Expression of Interest "Senior NKE Financial System Developer" 72.3038.6-001.00 TA to MEHE

Project Background

The situation

Lebanon has been suffering from instability on all levels for decades, but the situation has further aggravated in the last few years. Three years of layering of crises on top of one another - the economic crisis, compounded by COVID-19, the 2020 Beirut Port explosions and political instability have left all families residing in the country struggling to survive. Currently, Lebanon finds itself in a never before faced compounded crisis of extreme complexity, which was the result of several factors including the refugee crisis that started in 2011, noting that country is currently hosting 831,053 Syrian refugees and 479,537 Palestinian refugees according to latest UN agencies reports, in addition to the economic vulnerability and contraction, continuous political crisis, social unrest and heightened challenges since October 2019, the on-going debt crisis, COVID-19 and health crisis, banking and currency crisis, cumulative inflation rate, education sector crisis, which was preceded by teachers’ protests since 2017-2018 against low remuneration and the Beirut Blast in August 2020 and its on-going consequences. All these crises resulted in enormous strains on population’s physical and mental health, access to food, basic services, education and safety among others.

Current situation in the target sector

The events that took place in the last few years have added further layers of obstacles on top of an already compromised Lebanese public and private schooling system in its efforts to provide education for children residing in Lebanon. The crisis left an impact on the different levels of the education system, starting with MEHE’s inability to perform normally due to the economic and social situation, teachers and staff’s losing motivation and students unable to attend classes on daily bases for several reasons among many other levels. The crisis’ impact on the educational sector affects children’s wellbeing and threatens their future, the social stability (including people’s ability to escape the vicious cycle of poverty) and country’s abilities to overcome the socioeconomic and political depression and to set up a sustainable governance and economic model. The below provides a detailed insight on the current situation in the education sector in Lebanon and sheds the light on major gaps and existing issues:

• Access to education opportunities and disruption of education services
• Quality of education services
• Governance of education systems
• Education-related expenditures for families and MEHE
• Large donor group involved in the sector
• MEHE needs and gaps
• Budgeting and Planning
• Capacity Gaps
• “Internal Politics”

About the project

With the country slipping deeper into an economic and financial crisis, the education sector and the Ministry Education and Higher Education (MEHE) are in high need of support to ensure their ability to sustain their operations and remain able to deliver high quality education to all children residing in Lebanon. While the complexity of the situation is increasing, with high number of dropouts and out-of-school children, a significant number of students migrating from private to the public school because they cannot afford the high fees anymore, low teachers’ motivation, challenges on the level of transportation and unavailability of basic needs at schools such as power, in addition to a considerable decline in the quality of education, support is needed to ensure that MEHE, including Directorate for General Education(DGE) and all other departments, guarantee learning continuity under a multiple crisis context through a more resilient education system, that is able to provide quality, inclusive and safe education for all children.

To cover the existing gaps, the Technical Assistance to the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (TA to MEHE), aims at “building an education system (Ministry for Education and Higher Education) better equipped and able to deliver quality basic education”, through the below 3 outcomes:

• Outcome 1: enhance the governance capacities of the MEHE in the field of strategic and operational planning, monitoring, and reporting, budgeting and public finance management.
• Outcome 2: enhance the capacities of the MEHE for the delivery of quality teaching and learning by management and educational staff empowered with 21st century skills development.
• Outcome 3: enhance the performance of the public education system (MEHE) through improved management and business operating procedures.

The assignment

Background for the assignment

Historically, private schooling has held a prominent role within Lebanon's education framework, exerting considerable influence. Private schools are renowned for their diverse educational offerings, encompassing various curricula and accommodating a broad spectrum of linguistic and cultural diversities. Operating from kindergarten to grade 12, these private institutions are subject to the direct oversight of the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE). The administration of these schools falls under the jurisdiction of the head of the private education department at MEHE, operating under the close guidance of the Director General of Education at MEHE.

Private schools in Lebanon exhibit a distinctive form of financial autonomy, managing their financial affairs independently. However, this autonomy does not preclude accountability, as each private school is required to present its budget to the head of the private schooling department at MEHE for endorsement. This endorsement serves as an official validation by MEHE, affirming the financial integrity of the private school's operations.

Within this scope, MEHE tends to recruit a Financial Systems Developer to assist in the creation of a financial software and applications to the K-12 private education department at MEHE.

