Junior Project Manager for the Development of the Automated Information Complex for Education Management (AIKOM) for Preschool Education

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (LEARN-2.2-ECEIT-TA3 - Junior Project Manager for the Development of the Automated Information Complex for Education Management (AIKOM) for Preschool Education)

UKRAINE Lifting Education Access and Resilience in Times of Need in Ukraine Program GPE TF0D0613

Assignment Title: Junior Project Manager for the Development of the Automated Information Complex for Education Management (AIKOM) for Preschool Education

No . LEARN-2.2-ECEIT-TA3 Ukraine with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association (hereinafter referred to as the World Bank) have signed the agreements for the Program “Lifting Education Access and Resilience in times of Need in Ukraine” (hereinafter referred to as the LEARN or Operation). LEARN was developed to address critical challenges and provide essential support to the education sector, aligning with the Ministry of Education and Science’s (MoES) Strategic Action Plan. The objectives of the Operation are to (i) improve teaching and learning conditions; and (ii) strengthen management capacity of the education system. The objective of this assignment is to support project management for the development of the AIKOM software and hardware module in the field of preschool education, including participation in work planning and coordination, monitoring of task implementation, support of communication with stakeholders, and administrative support for the processes of development and acceptance of functionality. The Consultant will be contracted through competitive selection in line with the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” September 2025 (“Procurement Regulations”). The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to Section III, paragraphs, 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the Procurement Regulations, setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest. MOES now invites qualified interested persons to submit their expression of interest in Ukrainian and English as provided in the Terms of reference. The detailed Terms of Reference and submission modalities for the assignment are attached to this Request for Expression of Interest. The deadline for submission of applications is 14:00 am Kyiv time August 25, 2026.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

for the provision of consulting services (individual consultant) Junior Project Manager for the Development of the Automated Information Complex for Education Management (AIKOM) for Preschool Education

Procurement No. LEARN-2.2-ECEIT-TA3 Program "Lifting Education Access and Resilience in Times of Need in Ukraine" (LEARN) Grant URTF No. TF0D0612 I. Background The Government of Ukraine is implementing a comprehensive reform of the education sector aimed at strengthening teaching and learning conditions and enhancing management capacity at all levels of education, which is one of the key tasks on Ukraine's path to EU accession. With the adoption in 2024 of the new Law of Ukraine "On Preschool Education", which entered into force on 1 January 2025, active transformation processes have also encompassed the preschool education sector. Early childhood and preschool education ranks first among the strategic priorities defined by the Strategic Action Plan of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine until 2027, approved by Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine No. 276 dated 7 March 2024. The ultimate goal of the reform is to ensure access to quality preschool education for every child, including children with special educational needs. This goal is to be achieved through a number of strategic objectives: accessibility, highly qualified and motivated staff, alignment of the quality and content of education with European requirements, and the functioning of effective systems for monitoring and quality assessment, management, and financing. European Commission's 2024 Communication on EU Enlargement Policy notes the steps taken as a certain degree of progress. It highlights the following task — to ensure the implementation of preschool education legislation that introduces measures aligned with EU principles and focuses on quality early childhood education, guaranteeing access for children of early and preschool age, fair rules for the operation of preschool education entities, and decent working conditions for staff. The implementation of this reform is also accompanied by the development of a draft Preschool Education Development Strategy, presented during the "First Steps Forward" event, new secondary legislation, and additional budget allocations. These reforms, the most transformative in over three decades, will be implemented in two phases. The first phase envisages capacity development at the national and local levels for the implementation of reforms on a limited scale, in approximately 35 territorial communities, combined with careful process evaluation to prepare for scale-up. The second phase envisages the implementation of the Strategy at the national level. To support the first phase of the preschool education reform, the Government has requested additional resources under the technical assistance component financed through the Investment Project Financing instrument of the "Lifting Education Access and Resilience in Times of Need in Ukraine" (LEARN) project. In 2024, Ukraine and the World Bank signed agreements for the "Lifting Education Access and Resilience in Times of Need in Ukraine" (LEARN) operation. The objective of LEARN is to: (i) improve teaching and learning conditions; and (ii) strengthen the management capacity of the education system. Total financing for LEARN amounts to USD 451.0 million and combines the following World Bank financial instruments: Program-for-Results (PforR) financing – USD 389.9 million, and Investment Project Financing (IPF) – USD 61.1 million. Program-for-Results (PforR) is implemented through a loan of USD 235 million provided from Bank resources and supported by the A