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Regional Curriculum Development Consultants to Revise the Aflatoun’s Social and Financial Education Curriculum

Request for Proposals (RFP)
5 Regional Curriculum Development Consultants to Revise the Aflatoun’s Social and

Financial Education Curriculum

DATE: January 11, 2012
FROM: Aflatoun Child Savings International, Amsterdam
CONTRACTS: Asia, Francophone Africa, Anglophone Africa, The Americas, Middle East and North Africa
RE: Terms of Reference regarding the Scope of Work, Timeline and Payment for the

Aflatoun Curriculum Development and Contextualization Project

Aflatoun Child Savings International is an NGO registered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Its mission is ‘’Inspiring children to socially and economically empower themselves to become agents of change for themselves and for a more equitable future’’. It does this through an educational curriculum delivered to over 1 million children around the world in over 80 countries.

Aflatoun’s curriculum contains both social and financial themes. Children learn about themselves, children’s rights, how to save, basic financial concepts, and enterprise. The teaching principle used in Aflatoun’s programme is called child-centred learning. Children are given space to express themselves, to act on their own, and to solve practical problems together. They act in these situations according to the Aflatoun motto ’Explore, Think, Investigate and Act’. Methods of learning include storytelling, song, drama and dance, games, savings clubs, financial enterprises and community improvement activities.

Every 5 years, Aflatoun revises the curriculum. The curriculum contains 8 workbooks for children, teachers’ guide and an activity book. Each of these books has been contextualized for the 6 regions that Aflatoun works with. In 2012, Aflatoun is planning on changing its curriculum from a series of workbooks to a single Teachers Manual. To ensure that the material is regionally appropriate, Aflatoun engages regional curriculum developers to develop material appropriate for the region in which they work.

We are looking for 5 different regional curriculum developers in total, one for each of the regions/language groups that we work with. The regions are below:

Region and Language of Work

  • Asia English
  • Francophone Africa French
  • Anglophone Africa English
  • The Americas Spanish
  • Middle East and North Africa Arabic

I. Background for Consultant

Aflatoun is in need of a high quality educational material development consultant for the contextualization of the Aflatoun Curriculum for different regions. The Aflatoun curriculum is currently 8 workbooks and a Children’s Activity Book that are directed towards children. These will be changed into a teacher’s manual with a section for each age.

The consultant should have:
1. Experience designing and developing education, rights, financial education and life skills
curriculum and educational materials.
2. Familiarity with the social, economic, political, and environment issues in the region.
3. Awareness of child centred learning, activity based and participatory methodologies.
4. A commitment to the values of education, human rights and gender equity.
5. Knowledge of at least one national education framework in the region
6. Excellent communications, and facilitation skills
7. Good inter-personal, project management and computer skills.
8. Valid passport and ability to travel

The consultant should be available from the middle of March through till the end of September 15. The consultant is required to attend a workshop in Amsterdam between March 26-30, 2012 to participate in review a curriculum framework and test/redevelop sample lessons. The consultant will also be required to present the curriculum at the meeting of Aflatoun partner
organizations in April and May.

II. Scope of Work

A. The Consultant agrees to:
1. Become generally familiar with Aflatoun’s Concept of Child Social and Financial Education.
2. Become familiar in depth with the existing Aflatoun Curriculum prior to the workshop (sample original curriculum Global Compilation Book, sample modified book: Europe Book)
3. Attend the Curriculum Development workshop in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on March 26-30, 2012.
4. Participate in Regional Consultation with Aflatoun Partners in April/May 2012.
5. Adapt the Aflatoun Curriculum to ensure their relevance to region based on discussions and suggestions received during the workshop and regional consultation.
6. Submit 3 drafts of the curriculum to the Aflatoun Secretariat and 1 final product (two rounds of substantive changes, 1 round of final corrections)

II. Timeline

A. The consultant agrees to work within the following timeline:

  1. March 2012: Familiarize self with existing Aflatoun Curriculum including potential project visit (est. 3 days)
  2. March 26-30, 2012: Attend the Contextualization Workshop in Amsterdam (est. 5 days)
  3. April/Early May: Attend Regional Consultation with Aflatoun partners (est: 4 days)
  4. June 18: Deliver first draft of the Aflatoun Curriculum (est. 25 days)
  5. July 6: Aflatoun Secretariat and partners provide substantive comments on curriculum
  6. July 30: Submit second draft of Aflatoun curriculum (est. 10 days)
  7. August 10: Aflatoun Secretariat provides second round of substantive comments of curriculum
  8. August 27: Deliver Draft 3 of the curriculum to Aflatoun (est.5)
  9. September 7: Aflatoun Secretariat provides round of substantive comments of curriculum
  10. September 15: Deliver final curriculum incorporating any final corrections from Aflatoun (est. 1 day)
  11. Two additional days in 2012 for any additional requests or modifications

B. The work will be performed to the satisfaction of Aflatoun staff. Any concerns of Staff or Consultant will be discussed via email and phone as the work progresses.

III. Skill requirements

  • Command of relevant regional language, conversation English required
  • Bachelors Degree relevant to Education and curriculum development
  • Minimum of 5 years' directly relevant work experience in curriculum development, with focus on participatory methodologies for children
  • Relevant pedagogical experience
  • Proficient with MS programs (e.g. MS Office)
  • Accessibility via various communication methods (email, phone, among others)
IV. Payment

Payment will be made upon receipt of invoices from Consultant in the following
sequence:

1. First payment of 20% of agreed fee following participation in the March
Workshop.
2. Second payment of 50% of agreed fee upon submission of revised curriculum
(step 6 in timeline)
3. Final payment 30% when the final version for the curriculum is delivered and the
project is signed off by Aflatoun Child Savings International.

Note: The consultant is to provide Aflatoun with worksheets and schedules accounting for the hours of work. Aflatoun will book and pay for all costs associated with the March and May workshops based on the Aflatoun Operations manual.

IV. Bid for Consultant Services

A. Consultant can submit a bid for the work entailed by February 17, 2012
B. The Consultant must include
a. A Curriculum Vitae
b. Sample of Work
c. References
d. Proposed Costing for Curriculum Development Work excluding travel (as
stated above, Aflatoun will cover all consultant approved travel costs)

All Documents can be in the Relevant Regional language

IV. Modifications
The final Scope of Work, Timeline and Payment details will be settled in writing after agreement between Aflatoun staff and the Consultant.

Submit Questions and Proposals by email to:
Aflatoun Child Savings International
Chiara Massaroni - Commissioning Officer
email: chiara@aflatoun.org skype: chiara.aflatoun
Questions can be submitted in English, French and Spanish

*Please Title Your Proposal: Curriculum Developer- Region (i.e. Asia)