Description of the assignment​​​​​​

Outline of the mission

The Financial Systems Developer is expected to develop systems and applications that streamline financial operations, enable data-driven decision-making, boost investment strategies, adhere to MEHE regulations, and develop software solutions to meet the evolving needs of the department.  S/He is asked primarily to automate the budget of private K-12 schools and embed it with the National Student List (NSL) or any other system used by the department or MEHE.S/He will be responsible to bridge the gap between finance and technology by creating software solutions that empower the department’s personnel to manage data, assure effective allocation of resources, and adapt to emergency circumstances that Lebanon is going through to ensure responsible financial management, sustainability, and transparency within private schools. S/he will be working under the direct supervision of the head of the K-12 private schooling at MEHE and will be reporting to him.

Description of the activities to be performed by the STE

• Review the budgeting system and/or financial system applied by the K-12 private schooling department and advise on the automation process accordingly.
• Meet with DG, director of K-12 private schooling or any other personnel as needed to collect required data for the application development process.
• Automate the K-12 private schooling budget into an application or financial module embedded within the National Student List (NSL) or any other management information system in place.
• Develop and program the new web based financial module entailing all the budgeting and financial aspects of a private school (based on the budget generic used by private schooling department).
• Assure offline and web-based operations of the new automated financial application with all relevant reports and analysis needed.
• Discuss the requirements with the head of private schooling department or any other personnel assigned by the DG for this task.
• Develop/Write the code for the required application/solution.
• Assure the technical compliance integration and security with NSL architecture and interfaces.
• Assure compliance of the new financial application with relevant policies and regulations.
• Find fault, diagnose, and fix bugs pertaining to this new developed financial application.
• Write relevant documentation and operating manuals (technical, administrative and user based).
• Test and modify codes/programs for the relevant application to ensure that it operates reliably.
• Respond to amendments and justifications requested from the DG and the department of private schooling department at MEHE during the consultations and three months after the final testing and implementation at the K-12 private schooling department.
• Respond promptly and professionally to bug reports relevant to the developed application.
• Review and repair legacy code when needed during consultation period.
• Conduct required program analysis and development, with limited support from relevant professional staff, to keep the intended financial application working with changing technologies.
• Analyse, design, coordinate and supervise the application’s development cycle.
• Document code consistently throughout the development process by listing a description of the program, special instructions, and any changes made in database tables on procedural, modular and database level.
• Work with any IT suggested by the DG or the head of the K-12 private schooling at MEHE on the architecture options, their impacts, and decisions on work.
• Oversee the integration of the new application solution with legacy (existing interfaces) systems to satisfy private K-12 schooling and MEHE’s requirements.
• Work closely with selected personnel in the department to evaluate key technology decisions pertaining to achieving the task in hand.
• Review of project schedules and gap analysis.
• Design and deliver training for selected personnel.
• Conduct relevant capacity building sessions as required.
• Deliver the source code to the DG and the head of the K-12 private schooling department at MEHE, including technical trainings and all technical documentation.
•   Perform any other relevant duties as required by DG or director of K-12 private schooling

Outputs/Results of the mission

The outputs/results requested from the NK Expert are:

• Financial application is developed.
• Integration of the new financial application with NSL and other databases is available and possible.
• Compliance with laws, rules and regulations is assured.
• Code is developed and delivered to concerned party at MEHE
• Application is tested among relevant personnel at MEHE
• Application is endorsed by DG and the director of the private schooling department at MEHE
• Technical user’s manual is developed and delivered.
• A technical assistance support scenario is developed.
• Selected personnel are trained on the use of the application.

Expert Profile

Qualifications and skills

• Bachelor degree in software engineering, computer sciences, programming or any related field.
• Fluency in Arabic and English. French is an advantage.
• Certified Professional Programmer, Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer App Builder (MSCD) are highly required.
• Ability to develop large scale web/database applications.
• Ability to communicate clearly with people at all levels of with different levels of knowledge.
• Ability to construct user guides and documentation.
• Ability to innovate and provide functional applications with intuitive interfaces.
• Ability to work under pressure with least supervision.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Excellent computer and IT skills.
• Ability to work under pressure with least supervision.

General professional experience

• 7 years of experience in software developments, architecture, and coding. (Minimum requirement)
• Previous experience in developing Enterprise Resources Planning module specifically financial and budget modules.
• Proven experience with Microsoft .NET technologies including, ASP.NET/ MVC ADO.NET. 
• Preferable Languages: C#, VB.Net, SQL/TSQL, JavaScript/DHTML, VBScript, HTML, XML, SSIS, SSRS.
• Experience developing online/windows-based solutions and system integrations.
• Demonstrable experience in backend software design in some of the following:  SQL Server, Stored procedures, ASP.NET, VB.NET, C#.
• Excellent knowledge of SQL/Oracle including database design & administration.
• Working experience with Content Management Systems/SharePoint/Software Source Control.
• Ability to complete all phases of software development life cycle including analysis, design, functionality, testing and support.

Specific professional experience

• Previous experience in school information management systems/education management information systems are highly desirable. (Preferred requirement)