Consultancy Proposal: Mapping Technical And Vocational Education And Training (Tvet) For Petroleum Sector In Lebanon

1-      About NPA Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) is a humanitarian organization rooted in the Norwegian Labor Movement. We work with International Development Partnerships, Humanitarian Disarmament, Rescue Service and First Aid, and Asylum and Integration. NPA works in 39 countries around the world and has more than 12000 members in Norway and 2400 staff worldwide. NPA Lebanon is currently implementing Development, Humanitarian Assistance, and Humanitarian Disarmament Projects throughout Lebanon, including the Palestinian camps and gatherings.   2-      Introduction about the Gas and Oil sector in Lebanon Petroleum exploration has a long history in Lebanon; however, the topic was kept aside until Noble Energy, a leading U.S. energy company, started searching the reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin where it succeeded in December 2009 in discovering new oil and gas reserves. The Levant Basin is an 83,000 km2 region which engulfs Syrian, Lebanese, and Cypriot, as well as Israeli/occupied Palestine waters. It has been declared by Noble Energy that the Levant Basin’s hydrocarbon reserves are the largest resources screened by them up to this date. The petroleum sector in Lebanon is at an early stage, and there are currently no exploration or production activities. The existence and size of recoverable reserves remain unclear, nevertheless, the seismic surveys proved that the reserves are feasible to be excavated. The above new facts gave the Lebanese authorities the motivation to start implementing serious measures since the year 2010 to tap any potential oil and gas reserves. On February 15, 2013 the Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water (MoEW) held a press conference launching the pre-qualification process for oil companies to bid on offshore oil and gas exploration. In January 2017, and after a three-year delay, Lebanon re-launched its first oil and gas licensing round. Lebanon has opened five offshore blocks (1, 4, 8, 9 and 10) for bidding in a first licensing round of offshore oil and gas exploration in Lebanon’s Exclusive Economic Zone. In February 2017, Lebanon has also decided to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to guarantee the transparency of the process. Great expectations have come with the prospect of becoming a petroleum producing country, with ideas of wiping Lebanon’s monumental public debt clean, embarking on grand infrastructure projects and ushering in a new era of stability and prosperity. Unfortunately, Lebanon’s lack of experience in the area of energy reserves presents several challenges for effective and equitable management of its resources. It is worth noting that far from the politics and the debates, qualified people are working on this topic. If these actors were given the space and freedom to work and got the needed support the economy will start to witness prosperity.   3-      Problem addressed Lebanon suffers from high unemployment rate which is playing a crucial role in hindering economic growth. The economically feasible natural resources that has been recently discovered in Lebanon can be a blessing that might change the living standards for many Lebanese by the automatic increase in demand for labor force; however, unfortunately there is a clear mismatch between the demand and supply in the market. The exploration and excavation phases can contribute to solving the ever preserving problem of the high unemployment rate especially that the Lebanese law specify that 80% of the employees in this sector must be Lebanese. However, the human resources as well as the economy will not benefit from this advantage due to the current lack of qualified Lebanese labor force able to join the market and cover the demand. The skills of these jobs will be depending majority on the TVET, nevertheless, until this date we lack a study that can form a road map where it tackles the needed vocations in this sector while highlights the demand in each vocation.     4-      Project and Services to be Provided Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) Lebanon is commissioning a study within the framework of its project on “Partnership for Oil for the Common Good in Lebanon”. The project is managed by NPA and funded by the Norwegian Development Agency (Norad). The goal of the Project component pertaining to the study of the needed vocational skills in the oil and gas sector, while succeeding in developing a module that can forecast the needs from each vocation in the upcoming 5 to 10 years which will play a role module in directing the students.  It is very important to benefit from the chance that the time still allows us to study and plan on different levels: -          Identify the market needs in terms of TVET topics required -          Assess the capacities (technical and construction) of the existing vocational schools/institutes to provide the required education and training -          Guide students by directing them to the required vocations after specifying the demand of the market so that the supply matches. A-    Scope of the study research: The overall objectives of this study research is to: 1)      Map the requested vocations in the new emerging sector and specifying the most important ones that will have highest demand once the excavation starts. The mapping must be able to specify the needed jobs in the downstream and upstream and in each phase of the production value chain. It is also worth noting that the mapping must start by highlighting all the needed skills and then conducting deep study to check the most required vocations after which a module will be conducted to forecast the estimated demand, number of skilled labour in each profession in the upcoming 5 – 10 years. 2)      Map the potential TVET institutions in Lebanon (from a technical and infrastructure), assess the gaps and specify recommendations as well as highlighting some institutions that are able to modify their infrastructure to match the requirements.   B-     Methodology: The researcher must further operationalize the overall research topics in the ToR. The researcher should propose a research methodology which will answer the questions outlined. The researcher must state in what way the research questions are operationalized and the delimitation of the concepts (e.g. “subsector”, “needs”, etc.) in order to ensure valid conclusions that are traceable. The methodology may use quantitative and qualitative data collection and analytical tools. The research methodology must include studies about the status of the vocational education and must be able to analyse the ability of the institutions to offer the new needed vocational educations. Also it is important to specify the needs once it comes to drafting the curriculums and to have a qualitative approach to study the institutes that are able to offer these courses. It is very important to take into note that the study must include quantitative tools with a module that succeeds in forecasting the future need. The researcher will also develop a work plan with clear milestone deliverables and timelines in consistency with the set timeframe of this assignment. The proposed methodology and work plan should be included in the researcher proposal to be approved by NPA.   C-     Deliverables: The consultant is expected to submit a final report of the research study. The report should be written in English and Arabic language. It should be submitted electronically in a MS-Word document. The final report should include: Executive Summary of key findings and recommendations; Evaluation findings, analysis and conclusions with associated evidence and data clearly illustrated.  Use of tables, graphs, and quotes to illustrate findings and conclusions is encouraged; Appendices, including methodology and study tools, list of interviewees, and questionnaires. Recommendations   NPA shall decide which sections of the report to be considered as public and which are only accessible by NPA.   5-      Contract Period Dates Action 15 September 2017 –29 September 2017 Submission of proposals 29 September 2017 – 4 October 2017 Scanning of proposals and meeting applicants 6 October 2017 Agreement signature 6October 2017 – 24 November 2017 Implementation of the research 27 November 2017 Submission of the first draft 5 December 2017 Submission of the final version Periodical meetings will take place between NPA focal point and the consultant during the period of the project. Adjustment of dates might be negotiated between NPA and the consultants. 6- Budget Max US 22,000. Please note that this amount must cover any taxes that may apply. Please also note that price is a selection criteria.   The tender will be evaluated and selected based on the following criteria: The Qualifications of the Research Team/Researcher: 30% The Quality of the Proposal -          Understanding of the Research Question (10 %) -          Analytical Approach (10 %) -          Research Methodology (20 %) -          Implementation Plan (10 %) The Price: 20% Total: 100%