81310295-Capacity Building Support to Strengthen the Dual-Cooperative Training (DCT) in Lao PDR

Kurze Beschreibung

Brief description of the procurement for publication by the EU

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development has commissioned the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH to implement the "Vocational Education in Lao PDR" (VELA) III project in Lao PDR.

The project"s objective is to improve the structural framework conditions for the implementation of dual-cooperative training (DCT) in Laos. The project builds on the results and proven approaches of the predecessor project VELA II, which are to be consolidated and expanded in terms of content and regions. It follows a two-level approach with networking elements. At the macro level, the Ministry of Education and Science (MoES) and the (Vocational Education Development Institute) VEDI are supported as important overarching core actors in complementing and improving the regulation of DCT, especially with regard to quality assurance and the changing world of work. In addition, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) stakeholders are advised on making existing regulations more flexible in order to counteract the declining enrolment figures and to address special framework conditions in rural areas. Institutions of the business sector are also supported at the macro level in order to further consolidate piloted approaches to attracting DCT partner companies. At the micro level, support for vocational schools for the introduction and anchoring of DCT offers is being expanded. On the one hand, network approaches are used to implement the support services tested in the previous module at other schools. On the other hand, learning experiences from DCT approaches that have already been tried and tested are made available to other schools (horizontal networking). The support services that are made available to a wider group of users in this way also include approaches to vocational counselling or career guidance.

VELA III is structured into 3 Outputs:
1) The technical capacities of relevant actors from the vocational education and training and business sectors for the implementation of dual-cooperative vocational education and training have been strengthened.
2) Access to dual-cooperative vocational education and training and the labour market for vocational school students, including disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, has im-proved.
3) Vocational schools in Laos are better able to implement gender-responsive dual-cooperative vocational education and training in cooperation with the private sector.
Against this background, VELA III seeks to commission external expertise to implement selected parts of the project. The assignment consists of three work packages (WP) that the contractor shall be responsible for:

Work package 1, Implementation and Review of the Career Guidance System: Work package 1 as part of Output 2 focusses on prospective and current students of DCT courses as well as of selected "traditional" TVET courses and supports the colleges in two critical transition points: 1) Transition between secondary school and DCT Flagship College, and 2) transition between DCT Flagship College and (self-)employment. Career counselling units were setup in the 4 DCT Flagship Colleges and career counsellors were capacitated to offer career counselling services. The contractor shall facilitate the implementation and enhancement of career guidance system at all these supported TVET institutions, develop new services, and provide capacity building for relevant partners" staff such as career counsellors, teachers, and middle managers. Additionally, the contractor shall review and update the mentioned Career Guidance Concept based on implementation experiences to promote broader adoption.

Work package 2, Training Offers on Soft Skills and Entrepreneurship: Work package 2 is part of Output 2. To facilitate the DCT graduates transition to the labour market, the contractor shall improve the application of the existing training module on business start-ups (including modules on the principles of circular business models). In addition, development of new short training offers focusing on employment-relevant soft skills and entrepreneurship shall be supported. Subject-specific and interdisciplinary offers may be introduced to teach demanded and employment-relevant soft skills to vocational school students (e.g., service orientation, teamwork).

Work package 3, Strengthening Technical and Pedagogical Capacity of the DCT Staff of Supported TVET Institutions and Companies: Work package 3 is part of Output 3. In the previous project (VELA II), support was provided to Vocational Education Development Institute (VEDI) to develop and implement capacity-building measures for the DCT staff of the four DCT flagship colleges. The contractor shall support VEDI in the continuous implementation, monitoring and evaluation of these existing programs, especially for the DCT staff of new TVET institutions and companies partnering to implement DCT programs. For most training measures, VEDI was supported to establish a pool of national master trainers which could be used to further deliver the trainings. Moreover, the contractor shall support VEDI to develop and pilot new capacity-building programs for the DCT staff of supported TVET institutions and companies.
For the implementation of these work packages, the tenderer is required to provide 2 key experts, one international expert pool as well as one national expert pool.

Beschreibung der Beschaffung

Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has received considerable attention in Lao PDR"s educational policies over the past years. To address the growing needs of industry and business for skilled workers, the Ministry of Education and Sports has placed priority on reforming the national TVET system. Important reform steps are the revision of the "TVET Law" in 2019 as well as of the "Dual- Cooperative Training (DCT) Concept and Implementation Framework 2021-2025". However, the structural framework conditions for the implementation of DCT are still inadequate.
Around 20,000 young Laotians choose to undergo initial vocational training in public vocational schools every year. The challenging economic conditions make access to TVET more difficult. According to a survey (July 2023), 84% of respondents cite economic reasons as an obstacle to taking up and successfully completing a DCT course. The tracer study on the 114 DCT graduates of the 4 DCT flagship colleges of the 2020/21 shows a high level of satisfaction with the quality of theoretical teaching (79%) and practical training (76%). The employment situation, on the other hand, reflects the challenges on the labour market: while 35% of respondents were in further training after graduation, only 30% of respondents were in paid employment and a further 12% were in other forms of employment (including precarious low-wage, uncontracted and social protection).
To support the Government of Lao PDR, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) commissioned GIZ with the project "Vocational Education in Lao PDR" (VELA) III. The VELA III project supports anchoring and consolidating the DCT approach at national and sub-national level and improving the structural framework conditions for the implementation. The aim of the project is therefore to improve the structural framework conditions for the implementation of dual-cooperative TVET in Lao PDR. The target groups of the project are young adults interested in TVET, vocational school students and graduates between the ages of 15 and 35. The focus is particularly on girls and women and other disadvantaged groups, especially the rural population and ethnic minorities (taking into account the leave no one behind principle of the 2030 Agenda).


GIZ intends to contract a service provider for the implementation of output 2 and parts of output 3 of the project VELA III. Output 2 aims to improve access to dual-cooperative TVET and the labour market for prospective vocational students and graduates, including disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. The provision of suitable information and counselling services improves knowledge of the advantages of DCT for students, teachers, and parents, and thus increases the registration rates - as a basic prerequisite for the nationwide anchoring of DCT. As part of output 3, the service provider shall support the Vocational Education Development Institute (VEDI) in the continuous implementation, monitoring and evaluation of these existing programs, especially for the DCT staff of new TVET institutions and companies partnering to implement DCT programs.

Liste und kurze Beschreibung der Auswahlkriterien

Wirtschaftliche und finanzielle Leistungsfähigkeit: 1. Average annual turnover for the last three years (last-but-four financial year can be included in case of tenders held within 6 months of end of last financial year), at least: 1,706,000.00 EUR
2. Average number of employees and managers in the last three calendar years, at least 10 persons

Liste und kurze Beschreibung der Bedingungen

Eignung zur Berufsausübung: 1. Self-declaration: name of company and address, tax ID, registration and commercial register number or equivalent register in accordance with the legal provisions of the country of origin.
2. No grounds for exclusion pursuant to § 123, § 124 GWB, § 22 LkSG
3. Declaration of bidding consortium and/or declaration of subcontractors (if applicable)

Liste und kurze Beschreibung der Auswahlkriterien

Technische und berufliche Leistungsfähigkeit: 1. The technical assessment is only based on reference projects with a minimum commission value of 400,000.00 EUR.
2. At least 5 reference projects in the technical field "Technical and Vocationale Education and Training", at least 2 of these including Career Guidance and at least 2 reference projects in the region South-eastern Asia in the last 3 years

Genaue Informationen über Fristen für Überprüfungsverfahren

According to Article 160, Section 3 of the German Act Against Restraint of Competition (GWB), application for review is not permissible insofar as
1. the applicant has identified the claimed infringement of the procurement rules before submitting the application for review and has not submitted a complaint to the contracting authority within a period of 10 calendar days; the expiry of the period pursuant to Article 134, Section 2 remains unaffected,
2. complaints of infringements of procurement rules that are evident in the tender notice are not submitted to the contracting authority at the latest by the expiry of the deadline for the application or by the deadline for the submission of bids, specified in the tender notice.
3. complaints of infringements of procurement rules that first become evident in the tender documents are not submitted to the contracting authority at the latest by the expiry of the deadline for application or by the deadline for the submission of bids,
4. more than 15 calendar days have expired since receipt of notification from the contracting authority that it is unwilling to redress the complaint.
Sentence 1 does not apply in the case of an application to determine the invalidity of the contract in accordance with Article 135, Section 1 (2). Article 134, Section 1, Sentence 2 remains unaffected.