I.  Context and Rationale:

Zambia Open Community Schools (ZOCS) is a vibrant and a flagship Organizations for Community Schools since 1992 in Zambia that empowers communities to provide quality basic education to OVC especially girls and Children with disabilities. Premised on the principle that every child has a “right to education”, ZOCS through its three-pillar approach of Advocacy, Service Delivery and Capacity Building, has accomplished much for the children and people of Zambia reaching out to 224,847 learners (112,433 Boys and 112,414 Girls) in 1,285 Demonstration Open Community Schools across 97 selected Districts in all the 10 Provinces of Zambia since its inception.

The ZOCS 2021- 2025 Strategic Plan Objective no. 2 is focused on capacity building for teachers, Parent Community School Committee members and community members by doing the following:

• Upgrade Volunteer Teachers in Community Schools to Professional Qualification;
• Enhance Volunteer Teachers’ knowledge, skills and competencies in pre-primary and primary education interactive pedagogies through in-service training;
• Strengthen mentorship and coaching structures to provide professional scaffolding for Volunteer Teachers;
• Create Volunteer teachers’ information sharing, networking and monitoring systems through the use of Information Communication Technology tools (WhatsApp Groups, virtual platforms for capacity building and mentorship);
• Provide trainings for PCSC members and community members in School Management and Resources Mobilization and Management, child Protection to safeguard the rights of thethat promote positive educational and social outcomes.

To adequately meet the expectations of this Strategic  Objective, ZOCS seeks to engage an experienced Consultant to develop a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) under the Scaled School Readiness Initiative (SSRI) which will provide teachers, learners, parents and education leaders information tools and resources to support quality educational delivery and management. The VLE will provide a range of integrated web-based applications for the purpose outlined above.

3. Objectives

• To create storage for and access to use of learning resources
• To provide a clear mapping and planning paths for lesson planning, assessment and personalisation of learning experiences
• To mobilise and create a link learner information, resources, and tracking of progress and achievement

4. Scope of Work:

• Mobilize resources for the VLE including MoE pre-primary and primary education curriculum, supplementary reading materials, self-assessment quizzes, administrative information about various pre-primary and primary courses including prerequisites, registration requirements, etc;
• Create links to all pre-primary and primary distance learning programmes their training institutions and Examination Boards;
• Create a notice board for current information about the ongoing course
• Support for communications, including e-mail, threaded discussions, chat rooms, Twitter and other media, sometimes with the instructor or an assistant acting as moderator. Additional elements include wikis, blogs, RSS and 3D virtual learning spaces.
• Create a virtual resource room in teachers and education leaders will interact and to take responsibility for their own professional growth;
• Provide for management of access rights for all users of the VLE;
• Create necessary hyperlinks to all resources and virtual platforms provided for on the VLE;
• Provide capacity building for ZOCS officers and resource centre coordination located in the project sites; and
• Provide mentorship and coaching for the ender users of the VLE.

5. Deliverables

The deliverables of the Consultant are as follows:

• Sharing Finalization of TOR in collaboration with ZOCS
• Preparation of Tools and an Inception Report
• Writing the draft and final Reports
• Holding debriefing meetings with ZOCS
• Presentation of the functional VLE to ZOCS and its partners;

6. Overall objective of the Assignment

The overall objective of the assignment is to develop a functional Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) under the Scaled School Readiness Initiative (SSRI) with a wide range of integrated web-based applications which will be accessible to teachers, learners, parents and education leaders. The VLE will enable users to access information, tools and resources to support quality educational delivery and management.

The Consultant will work under the direct supervision of ZOCS M&E team and will be required to regularly share the milestones.

7.Things to consider.

Ensure that the VLE provides for the following:

• Cyber security;
• User Friendliness;
• Flexibility and attractive look.
• Scalability of its reach overtime.

8. Qualifications and experience required

An institution or individual with:

• At least Master’s Computer Science, Computer Engineering., Information and Technology or a related field for the Team Lead.
• At least 3 years’ experience in developing, managing and operation Virtual Learning Environments.
• Demonstrable experience in  web design.
• Experience and understanding  of the Zambian preschool and primary school curriculum.
• Experience in working with Ministry of Education structures and partners in the education sector.

The Consultant will be expected to have a meeting with the ZOCS to discuss the plan for the study.

To be considered for the Consultancy, send your application letter,  proposal, resume, including evidence of previous similar assignment(s) performed, and a clear and detailed workplan and budget on how you will deliver this assignment to the postal or email address below by Monday 2nd October 2023 at 17:00 hours.

The Executive Director,

Zambia Open Community Schools (ZOCS),

P.O. Box 50429, Lusaka. Phone: +260 211 253841/43

Email: zocs2008@gmail.com