Specific Procurement Notice

Dili, Timor Leste

15 March 2024

Re: Training and Institutional Support Contract

TALENT Project

Ref: TTP/2023/Cons/CS/0013

The United States of America, acting through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (“MCC”), and the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (GoTL) signed a grant agreement (“Compact”) on July 19, 2022, in the amount of 420 million US Dollars (USD) (“MCC Funding”) to address a major constraint to economic growth: low human capital. The Government of Timor-Leste, acting through the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) in Timor-Leste, intends to award a contract to a qualified entity (“contractor”) to finalize the design and support implementation of major activities under the Teaching and Leading the Next generation of Timorese (TALENT) Project in Timor-Leste. The TALENT Project’s objective is to improve student learning outcomes.

The TALENT Project will establish the country’s first formal pre-service teacher training and certification institution for secondary education, the Center of Excellence for Teacher Education, through which trainings will be delivered to current and future secondary school teachers and school leaders across the country. The project also will seek to increase the number of women in secondary school teaching and leadership positions through a Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) intervention. Working with the government’s education ministries to ensure that secondary school graduates have the skills necessary to pursue higher education and enter the workforce, the TALENT Project will benefit nearly a million Timorese students over the next 20 years.

Through this request for offers (“RFO”), MCA Timor-Leste intends to retain a Consultant to provide professional training and certification to future secondary teachers entering the workforce. In addition to training future teachers, the Consultant will have an interim mandate to train and certify a subset of current secondary teachers, and secondary school leaders.

To successfully complete this Activity, the Compact supports the creation of a Center of Excellence (COE) as an autonomous legal public entity operating under the purview of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Culture, and authorized to provide training and appropriate certification for secondary school teachers and school leaders. The COE, to be constructed on land provided by the Government of Timor-Leste, will play a critical role in providing support to the National Institute for Professional Educations Training (INFORDEPE), which currently provides on-going professional development to teachers and school leaders in Timor-Leste, as well as to higher education institutions, such as the National University for Timor-Leste (UNTL), that educate future teachers, including secondary teacher candidates who will eventually be trained at the COE.

MCA Timor-Leste now invites proposals from legally constituted consulting firms and other organizations to provide consulting services for Program Management and Construction Supervision Services (“Proposals”). More details on these services are provided in the Terms of Reference in Section V of this RFP.

This RFP is open to all eligible entities (“Consultants”) who wish to respond. Subject to restrictions noted in the RFP, consultants may associate with other consultants and subcontractors to enhance their capacity to successfully carry out the assignment.

A Consultant will be selected under the Quality and Cost-Based Selection (“QCBS”) method, the evaluation procedure of which is described in Section III of the RFP in accordance with the “MCC Program Procurement Guidelines” provided on the MCC website (www.mcc.gov/ppg). The selection process, as described, will include a review and verification of qualifications and past performance, including a reference check, prior to the contract award.

The RFP includes the following Sections:

PART 1 – PROPOSAL AND SELECTION PROCEDURES

Section I Instructions to Consultants (“ITC”)

This section provides information to help Consultants

prepare their Proposals; it also provides information on

the submission, opening, and evaluation of Proposals

and on the award of the proposed contract.

Section II Proposal Data Sheet (“PDS”)

This section includes provisions that are specific to this

procurement and that supplement Section I,

Instructions to Consultants.

Section III Qualification and Evaluation Criteria

This section specifies the qualifications required of the

Consultant and the criteria to be used to evaluate their

Proposal.

Section IV A Technical Proposal Forms

This section provides the Technical Proposal Forms that

Consultants are to complete and submit in a separate

envelope as part of their total Proposals.

Section IV B Financial Proposal Forms

This section provides the Financial Proposal Forms that

Consultants are to complete and submit in a separate

envelope as part of their total Proposals.

Section V Terms of Reference

This Section includes the detailed Terms of Reference

that describe the nature, tasks, and duties of the

consulting services to be procured.

PART 2 – CONTRACT FORMS

Section VI Contract Agreement and Annexes

This section contains the draft form of a Contract,

including annexes, which MCA Timor-Leste proposes

to enter into with the successful Consultant.

Please note that a Pre-Proposal Conference will be held as described in the Proposal Data Sheet (“PDS”), Section II of the RFP. Attendance at the Pre-Proposal Conference is not mandatory but is strongly advised for all interested Consultants or their representatives.

Consultants interested in submitting a Proposal should express their interest by notifying the MCA Timor-Leste Procurement Agent at: patimorleste@charleskendall.com

Proposals must be submitted electronically to the address and in the manner specified in the PDS ITC 17, no later than 10.00hrs Dili, Timor Leste time (GMT+9), 18 April 2024. Please note that only electronic Proposals shall be accepted Late Proposals will not be accepted under any circumstances.

Yours sincerely,

…………………………………….

Ambassador Constancio da Conceicao Pinto

Executive Director

MCA Timor-Leste

DISCLAIMER: THIS NOTICE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. FOR UPDATES ON THIS SOLICITATION PLEASE FOLLOW THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE LINK PROVIDED. THIS PROCUREMENT IS NOT CONDUCTED UNDER THE FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATIONS, IS NOT ADMINISTERED BY THE US GOVERNMENT, AND THE RESULTING AWARD WILL BE MADE BY THE COUNTRY INDICATED IN THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS PROCUREMENT PLEASE CONTRACT THE PERSON NAMED IN THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT.