Call for Consultancy - Development of an offline version of the SIMIS in Syria

Duty station: Damascus, Syria
Type of contract: Non Staff / Consultant
Duration of contract: Less than 6 months
Recruitment open to: External candidates
Application Deadline (Midnight Beirut Time): 27 June 2021
UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

OVERVIEW

A School Integrated Management Information System (SIMIS) has been developed in Syria in order to improve the quality and completeness of education data within the broader Education Management and Information System (EMIS) framework. The EMIS framework for data collection is a useful tool for evidenced-based planning and management of national education systems.
The process of overhauling the EMIS framework in Syria started in July 2016 as a joint collaboration among the Ministry of Education (MoE), UNESCO and UNICEF. As part of the EMIS - that captures education data syste-wide - the SIMIS was designed to specifically capture information at school level: on schools, students, teachers, infrastructure and classroom assessment among others. It is accessible by students, parents, teachers, principals and education officials at Governorate and Ministry of Education Headquarters levels.
The primary objective of SIMIS is to measure and monitor educational progress and to undertake evidence-informed planning and management of the national education system in Syria, with the aim of ensuring equitable and inclusive quality education for all. SIMIS allows to collect and process data for all education levels, to improve the quality and completeness of education data, and to support and monitoring of Syria's progress towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on Quality Education of the Agenda 2030. Launched in September 2018, SIMIS is progressively being rolled out in line with an expansion plan inclusive of significant investment in human resources and ICT infrastructure at school, governorate and MoE HQ levels, ultimately aimed to a better educational service delivery through generation of robust, real time, accurate, quality and accessible data.
A second version of SIMIS was developed with critical features to address a new classroom assessment policy, the integration of Curriculum B, and the improvement of functionalities related to interactive reporting of education statistics and indicators.
The system requires huge investments in human resources and ICT infrastructure at school, governorate and MoE HQ level. Thus, having a full functioning SIMIS requires regular support, particularly in capacity building and development, and in IT infrastructure support.
The schools' connectivity to the MoE data centre, is a major obstacle. Shortage of computers, electricity cuts, limited internet coverage and IT infrastructure constraints are reasons for the necessity of an offline SIMIS version, an offline software for remote areas without access to the Internet, incorporating both online and offline features.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the consultancy service is to develop and operationalise a desktop OFFLINE application version of the SIMIS software that is user-friendly and supports a timely collection and access of education data and information at all administrative levels of the Ministry of Education.

SCOPE OF WORK

Under the guidance of, and in close coordination with, UNESCO, the consultant is expected to perform the following tasks.
- Conduct consultations with the MoE and UNESCO to identify the requirements and best scenario for the SIMIS offline version.
- Provide an offline SIMIS version inception report and proposed work plan.
- Develop an offline SIMIS software in close coordination with the Ministry of Education and UNESCO, in line with MOE's requirements and UNESCO standards and best practices, ensuring that the offline version will integrate the following elements and features:

a) Data inputs: Students data (Curriculum A and Curriculum B); School personnel data; Technical staff and clients' data; Classrooms data; Library data; Warehouse data; School calendar data and School buildings data.

b) Data outputs: Evacuations, Students results and Score cards; Student documents; Documents for school personnel; Extracting dynamic reports including reports that are requested by directorates and international organizations.

c) Functions: Entering data (students' results and activities, deployment for students between classrooms, categories and schools, and registration's cancellation); Searches; Permissions and study plan; Moving for the next year and the possibility of returning to previous years.

- Integrate online and offline versions and ensuring the possibility of Data migration from the offline version to the online version and vice versa at the Ministry's servers. The offline version should be fully compatible with the SIMIS version at the Ministry's servers.
- Facilitate capacity building of MoEs technical staff on the offline version functionality to ensure user-friendliness and optimal use of the SIMIS system at all levels.
- Develop a user guide for offline SIMIS version.
- Test the offline SIMIS version in one school for each educational level (basic education phase one, basic education level two, secondary education and vocational education).
- Provide on-site technical support to MoE on the overall functioning offline SIMIS version for the duration of the consultancy.
- Provide detailed information on the new version of source code, if applicable, allowing the MoE to be able to fully modify the software, without creating any dependency to his/her own or other companies'/individual's services.
- Provide a Final comprehensive report.

Reports and documents provided by the consultant should be submitted to UNESOCO both in Arabic and English.

WORKING MODALITIES AND REPORTING

Throughout the assignment, the Consultant will work under the overall guidance of the Director of UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in the Arab States in Beirut, Lebanon, and will report to the relevant Programme Specialist in Beirut. During the fulfilment of his/her work, the Consultant will communicate and coordinate closely with the UNESCO team in Damascus.
The consultant shall be based in Damascus and be able to work full time from home or within the premises of the Ministry of Education, as requested by UNESCO. S/he may be requested to travel to other areas of Syria or to the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in the Arab States in Beirut, Lebanon.
The consultation should be fully autonomous in terms of working tools: he/she should have his/her own devices (computer and phone) and bear his/her own connectivity costs.

DURATION

Deadline for completion of all activities: November 2021.

COMPETENCIES

- Accountability
- Communication
- Innovation
- Knowledge sharing and continuous improvement
- Planning and organizing
- Results focus
- Teamwork
- Professionalism
For detailed information, please consult the UNESCO Competency Framework.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education:
First level university degree in IT Engineering (programming), or related field.

Experience:
The consultant must have:
- At least 8 years of professional experience in IT and software design.
- Proven experience of project management.
- Designed and implemented robust ICT infrastructures.
- Experience in offline and web application development.
- Experience with all major network operating environments, and familiarity of their strengths and weaknesses.
- Experience of designing MIS solutions with controlled overall cost of ownership.
- Experience in education developments in ICT infrastructure and management.

Language skills:
- Full proficiency in Arabic and English (spoken and written). 4 of 4

APPLICATION MODALITIES

Interested candidates are kindly invited to submit their applications by e-mail to Ms Fida Bashour ([email protected]) no later than 27 June 2021 - 23h59 (Beirut time), including the following:
i. CV;
ii. Cover letter;
iii. Details of recently accomplished similar task and link to the stated projects.

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