UNDP Jobs - 76332- Research on Economic Returns of Investment in Educ

Research on Economic Returns of Investment in Education, Vocational Training and Skill Development in Cambodia (Open to National and International Consultant)

Location :

Home Based, in Phnom Penh, and in some provinces, Cambodia, CAMBODIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

22-Jan-2018

Application Deadline :

01-Jan-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

60 working days in between 22 Jan-30 Jun 2018

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

60 working days in between 22 Jan-30 Jun 2018

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The Kingdom of Cambodia is the most youthful country in South East Asia with more than 50 percent of the total population under 25 and 21 percent between 15 and 24 years of age . Although, unemployment rate in Cambodia is low, migration out of Cambodia (predominately to Thailand) is high. Young migrate in hope of better paid jobs and better skills, but there are evidences that they have faced unintended negative impacts such as trapping into unwarranted jobs which have less or no protection, or in worse case scenarios, they could become victims of exploitative and abusive employment practices, including human trafficking and forced labour.

Despite the recorded low unemployment rate of 3.8 percent among persons aged 15-24 , young people are up to three times more likely to be unemployed than adults (aged from 25). Moreover, it is found that the working poor and insecure informal employment sectors are also alarming. About 81 percent of all jobs are considered vulnerable; 80 percent of enterprises are informal and most people employed in agriculture rely on subsistence farming. Therefore, the country needs to create decent and productive employment opportunities for the young people including 270,000 new estimated entrants to the labour market every year.

While Cambodia has reached the level of development and rapid growth it knows today, and as the country transitions into the middle-income country category and faces increased regional and global competition, it is imperative to bring the human capital base to a higher level, with a skilled workforce that is responsive and adaptive to the changing labour market needs.

To address these critical issues of youth employment, a United Nations Joint Programme (UNJP) proposes to provide assistance to the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC). It intends to focus on facilitating young people’s entrance to the labour force while reducing inequalities – particularly for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups- and ensuring young women and men are better able to meet labour demand.

This proposed UN Joint Programme capitalizes on the complementary mandates and areas of UN expertise, which, when pulled together can more effectively contribute to address the challenge of youth employment in Cambodia. Hence the programme will benefit from the combined strengths of ILO, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF and UNV.

UNDP brings a consolidated experience in capacity development and research for resilience building and human development. It supports Cambodia toward achieving the simultaneous eradication of poverty and significant reduction of inequalities and exclusion. In addition, UNDP brings the added value of providing the Royal Government of Cambodia with policy advisory and research to link human capital and industrial policies and to improve the resilience of people employed in rural and informal jobs.

In the joint programme, UNDP will fund the research on economic returns of investment in education, vocational training and skill development in Cambodia to improve, upgrade and expand relevant skills training for young people (aged 15-30) in Cambodia to provide them with meaningful employment and to benefit the economy. This target group has been chosen because they account for more than half of the national population and particularly they are disadvantaged and vulnerable groups to get access for decent employments.

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall objectives of the research are to understand the impact of investments in education and TVET and to identify areas of program and policy interventions aiming to improve, upgrade and expand relevant skills training for young people in Cambodia in order for them to have a meaningful and decent employment and to contribute to the economy.

To achieve the research objective, the consultant is expected to perform the following tasks:

1. Assess the current situation in Cambodia: To map and summarize all existing and anticipated investment (including public, aid and private, national and international) policy and programs on education (non-formal and formal system) and Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for skills development, including:

a. closely review policy implementation and strategic plans for future strategies of industrialization and economic diversification
b. collect relevant government initiatives to strengthen youth education and skills including life skills education in school system, non formal education
c. document and summarize all relevant forms of government interventions in skill development for youth
d. record employers’ engagement in TVET and education systems
e. consult young people, employers, training providers, and government about the barriers, experiences, quality and benefits of current skills training
f. record any clear framework for recognizable qualifications

2. Analyze costs and benefits for skills trainings to young people: To broadly understand the economic returns and benefits of investment in education and skill training in Cambodia through an analysis on of national policy and program related to youth (aged 15-30) education and skills, and through institutional and individual investment in education and training:

a. examine the causal relationship between training and business performance results, such as improvements in sales volume, productivity and other profit measures of firms (noting there may be other factors besides training, that can influence these changes).
b. evaluate the costs and immediate benefits to trainees, including earnings and employment chances for students upon completion / graduation from a TVET program
c. assess the cost associated with the completion of a TVET course/an education (formal and non formal education and training)
d. assess the benefits associated with the completion of a TVET course/an education (formal and non formal education and training)
e. calculate the individual student contributions in terms of fees, accommodation, books, exams, etc.

3. Analyze Strategic Policy: To get insight on dynamics of current labor market and national strategies of industrialization and economic diversification:

a. identify enabling factors that are conducive to economic diversification and which addresses the persistent skills mismatch.
b. identify employment target (numbers of unemployment & net additional labor force and number of working poor)
c. identify patterns (sector, occupation, national and international business) of growth and dynamics of labor market (gender disaggregation data)
d. define and quantify vulnerable employment and examine means to counter the associated problems

4. Develop Policy Options: To provide policy solutions and recommendations to improve, upgrade and expand relevant skills training for young people in Cambodia including:

propose effective communication channels, media and messages to inform young people about the training opportunities and encourage them to take up a Vocational Education and Training course
identify enabling factors for fostering the creation of decent job opportunities for young women and men, including through enterprise and skills development in order to meet current and anticipated labor demand
suggest measures to promote the value and advantages of investment in education and training of youth who are in-school and out of school system
point to how the future projects, programs and policies on youth employment may support and facilitate the RGC’s responses to the issues above

Interested Offerors must visit this link http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=43213 to download Individual Consultant Procurement Notice, Terms of Reference, and Document Templates to be included when submitting this online application.

Competencies

Up to date with new developments, concepts and theories in labour economics, employment vulnerability, informal economy etc.;
Possesses expert knowledge of advanced concepts in education, training, youth development, employment, socio- economic development and a broad knowledge of related disciplines, as well as an in-depth knowledge of relevant organizational policies and procedures;
Good understanding of the governance and traditional institutions, and culture of Cambodia;
Persuasive, convincing or influencing abilities;
Works with communities and a positive, constructive attitude;
Demonstrates excellent oral and written communication skills;
Results orientation;
High standards of integrity, gender sensitivity, age sensitivity, discretion and confidentiality.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree (at least Masters) in a discipline relevant to business and industrial development, human resource development, vocational education, vocational training, education to youth, development studies, youth development, laws and regulations, and other related interdisciplinary

Experience:

Minimum of 7 years professional experience, with experience in research and design of employment, training and education projects, particularly related to successful the increase of employability of youth and improving their working conditions.
Extensive experience in policy analysis, legislative analysis and institutional capacity building
Experience in social and economic analysis on youth behavior toward employment
Experience working with multilateral organizations and the UN system preferred.
Experience in working with government, private sector and youth in Asia, preferably in Cambodia

Language Requirement:

Fluency in English is required

UNDP reserves right to reject any applications that is incomplete.

Please be informed that we don’t accept application submitted via email.

Interested Offerors are required to submit application via UNDP jobsite system as the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP jobsite system. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file. Your on-line applications submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or send to email dalis.heng@undp.org and cc procurement.kh@undp.org . While the Procurement Unit would endeavor to provide information expeditiously, only requests receiving at least 5 working days prior to the submission deadline will be entertained. Any delay in providing such information will not be considered as a reason for extending the submission deadline. The UNDP's response (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry) will be posted in Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice page as provided above. Therefore, all prospective Offerors are advised to visit the page regularly to make obtain update related to this Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice.