Terms Of Reference: Solar Edtech Maintenance Consultancy

Terms of Reference: Solar Edtech Maintenance Consultancy

Background 

ProjectEd brought solar-powered projectors used via tablets to 12 primary schools in Malawi’s Chiradzulu and Balaka districts, which were installed in 2021. The tablets were pre-installed with digital learning materials developed by the organizations onebillion and Ubongo. A total of 50 (38 Female, 12 Male) teachers attended training and capacity building on the use of the solar-powered projectors, including lesson planning with learning content and their technical operation. Teachers used tablets to beam the digital content through the solar-powered projector onto the classroom wall in Standard 1 classes. At the close of the project, schools remained with the type of material they were provided with for the study: onecourse, Ubongo or a combination. The Directorate of Basic Education in the Ministry of Education indicated that the projectors should remain in the schools after the close of the project for further use by educators. 

A close out trip was made in June 2022 to review the project with each Head Teacher and at least one primary school teacher at each school. In October 2022, the project funder requested the support of Ubongo, an implementation partner, to support the 12 implementation schools through content and equipment maintenance. In addition, the provided 6 additional solar projector kits to be used in 6 Community-Based Child-care Centers (CBCCs) in Blantyre and Dowa as part of Ubongo’s resource libraries project. 

Objective

Ubongo therefore seeks the services of a part-time consultant to support by conducting quarterly maintenance of the technology assets in Dowa, Blantyre, Balaka, Chiradzulu and Thyolo for a period of 9 months, with an extension option. 

Services required

The consultant will provide services to: 

• Provide on-site maintenance visits to the 12 primary schools and 6 CBCCs. This is to be within a reasonable timeframe - once every quarter.
• Conduct regular phone check-ins with the head teacher, teachers and CBCC caregivers to encourage regular use of the Edtech and report technology issues.
• Receive and manage school/CBCC reports of technology issues/repairs, and provide phone support for issues that are resolvable remotely.
• Service equipment either on-site or in more difficult cases off-site, within a reasonable service period.
• Liaise with the District Education Offices and/or CBCC partner organisations before and after providing repairs in the Edtech locations.
• Provide on-site software updates of Ubongo content as needed.

Budget and payment

The total budget for this activity is $3,000 USD (inclusive of any applicable taxes).

• 50% upon submission of the inception report

• 50% after completion of activities, and once a close out report on equipment repairs/status  have been delivered to Ubongo, and approved as satisfactory by Ubongo

• Tax and insurance: The Agency/consultant/s shall be responsible for their income tax, any other taxes related to the activity and/or insurance during the assignment.

Reports

• The consultant will be expected to update Ubongo on a quarterly basis by email on the contacts made to the project sites and any needed repairs.

• The consultant will provide a financial report of equipment repair costs incurred, which will be reimbursed by Ubongo under contractual arrangements.

Requirements for the Consultant

The consultant should demonstrate capacity in: 

• Proven experience in the maintenance of Edtech equipment.

  • Projector troubleshooting and maintenance (hardware and software)
  • Tablet troubleshooting and maintenance (hardware and software, with possible updates to software and/or content on tablets)
  • Bluetooth speaker troubleshooting and maintenance
  • Battery & solar panel troubleshooting and maintenance

• Relevant qualifications (e.g. degree in electronics engineering, information and communications technology, solar technologies)

• If an agency, they must be registered with all relevant authorities in Malawi for conducting this work and have a track record of working in Malawi. If a group of individual consultants, they must have the right to work in Malawi.

• Fluent in local languages (Chichewa) relevant to the work locations as well as strong English spoken and written skills.

Requirements for your proposal

Please submit a short proposal of maximum five pages for how you will go about conducting the activities as outlined above. Your proposal should include the relevant qualifications and backgrounds of the consultant showing how you meet the requirements above, your work plan, a short summary of your approach to ethics, safeguarding, child protection, and data protection and a budget breakdown totalling maximum $3,000 to include:

• Consultant fees / agency fees

• Travel costs

• Any other administrative costs

Alongside your proposal, you should also submit the following accompanying documents:

• 1 page CV for the consultant

• A list of three references from similar past work

Timelines

This activity is due to commence in Q2 2024 and to be completed by the end Q4 2024. 

Proposals and any relevant accompanying documents (listed above) should be submitted by email to fatsani@ubongo.org with the subject heading “Proposal for Solar EdTech Maintainance Consultancy” not later than 17.00 CAT on 8th March 2024.

EQUAL  OPPORTUNITY

UBONGO provides equal opportunities to all its applicants for different roles and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender or any other characteristic protected by the laws of the country we are operating in.