The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Sindh Community Mobilization Program (CMP) organized a Pre-Bid Meeting and Road Show for Education Management Organizations (EMOs) in collaboration with the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Node of the School Education and Literacy Department (SELD), Government of Sindh (GoS), on April 25, 2018 in Karachi, Pakistan.
The joint event was organized to outsource the management of four (4) packages of Government schools in Sukkur, Larkana, Dadu and Qamber Shahdadkot Districts, including 20 schools that were recently reconstructed with the support of USAID under the Sindh Basic Education Program (SBEP). The Pre-Bid Meeting provided an opportunity for prospective organizations to discuss various aspects of the reform while the Road Show provided a space for live interaction between potential bidders and representatives of schools, communities, development partners and Government officers, allowing them to gain further insight about SBEP schools under the EMO initiative of GoS.
Information and awareness kiosks were set up and staffed by representatives of the 20 schools, as well as PPP Node, the Program Management and Implementation Unit (PMIU), CMP and the USAID-funded Sindh Reading Program (SRP) and Sindh Capacity Development Project (SCDP). At the kiosks, visitors could participate in interactive discussions on the schools, their geography, demography, students’ strengths, etc., as well as obtain relevant publications and brochures.
During the event, Dr. Iqbal Durrani, Secretary, SELD, GoS spoke about the EMO initiative and other reforms being run by SELD. He stated his appreciation for USAID for their grant assistance provided under SBEP, and assured continued support from his office for the program. He also praised the team of SELD officers for their dedication and hard work, and thanked USAID for the technical assistance being provided for the implementation of EMO reform. Dr. Durrani also assured his support and commitment to the representatives of schools, as well as the potential EMOs in solving operational issues in implementation, if and where required.
The participants were then given a presentation on SBEP by Mr. Wahab Soomro, Program Director, PMIU – SBEP. This was followed by a shields’ distribution ceremony, where the contributions and support for education among local stakeholders, as well as the support of local officials of SELD, were recognized.
During the Pre-Bid Session, a presentation was given to prospective bidders to explain the bidding documents and to give an opportunity to the perspective bidders to seek clarifications regarding the EMO reform and the bidding process, including guidance and technical questions on the bidding documents. After the presentation, an interactive Questions and Answers session was held where general and technical queries, and comments of the prospective bidders were answered by a technical panel comprised of construction engineers, representative of PPP Node, and education and legal experts.
A video of the event was developed and can be viewed below:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bp7H0daqUE[/embedyt]
****
CMP is a USAID-funded program that supports the Government of Sindh’s education reform and USAID’s Sindh Basic Education Program. CMP improves school resources and encourages community support for educational reform in Sindh province while identifying and addressing primary barriers to access, particularly for female students.
RELATED READING:
Sindh Community Mobilization Program
USAID Community Engagement “Mela” Brings Joy to Neighborhood
