Government of Guyana
Institutional Strengthening of the National Accreditation Council of Guyana (NAC) Project
Consultancy services for National Qualifications Framework and Quality Assurance System
Request for Expressions of Interest
The Government of Guyana (GOGY) has received financing from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) under the CARIFORUM-EU CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) Standby Facility for Capacity Building under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) in an amount equivalent to US$171,856 towards the cost of the Institutional Strengthening of the National Accreditation Council of Guyana (NAC) Project. The grant will be administered by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the National Accreditation Council - Guyana (NAC) intends to apply a portion of the proceeds of this financing to eligible payments under a contract for which this invitation is issued.
Payments by CDB will be made only at the request of GOGY and upon approval by CDB, and will be subject in all respects to the terms and conditions of the Financing Agreement. The Financing Agreement prohibits withdrawal from the financing account for the purpose of any payment to persons or entities, or for any import of goods, if such payment or import, to the knowledge of CDB, is prohibited by a decision of the United Nations Security Council taken under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. No party other than GOGY shall derive any rights from the Financing Agreement or have any claim to the proceeds of the Financing.
The National Accreditation Council - Guyana, the Executing Agency, now wishes to procure consultancy services for developing a National Qualification Framework (NQF); for developing a Quality Assurance (QA) system and for NQF and QA training.
The objective of the consultancy is to facilitate the design of an NQF and quality assurance and accreditation system including the reviewing of accreditation standards and preparation of a Quality Assurance and Accreditation Manual. Terms of Reference with further details are available on request. The duration of the assignment is expected to be for a period of six months.
The National Accreditation Council - Guyana now invites interested eligible consulting firms to submit Expressions of Interest for the provision of these consultancy services.
Consultants shall be eligible to participate if:
- in the case of a body corporate, it is legally incorporated or otherwise organised in an eligible country, has its principal place of business in an eligible country and is more than 50 per cent beneficially owned by citizen(s) and/or bona fide resident(s) of eligible country(ies) or by a body(ies) corporate meeting these requirements;
- in the case of unincorporated firms, the persons are citizens or bona fide residents of an eligible country; and
- in all cases, the consultant has no arrangement and undertakes not to make any arrangements, whereby any substantial part of the net profits or other tangible benefits of the contract will accrue or be paid to a person not a citizen or bona fide resident of an eligible country.
Consultants from Guyana and other member countries of CDB, as well as EU Member Countries and the Dominican Republic, which are not CDB Member Countries will be eligible to participate in these procurement opportunities.
In the assessment of submissions, consideration will be given to:
- technical competence, qualifications and experience, including:
- Qualification of team members who should have postgraduate qualifications in Education or other relevant fields.
- Team members should have at least 15 years of experience at a senior level in the area of higher education including hands-on experience in the design and implementation of quality assurance systems for higher education institutions and/or assessing institutions’ compliance with accreditation standards.
- Detailed knowledge of quality assurance systems and the role of NQFs.
- A sound understanding of the higher/tertiary education sector and the approach to quality assurance and accreditation in the Caribbean and more specifically in Guyana.
- Team with fluency in oral and written English.
- Team with excellent facilitation/training skills.
- local and regional experience on similar assignments,
- financial capability and
- existing commitments.
All information must be submitted in English. Further information may be obtained from the first address below between 08:00 and 16:30 hours Monday to Friday.
Expressions of Interest must be submitted electronically by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in pdf format no later than 16:30 hours Guyana time on Friday, March 13, 2015. The email subject line should state “Expression of Interest – Consultancy Services for developing a National Qualification Framework (NQF); developing a Quality Assurance (QA) system and for NQF and QA training” and the email body must state the name and address of the applicant. The Expression of Interest will be deemed to have been received at the time that it is received by the Project Coordinator. The burden of proving receipt of the e-mail will be on the applicant and will not be met solely by a read receipt or sent items report generated by the bidder’s computer. In addition, three (3) hard copies of the Expressions of Interest must be received at the first address below no later than 16:30 hours on Friday, March 13, 2015 and one hard copy must be sent simultaneously to CDB at the second address below. The sealed envelope containing each submission should include the name and address of the applicant and shall be clearly marked “Expression of Interest – Consultancy Services for developing a National Qualification Framework (NQF); developing a Quality Assurance (QA) system and for NQF and QA training.”
The selection method shall be Consultants’ Qualifications selection. Therefore, following the assessment of submissions, firms shall be assessed and compared, and the best qualified and experienced firm shall be selected. Only the selected firm shall be asked to submit a combined technical and financial proposal and, if such proposal is responsive and acceptable, be invited to negotiate a contract. GOGY reserves the right to accept or reject late applications or to cancel the present invitation partially or in its entirety. It will not be bound to assign any reason for not short-listing any applicant and will not defray any costs incurred by any applicant in the preparation and submission of Expressions of Interest.
Address 1
The Executive Director
National Accreditation Council
109 Barima Avenue
Bel Air Park
Georgetown
GUYANA
South America
Tel: (592) 226-0091
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Address 2
Procurement Officer
Caribbean Development Bank
P.O. Box 408
Wildey
St. Michael
BARBADOS, W.I.
Tel: + (246) 431-1600
Fax: + (246) 426-7269
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
