Expression Of Interest "Software Developer to develop financial application" TA to MEHE 72.3038.6-001.00

1. Project Background

1.1 The situation

Lebanon has been suffering from instability on all levels for decades, but the situation has further aggravated in the last few years. Three years of layering of crises on top of one another - the economic crisis, compounded by COVID-19, the 2020 Beirut Port explosions and political instability have left all families residing in the country struggling to survive. Currently, Lebanon finds itself in a never before faced compounded crisis of extreme complexity, which was the result of several factors including the refugee crisis that started in 2011, noting that country is currently hosting 831,053 Syrian refugees and 479,537 Palestinian refugees according to latest UN agencies reports, in addition to the economic vulnerability and contraction, continuous political crisis, social unrest and heightened challenges since October 2019, the on-going debt crisis, COVID-19 and health crisis, banking and currency crisis, cumulative inflation rate, education sector crisis, which was preceded by teachers’ protests since 2017-2018 against low remuneration and the Beirut Blast in August 2020 and its on-going consequences. All these crises resulted in enormous strains on population’s physical and mental health, access to food, basic services, education, and safety among others.

1.2 Current situation in the target sector

The events that took place in the last few years have added further layers of obstacles on top of an already compromised Lebanese public and private schooling system in its efforts to provide education for children residing in Lebanon. The crisis left an impact on the different levels of the education system, starting with MEHE’s inability to perform normally due to the economic and social situation, teachers and staff’s losing motivation and students unable to attend classes on daily bases for several reasons among many other levels. The crisis’ impact on the educational sector affects children’s wellbeing and threatens their future, the social stability (including people’s ability to escape the vicious cycle of poverty) and country’s abilities to overcome the socioeconomic and political depression and to set up a sustainable governance and economic model. The below provides a detailed insight on the current situation in the education sector in Lebanon and sheds the light on major gaps and existing issues:

• Access to education opportunities and disruption of education services
• Quality of education services
• Governance of education systems
• Education-related expenditures for families and MEHE
• Large donor group involved in the sector.
• MEHE needs and gaps.
• Budgeting and Planning
• Capacity Gaps
• “Internal Politics”

1.3 About the project

With the country slipping deeper into an economic and financial crisis, the education sector and the Ministry Education and Higher Education (MEHE) are in high need of support to ensure their ability to sustain their operations and remain able to deliver high quality education to all children residing in Lebanon. While the complexity of the situation is increasing, with high number of dropouts and out-of-school children, a significant number of students migrating from private to the public school because they cannot afford the high fees anymore, low teachers’ motivation, challenges on the level of transportation and unavailability of basic needs at schools such as power, in addition to a considerable decline in the quality of education, support is needed to ensure that MEHE, including Directorate for General Education(DGE) and all other departments, guarantee learning continuity under a multiple crisis context through a more resilient education system, that is able to provide quality, inclusive and safe education for all children.

To cover the existing gaps, the Technical Assistance to the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (TA to MEHE), aims at “building an education system (Ministry for Education and Higher Education) better equipped and able to deliver quality basic education”, through the below 3 outcomes:

• Outcome 1: enhance the governance capacities of the MEHE in the field of strategic and operational planning, monitoring, and reporting, budgeting, and public finance management.
• Outcome 2: enhance the capacities of the MEHE for the delivery of quality teaching and learning by management and educational staff empowered with 21st century skills development.
• Outcome 3: enhance the performance of the public education system (MEHE) through improved management and business operating procedures.

2. The assignment

2.1 Background for the assignment

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education in Lebanon is currently moving its financial processes to a more efficient format using currently available digital tools.

2.2 Outline of the mission

The project is currently seeking a highly skilled and motivated Software Developer to work on developing a financial application that meets requirements and supports the existing software infrastructure.

The ideal candidate for this role should have excellent software development skills and expertise along with excellent written and communication skills. Organisational abilities are also highly valued in this role, as they play an important role in ensuring effective collaboration and efficient project implementation management.

2.3 Description of the activities to be performed by the STE: