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Vocational Skills Development Adviser

Location: Vientiane

Deadline for submitting the application: 05/05/2024 

Start date: 01/07/2024 

Contract type: Limited 

Contract term (months): 24,00 

        1. Background

The governments of Lao PDR and Luxembourg, for their fifth Lao-Luxembourg Indicative Cooperation Programme 2023 – 2027, are focusing on four sectoral programmes with a total budget of approximately 109 MEUR, as follows: 

 

  1. Skills for Tourism, Agriculture and Forestry (STAF) with a budget of ca. 25 MEUR; 
  2. Health and Nutrition (H&N) with a budget of ca. 38.5 MEUR; 
  3. Local Development (LD) with a budget of ca. 34 MEUR; 
  4. Rule of Law, Access to Justice and Good Governance (ROLAG) with a budget of 11.5 MEUR. 

 

Both governments wish to see strong linkages between the four programmes to optimise synergy and impact. Interventions are interconnected through a common human capital development approach.

 

The five-year STAF Programme (LAO/336) aims to foster and facilitate meaningful change in the VSD sector, thereby increasing the employability of graduates to take advantage of job/income generation opportunities, leaving no one behind in Lao PDR’s socio-economic development. It is financed by Lao PDR, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the European Union, and implemented by the Department of Technical and Vocational Education (DTVE), Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES), with the support of the Luxembourg Development Cooperation Agency (LuxDev).

 

The focus is on two key economic sectors considered to have high – and labour-intensive – growth prospects, and potential for sustainable and technology-enhanced development:

 

  • Tourism and Hospitality (T/H);
  • Agriculture and Forestry (A/F).

 

Interventions in the T/H sector cover the provinces of Vientiane, Khammouane, Bolikhamxay, Bokeo, Luang Prabang, Savannakhet and Champasak, as well as Vientiane Capital. For the A/F sector, the provinces covered are Vientiane, Khammouane, Bolikhamxay, Bokeo and Luang Prabang.

 

The STAF Programme strengthens the capacity and performance of a wide range of VSD-related stakeholders, including public and private training providers, employers and other value chain actors, national and provincial government organisations including the MoES, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (MoLSW), Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism (MICT) and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), as well as relevant mass and civil society organisations. It is embedded, as far as possible, in the existing institutional framework of the Lao VSD system to assure alignment with national strategies, policies and plans, to facilitate systemic change and scaling-up, to avoid parallel structures and duplication of efforts, and to increase the sustainability of the intervention.

 

The overall objective of the Programme is increased employability of Lao people leaving no one behind. The specific objective is increased use and better quality of VSD services, to be achieved via five key intervention areas:

 

  • Improved relevance and quality of VSD and its delivery which entails greater engagement of industry representatives and other key stakeholders in identifying T/H and A/F economic growth opportunities/value chains and collaborating on labour market/skills needs analyses and curriculum development for enhanced and quality-assured VSD provision;
  • Strengthened demand for VSD amongst employers and job seekers as a result of coordinated and effective promotion by both providers and community influencers to raise awareness and matching of VSD options with employment/income generation opportunities;
  • Targeted funding to provide greater choice for students and induce performance-oriented incentives for VSD providers to respond to that competitive environment and deliver quality, relevant courses required by students and employers. Private sector capacity and resources are also leveraged through a range of innovative public-private VSD partnerships and support for more commercially-oriented VSD models;
  • Increased access to VSD including the development and delivery of (digitalised where appropriate) non-formal and informal VSD services, and strengthening of provision by public and private providers, including A/F extension services, particularly at district and village level;
  • Enhanced labour market insertion including support for more and better career guidance, jobs and further training information, particularly via online platforms, thereby providing more inclusive and transparent access particularly for disadvantaged job seekers.

 

The STAF Programme expects to reach 20 000 direct beneficiaries with enhanced VSD services and labour market insertion support for improved employment/income generation.  Up to 200,000 young men and women should indirectly benefit in terms of improved employability resulting from the availability of better VSD and ancillary services, with a particular focus on those who, for various reasons, are vulnerable and marginalised.

 

        2. OBJECTIVES

The primary focus of the VSD Adviser is to support the Senior Sectorial Adviser (SSA) in the planning and operationalisation of activities as defined in the Programme’s Technical and Financial Document (TFD), Theories of Action (ToA) and Work Plans.

 

Depending on the qualifications and/or experience of the adviser, s/he may have lead responsibility for the design and implementation of interventions related to occupational standards, qualifications and curriculum development, teaching/learning materials development (including online resources), technology-enhanced teaching and learning, in-service teacher/trainer training, school/college management capacity strengthening, VSD financing, VSD marketing/promotion and student recruitment.

 

This includes working with both public and private sector organisations, across the spectrum of VSD – informal, non-formal and formal. It also includes supporting and advising a number of national and provincial level stakeholder organisations, developing and managing budgetary support, as well as managing administrative and procurement processes and contracts follow-up.

 

The VSD Adviser works side by side with other technical staff in the implementation of the programme, ensuring that all activities are completed to a high degree of quality so that the outcomes and impact of the programme are maximised.

 

        3. RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Review and update the TFD as it pertains to support for agriculture and forestry VSD development and delivery;
  • Support the development of ToA for relevant counterpart organisations at national and provincial level;
  • Lead the development of overall and annual work/operational plans and budgets related to support for agriculture and forestry VSD;
  • Plan, lead and manage implementation of all aspects of support for agriculture and forestry VSD at national level across the five IC areas, including budget management, in line with LuxDev policies and procedures;
  • Support the planning, preparation and implementation of Skills for Agriculture and Forestry provincial action plans covering the five IC areas, ensuring alignment with national level plans;
  • Guide the extension of agriculture and forestry VSD support beyond the four target provinces to Luang Prabang province;
  • Oversee the provision of technical support to public and private sector organisations, including agriculture and forestry enterprises, and VSD training providers;
  • Assist with the recruitment, selection, coaching/mentoring and performance management of National Skills for Agriculture and Forestry Advisers, as well as the procurement and management of international and national short-term expertise;
  • Provide agriculture and forestry (including agribusiness and agroforestry) sector-specific guidance (strategic and technical) and oversight to central and provincial teams;
  • Support the establishment of sustainable public-private partnerships pertaining to agriculture and forestry VSD;
  • Support the establishment of sustainable and innovative funding modalities for agriculture and forestry VSD;
  • Support monitoring and evaluation of the STAF programme particularly in relation to support for agriculture and forestry VSD;
  • Promote knowledge management and learning across the agriculture and forestry VSD workstream;
  • Liaise and collaborate closely with focal points, technical counterparts and decisions-makers, particularly at the national level.

 

4. EXPERT PROFILE

  • A tertiary qualification in a relevant discipline (e.g. vocational education; human resource development). Applicants with other qualifications, together with substantial experience in the field of vocational education and skills development, will also be considered;
  • Expert knowledge of VSD in both developed and developing countries (especially in ASEAN countries and Lao PDR);
  • At least seven years’ experience in designing and implementing VSD interventions;
  • Fluency in English language;
  • Lao or Thai language skills will be an advantage.

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