for Vocational Training and Qualifications (AKAFPK)

helps in:

o Standardization of teaching curricula,

o Creates plans and programs for the development of the system of vocational

education and training (VT).

o Creates programs for realization of policies for the implementation of the Albanian

Qualifications Framework (KShK);

o Creates programs for the implementation of the quality assurance system by VT

provider institutions.

7.4 Search engine

The portal will be easily accessed and promoted by search engines, especially Google, as well as

with the possibility of listing on the first page of the search engine.

7.5 Geographical location

In addition to the written address, the location of the professional training providers will also be

portrayed in a dynamic map that varies depending on the user's actual location. This will allow


users to get information on providers based on their location without need to set search location

filters.

7.6 Email notifications

Access to online applications for a certain course will be provided only to users who have been

previously enrolled and have become part of the system. The administrator will be notified with

an email for this application. The portal will enable the delivery of emails, being created and sent

automatically to a large number of users.

7.7 Online application

To be part of the course, the application will be made online only by those users who are previously

registered in the system. The respective course administrator will be notified by email for the

arrival of a new registration. Based on the evaluation that will be done for the application of the

candidate, the administrator will decide whether or not to approve the application.

7.8 Reports

The system should have options to generate statistical reports based on data recorded, modified,

accessed in the database by internal and external users. The system will provide various statistical

analysis generation in the form of excel, pdf, or graphs.

Reports will include:

• Tabular and graphical information on the results data and attendance of each trainee,

aggregated in real time.

• Tabular and graphical information on any data set in the system, generated in Ad-hoc form,

with possibility of filtering over a certain QFP or all QFP.

• Tabular and graphical information for modules incorporated in the system

• Tabular and graphical information about data combination of system records with data

imported from other systems that interact together.

• Financial and human resources reports based on the data provided in the relevant modules.

From the administrative and academic management application, it is required to provide facility

and searching variety of each element in the application. Searching should have filtration and

grouping functions:

• Filtering;

• Grouping, recursively;

• Search of 'alike' type;

• The possibility that the number of results that appear during a search to be configured;

• Advanced search for combination of conditions depending on different fields;

• Etc.


Any form of information that exists in the system should be subject to reporting.

8. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

7.1 System security

The system should be created in such a way to provide maximum security in access and publication

of information. For this purpose, for the authentication process, the system should enable user

login while the authorization of each account will be executed based on the roles and rights that

are created in the system of each VT center as well as for generating summary analytical reports

and publishing information on the information interface, the authorization of each account will be

realized based on the roles and rights that have been created.

Access to the system will be controlled by the system administrator, the role of which is each

institution that is responsible for assigning a particular user. Creating user roles and rights that

every role will have will be created according to the job position of the institution. Password must

be stored in the database. The system needs to be reliable, trustworthy and to provide at all times

integrity and information control functions. Access should only be permitted to authorized persons,

and any attempt for unauthorized access should be reported automatically by the system. The

software solution must be based on web technology.

Accesses should be organized in the form of roles, users, rights and relationships between them.

Rights are unchangeable objects at a given moment, presenting the functionalities offered by the

system. Meanwhile, roles and users, their relationships, and the configuration of rights for different

roles are dynamic and thus the are changeable objects. For the above, it is required to implement

a configured authorization scheme known as Role-Based Access Control (RBAC).

It is important that any change related to the rights should reflect immediate effects on the system.

Visually, the access model configuration must be displayed in a matrix form where (unchangeable)

rights and (changeable) roles are crossed. There can be two types of users:

• Those who can be authenticated with user (username) + dedicated password for this system

(external access).

• Those who can be authenticated using the relevant user in Active Directory(internal

access).

Accesses should be transparent by the type of user and the system should support both types of

users. The system should provide options for selecting objects on which a user can apply the rights

inherited from his role. Every action in the system should be logged(logs) by identifying the user,

timestamp, type of action (reading, changing, updating), changed data, user IP, and so on.

The system should provide the respective interface for logs display as well as the possibility for

their filtering, finding traces that are required and inability to modify them. This interface will be

part of the administration module. As needed, for auditing purposes, the system should provide


tracking opportunities of database objects for actions that manipulate information: creation,

modification, and deletion. Logs should be kept according to the type of action, the object

underlying this action, the values of its fields (how they were, how they were done), where that

logic is applied.

8. COMMUNICATION WITH OTHER SYSTEMS

The system should be an integrated with the existing system for Vocational Education

Management System (SMAP3).

