Invitation to Tender - Research on English Skills for Employability Peru

Invitation to Tender
The Ministry of Education Peru, through the British Council, is seeking a partner to carry out the study English for Employability in Technical and Productive Key Areas in Peru.

The study is an effort to strengthen the education sector in Peru by providing support in the key areas of higher, technological and technical education that lead to meaningful and transformational impact in our society. Specifically, it aims at boosting the research environment across Peru through partnership and collaboration between the MINEDU and the United Kingdom academic experts.

Background
In 2014, Peru President Ollanta Humala announced the goal of the country to achieve bilingualism, with English as the priority language, by 2021. The Ministry of Education, which aims to improve access to and the quality of education, deployed increased resources, teacher training and gradual increased secondary school contact hours to meet that objective.

One of the main challenges in Latin America is closing the gap between the supply and the demand of technical training. 39% of LATAM companies have problems to fill their vacancies due to lack of qualified personnel according to the report on Technical Education and Professional Training in Peru, 2015 by Korea Institute for Development Strategy (KDS). This study also points at the gap in the quality of the training offer and the lack of correspondence between the training offer and the actual needs of the changing Peruvian society. Moreover, a study by Rodríguez and Laporta (2011) highlights the lack of correspondence between the competences developed by the school system in Peru and the real needs of prospective employers and businesses.

In the process of enhancement of higher technological and productive technical education, the Ministry of Education seeks to sign agreements that will allow it to reduce the neglect gap that has postponed policies that favour higher technological and productive technical education in public institutions. In this line, this research, promoted by the British Council, is presented as a pioneering study that will contribute to the efforts made by the MINEDU to develop quality policies at the service of the institutes of higher technological and productive education at a national level.

Likewise, within the framework of the National Policy on Teaching, Learning and Use of the English Language, "English, Gateway to the World", this study will be part of the first actions developed for the design of the English plan of the General Directorate of Technical Productive and Higher Technological and Artistic Education (DIGESUTPA), thus favouring the teaching and learning of the English language of teachers and students of Higher Technological and Technical-productive Education.

The purpose and scope of the attached Invitation to Tender and supporting documents is to explain in further detail the requirements of the British Council and the procurement process for submitting a tender proposal.