Also, as part of the administrative management of the professional training portal, there will be

also the modules of SMAP, respectively:

• Human Resources Module

• Financial Management Module

• Warehouse

• Assets

• Administration panel

The system should allow the exchange of information on national databases, such as the National

DataBase of high school graduates, the Civil Registry, the National Employment Service base, etc.

8.1 Technical requirements of the system

• The system should be able to provide an efficient and standard way of managing all aspects

of a vocational training center to the beneficiary. This is necessary to improve the

accessibility, transparency and tracking of the activities of these institutions.

• The system must be a web-based modular and have three different interfaces: one for local

users, one for central users at the level of a central monitoring entity and one for external

users.

• The database must be built as a relational database.

• Creating security elements on the web based on the best standards.

• The web interface must have an interactive and friendly interface to the user to make it

easy to use.

• The web interface must be compatible with different browsers and be accessible on

desktop, tablet, and mobile friendly.

• The system should be developed in accordance with the best practices of software

management and development.

• The database must be centered.

• Exporting reports and results of filtering or grouping in electronic format: pdf, xls, etc.

• User authentication support with Active Directory (LDAP).

• The system must be entirely web-based software architecture.

3 (SMAP) Sistemi i manaxhimit të Arsimit Profesional, eng Vocational Education Management System; https://smap.al


• The system should support various RDBMS databases which provide:

o High availability functionality.

o Cloning functionality.

o Maintenance functionalities.

o Monitoring functions.

o Data Indexing functionalities.

o Security system.

o Functionality for the use of storage devices.

o Different indexing techniques.

o Back-Up and Recovery function.

• Daily maintenance functionalities.

• The system must have service-oriented architecture. For the realization of the actions that

are implemented by the GUI, the SOAP and REST standard web services should be

exposed, which should use authentication user techniques through One Time Password

(OTP) codes.

• Functions for data auditing.

• Management consoles.

• To be based and built on open standards of the information technology and not only.

• Provision of data that manages and processes.

• Functionality for tracing of transactions that are being processed.

• Diagnostic functions.

• Pre-configured reports

o The system should include standard print reports in A4 format, exportable at least

in Adobe PDF and MS Excel format. These reports should come as a result of

automatic data aggregation set into the system management modules.

• The system should be independent from the virtualization and hosting platform, should be

compatible with Windows/Linux operating systems and equivalent.

• The system should have a supported security system and roles-based access control.

• The system should have a GUI interface for defining system users and defining their roles

and rights.

• The system should have the ability to search through different fields in the simplest (limited

fields) and advanced version, which should include more fields.

• The system should offer integration opportunities through web services.

• The system should be modularly constructed, with the possibility of adding or removing

different modules, as well as having the opportunity to develop new modules.

• The system should have support for modular addition or addon/plugin for automatic

adaptation to business environment, other applications, integration scheme, notification

etc.

• The system should have monitoring status functions of integrated services and processes.

• The system should support storage, browsing, and display logs that are exchanged to

runtime.


• The system should use advanced techniques to optimize the use of RDBMS to ensure

optimal performance with increasing data volume.

• The system should be in Albanian language, with the possibility of adding from the

translation interface in different languages.

• The system should have on-line helpers.

• The system should be accessible regardless of the user's computer operating system and

mobile friendly.

• The system should keep track of the use in such a way that the chronology of the actions

is saved and the responsible individual for a particular action must be known at any time.

• The system should include mechanisms for setting rules on password policies.

• The system should support integration with external devices or services provided by third

parties for electronic signature in order to support the issuance of official certificates in the

future.

• The system should support two-steps and multifactor authentication (more than two) of

web users (Active Directory + electronic signature).

• The system should support "Semantic Web" and "Semantic Technologies" to enhance

knowledge management skills for rich interfaces and improving user experience in the

system, such as language detection, entity extraction, semantic annotations, intelligent

searching, recommendations, etc.

• The system should support generation and content handling according to standards and

recommendations of RDFa/XHTML for semantic markup.

• The system must rely on an RDBMS database that should have the following

characteristics:

o To be flexible and support large volumes of data.

o No restrictions in increasing the number of users or changing the type of architecture

(e.g from 2 tiers to 3 tiers).

o Cost that is independent from the number of CPUs, number of client computers, type

of application, etc.

o Automatic management of server and customer disconnections.

o Possibility for encryption of server and client connection.

o Possibility of data encryption.

o Equipped with a monitoring engine that detects unauthorized connections to the

server.

o Support installation on Windows 32bit and 64bit and the main distributions of Linux

32bit and 64bit.

o To notify through the monitoring engine in different ways for the attempt of

unauthorized connections:

▪ By sending emails (more than one email address).

▪ By sending messages to specific applications.

▪ To start the execution of a predetermined procedure.


o The RDBMS must have parameters configured in the monitoring engine:

▪ Monitoring frequency.

▪ Number of monitoring hours before notification.

▪ Text of the message to be sent.

▪ The type of media to be used for sending the message (SMS, Email etc).

Specifically, regarding the reports:

• The system should provide real-time reports on data in the database.

• Generating reports should not affect system performance when reports are considered to

be severe, especially administrative reports over long-term data.

• The system must support and be designed in a way that the data can be duplicated in a

second database, only for reporting purposes.

• The database of reports should be organized on DW principles to help reports development

with other tools without performing application developments.

• The database must be supported by tools that enrich the data from other state databases or

entities possessing detailed information to meet the needs of developing new reports at any

time. Apart from the data taken during the execution of the application flow, different jobs

need to further enhance the information gathered from these databases.

• Selected tools for reports development should provide ease in developing ad-hoc reports

without need of in-depth programming knowledge.

• Development of pixel-perfect reports, dashboards, KPIs, maps, etc. combined with modern

graphical elements that enable the presentation of data in an intelligible way.

• Databases should be used to build patterns in terms of optimizing decision-making in the

sector, combined with "what-if" scenarios or other data mining principles that provide a

more accessible approach to the labor market for actors involved.


Annex 3: Tasks and Deliverables VTC MIS No Tasks and Deliverables Timeframe

1 Detailed work plan including milestones 2 weeks after contract

signature

Objectives

Activities and Tasks

Persons in Charge

Timeline

Milestones

Reporting

MS1. Workplan, milestones and approach agreed 2 weeks after contract

signature

2 Deploy a first version of the platform with the basic features

and basic design (basic list of features required)


signature

Prepare the list of features and modules in collaboration with

S4J experts

Specify the hosting requirements

Deploy a basic version of the platform with the basic features.

3 Complete all features in Albanian 18 weeks after contract

signature The system is fully functional, and all elements of the platform

are translated in Albanian

4 Training of Users (onsite training) 10 – 12 weeks after contract

signature Vocational Training Centers included in the project

User manual including all developed features

Create and upload on the platform, a video tutorial of the

product

5 Implement improvements of content and features based on

structured feedback


signature

Participate in workshops organized from S4J for instructors

guided feedback

Engage instructors in the process of content revision as a

capacity building exercise

Document instructors’ competence and need for capacity

building to populate the system with initial data

MS2 2nd interim report 19 weeks after contract

signature

Nr. of users trained.


Implementation new blocks or plugins needed as a result of

the findings in the first 60 days of the deployment


Instructors are better skilled to use the module

Recommendations based on challenges analysed

6 Support & Maintenance Start of contract to April 2019

End user support available during business hours. Provide

contact person and dedicated phone and email.

1st, 2nd and 3rd level support during the entire contract



Support instructors in continuous improvement of content

Provide monthly reporting and platform analytics to the

stakeholders

MS4 Final report End of Contract

Platform fully finalized and customized with approval from

S4J experts without any known issues or bugs

Entire source code, source files and content submitted

Completed Migration to the final hosting solution

Completed documentation on use and maintenance


Training finalised

Recommendations

Annex A: Eligibility of the Consultants

The consultants who wish to participate should meet the following eligibility criteria:

• The consultant should be operating as an officially registered firm in respective country operation

for longer than five years, demonstrated by a copy of the Simple and Historic Extract by the

National Registration Centre or equivalent.

• The consultant must have published profit over the last three years, demonstrated by a scanned

copy of audited balance sheet and P&L statement for the last three fiscal years.

• The consultant must have a track record of information systems implemented in the educational

Domain and E Learning information systems preferably in a total value larger than 200.000 EUR

(VAT excluded).

• The consultant must have previous experience in development programs in the educational domain.

Such experience to be demonstrated by a copy of contracts or invoices.

• In order to demonstrate technical competence in the platforms to be developed or implemented, it

is preferred that the consultant is an official partner or affiliate of a large software vendor. This

partnership needs to be demonstrated by a scanned copy of the agreement/partnership.

• In order to demonstrate organizational maturity, it is mandatory that the consultant holds a valid

ISO certification, preferably in the domain of Interactive learning systems.

• It is highly recommended that the consultant has also a valid ISO 27001 certification, to guarantee

that information assets of involved stakeholders are managed in a secured way.

• The consultant should have at least 2 (two) specialist holding a CMMI certification to guarantee

software quality.

• The consultant will nominate a team of experts with adequate skill sets as described below; the

team shall be adequately qualified and experienced in IT related development projects field.

• The consultant must have at least one previous experience in implementing similar platforms for

another institution. To verify this the consultant must provide the contract signed for such a project

and the proof of implementation signed by the bidder and the client/institution.


• Each member of the team of experts should be a full-time employee of the consulting company for

longer than three months. The fulfillment of this condition is ascertained by a certified copy of the

last monthly payroll of the company.

• The consultant must demonstrate technical competencies with at least nine (9) IT staff members

certified in the following fields, combined to fulfill the following requirements:

Position Key qualification Experience

Project Manager

(One)

Post Graduate in IT/Computer

Science, Engineering.

PMP or similar certification is

required.

Good English and Albanian written

and spoken knowledge.

Minimum of 10 years of experience

in managing IT projects up to

successful completion.

Business Analysts

(Two)

Post Graduate IT/Computer Science,

Engineering

Prior experience in development

programs is an advantage.

Instructional Systems Design

certification are an advantage.

SCORM standard Certification is

required.

Minimum of 5 years’ experience in

business analyze of IT Systems.

Senior Developers

(Two)

Post Graduate in IT/Computer

Science is required.

Software Development

Certifications for the given solution

are required.

Moodle Administration Certification

is required for at least one of them.

Analysis and display of Power BI

data certification is required for at

least one of them.

Data warehouse implementation

(data analytics) certification is

required for at least one of them.


systems and software development.


IT specialist

(one)

Graduate in IT/Computer Science is

required.

Proven experience for Contract

Support under ITIL Practices or

Equivalent Practices


applying technical expertise to the

implementation, monitoring, or

maintenance of IT systems.

Software Tester

(one)

Post Graduate in Economic degree

or similar is required.

Testing certifications are an

advantage.


writing software tests.

Graphic Designer, User

Experience

Graduate in Arts, Graphic Designs

or relevant

User experience design is an

advantage

Minimum 3 years of experience in

graphic design for web and or user

experience desing

Trainer

(one)

Graduate in Computer Science or

Economic degree or similar is

required.

Extensive experience in training

preferably in the VET domain.

Training Evaluation Certifications

are required.


training end-users in information

systems.

Annex B: Submission procedure The interested company should send the application file as indicated in the cover page, containing:

1. Technical proposal including:

1.1. Company profile and statement of compliance with eligibility criteria

1.2. Statement of Interest and Experience (2 pages maximum)

1.3. Vision for the Project (5 pages maximum)

1.4. Detailed Technical Proposal

1.5. Workplan and milestones, describing the implementation of the tasks

1.6. Propose a rough roadmap/workplan for this project indicating the roles and functions of each

actor indicating how the company foresees cooperation with S4J project team, beneficiaries

(teachers, students, school managers), other actors.

1.7. Proposed Timeframe

2. Team composition

2.1. CVs of team members, and short bio indicating respective expertise & profile


2.2. Organization structure indicating the assigned roles and reporting

3. Financial proposal expressed in man days per each function/role & operational cost

3.1. Financial proposal should be provided in Swiss Franc (CHF) VAT excluded.

3.2. The proposal should include the proposed license model and be disaggregated in development,

support, training, maintenance and administration

The company should be able to ensure all the necessary infrastructure, thus the budget proposed for the

implementation of this project should include only related operational costs and experts work.

Annex C: Evaluation of RFQ Bids must be evaluated per the criteria informed in this tender document. An evaluation panel is set up,

consisting of no less than 4 (four) members. The Tender Evaluation Committee Approval shall be in written

form.

The panel judges whether the offers are valid. Valid offers are evaluated and scored individually by the

respective members based on the criteria. Invalid offers are rejected.

The criteria are:

• The ability to meet the submission requirements. 35 %

• Organization history and Experience 10 %

• Organization interest in the project 10 %

• Vision for the project 25 %

• Financial proposal 20%

Swisscontact reserves the right to cancel a bidding process, accept or reject bids without notifying the

reasons to the bidders. It also has the right to ask one or more of the bidding organisations to resubmit

and/or revise its bid.

Annex D. S4J and blended learning implementation strategy The Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC) has mandated the implementation of the “Skills

for Jobs Project” (S4J) in Albania to Swisscontact (SC), Swiss Foundation for Technical Cooperation. S4J

aims to contribute in developing Albania into a more competitive economy and a socially inclusive society,

by improving and increasing VSD offers for un- and underemployed women and men in Albania, with a

focus on youth, allowing them to find an attractive and decent job. The project facilitates the development

of quality VSD offers by including dual approaches and new ways of learning, including the use of

technologies like virtual learning platforms, smart phones, social media etc., and applying blended learning.

Currently, S4J supports six providers in five regions benefit from the project: The industrial “Pavaresia”

School, the “Tregtare” School and the Vocational Training Centre in Vlora; “Kolin Gjoka” School in Lezha;

“Kristo Isak” School in Berat, “Hamdi Bushati” school in Shkoder and “Gjergji Canco” school in Tirana.

S4J has a sectorial focus and supports VSD serving sectors of tourism & hospitality, ICT, Textile and

Construction.


The project intervention is structured in three components:

1: Quality formal Vocational Education and Training (VET and new ways of inclusive learning (NWoIL),

facilitating development of labour market oriented and gender-sensitised formal vocational education in

selected sectors to be delivered based on a blended learning approach that makes use of new technology.

2: Innovative employer relations and school management, being market-oriented, aims to support VET

providers in cooperating with the private sector in view of strengthening the employer’s role in designing

and delivering quality formal and non-formal VET. 3: Labour Market Insertion and non- formal training,

facilitates development of innovative labour market insertion facilities and instruments at VET providers,

namely career centres, gradual development schemes and personalised development plans. VET providers

will be capacitated to offer highly relevant non-formal training offers in close cooperation with local

businesses and benefiting from ICT solutions supporting labour market insertion activities and a variety of

short term courses such as MOOCs etc.

***

Blended learning has been introduced in S4J partner schools since March 2017. This intervention is based

on a detailed analysis of teaching and learning process in partner VSD providers and the implementation

followed a gradual, integrated and agile development approach. New technologies were introduced first by

the early adopters represented by pioneer teachers willing to integrate IT based solutions supporting their

teaching and learning activities. Number of teachers involved increased gradually, from 13 in December

2016 (design), to 27 in March – June 2017 (pilot 1) and reached 49 during September 2017 – June 2018

(pilot 2). From design to pilot 2, technologies used, number of students involved, and application increased

as well.

S4J followed an integrated approach to introduce blended learning. Enabling environment was facilitated

by S4J. Access to virtual learning environment was provided to teachers using platforms such as Moodle,

CISCO Network Academy, Solo Learn, Microsoft Imagine Academy etc., to support their teaching and

students learning. Blended learning classes were redesigned allowing maximum flexibility through modular

desks, incentivizing innovation through colors and a wide variety of teaching and learning kits and enabling

the use of IT based teaching methods through the availability of student’s devices (laptops or tablets with

key board), teacher’s laptop and smart TV. Teacher training and individualized capacity building by

coaching, was in the center of intervention, aiming to guide teachers’ activities and new ways toward the

achievement learning objectives and individualized approach for students.

Each pilot was properly monitored and feeding the forthcoming step. Both teachers and teachers, find this

a new reality and perceive a positive climate in partner schools by shifting the teaching methodology,

creating a more attractive learning experience, enabling emotional learning and practical teaching, inclusion

of all students and possibility for groupwork. Specifically, the use of a Moodle based VLP was evaluated

as beneficiary in the process of teaching and learning and good exemplary cases were identified such as

teaching Math through gamification and e-portfolio, using wikies, end of class real time assessment, H5P

to create instructional videos by collaborative learning etc.

S4J supported the development of Digital on-line Learning Materials for 19 subjects divided per topics

containing different DoLM formats in SCORM standard such as text in book format, glossaries, pictures,


schemes, clips, videos, quizzes, interactive content, PPTs, links to games, case studies, homework, group

work for 3 vocational directions (ICT, Tourism & Hospitality, Economy), currently being hosted in

Metronom4, the Moodle based platform used as a training VLP. 5 teachers were supported to create their

own courses and upload materials. This content and user’s activity need to be migrated to the new VLP

subject to this call.

There are 3209 students enrolled and 255 teachers in partner schools, nevertheless, a selected number of

teachers and students use the platform. In July 2018, 367 students and 76 teachers were active users of

Moodle, mostly in Kolin Gjoka, Tregtare and Pavaresia school where teachers were coached and closely

supported. Teachers of Gjergji Canco (Tirana) and Hamdi Bushati (Shkoder), received training how to use

Moodle and showed readiness to start using the platform in 2018-2019 academic year. The evaluation of

more experienced users’ practices indicated the crucial need for teachers support in exploiting the

advantages of a virtual learning environment and expanding the learning time beyond the class hour,

applying more flipped classroom and promoting the use of students’ own devices.

S4J built on the findings and results achieved, aims to support the customization of a Moodle based platform

in Albanian language that will be used by current partner providers to support their blended learning

approach for the remainder of the phase (till April 2019). S4J aims to consolidate this intervention and

extend the use in 2nd phase that will start in May 2019, will last 4 years and it might involve more providers.

4 https://metronom.al/

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