This activity will support development of Project Operations manual and related materials

TheGovernmentofBotswana(GoB) is undertaking the Promoting Participation and Enhancing Learning (PROPEL) (P513800) project supported by the World Bank (WB). The Project Development Objective (PDO) is to increase participation in preprimary and senior secondary education and improve learning conditions in supported schools, particularly at the junior secondary level. The Project consists of the following four components:

Component 1: Increasing participation in education

Component 2: Enhancing the learning environment

Component 3: Strengthening system capacity for quality education service delivery

Component 4: Project management and implementation support

The Ministry of Child Welfare and Basic Education (MCWBE) is the implementing entity for the Project. AProject Delivery Unit (PDU)(or Program Coordinating Unit) is being establishedwithin MCWBE to support the effective implementation of project activities, including procurement and contract administration; monitoring, evaluation and reporting of progress under the project; fiduciary management; and environmental and social safeguards management. Specifically, the PDU will be responsible for preparing the Project Operations Manual (POM) to guide the implementation of the project. The MCWBE seeks to engage an Individual Consultant to support the preparation of the POM.

The objective of this assignment is to support the PDU in the development and finalization of the POM to clearly describe how the project will be implemented to achieve the expected development objectives and outcomes.

The POM is expected to be the key document which describes the structure of the project and the many stakeholders that are going to be involved in its implementation, including defining the roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders under each component and sub-component and clarifying the implementation arrangements for all the components and sub-components.

The POM should include (i) detailed description of Project activities; (ii) the specific roles and responsibilities of the Project Steering Committee (PSC), PDU, and other entities participating in the implementation of the project and the arrangements for ensuring coordination among them; (iii) arrangements on fiduciary matters, including financial management, audit, and procurement; (iv) institutional administration coordination and day to day execution of project activities; (v) selection criteria and modalities for technical assistance in project supported activities; (vi) monitoring and evaluation; (vii) reporting arrangements; (viii) social and environmental safeguards requirements and procedures; and (ix) other technical and organizational arrangements and procedures as shall be required for the Project.

The POM will be organized or structured as follows:

Section 1 will describe the Project Context. This will include a brief background to the development of the project; state the Project Development Objective (PDO) and the indicators that will be used to measure progress towards the achievement of the objective; clarify the project target beneficiaries; and define the scope of the project. Section 2 will discuss implementation arrangements by components, sub-components and activities of the project. It will include detailed implementation plan (IP) for each activity under the sub-components with clear selection criteria for specific activities. This will also include a detailed section on implementation modalities for activities related to civil-works and community driven development. Section 3 will describe the institutional administrative and implementation arrangements of the project by entity-roles, attributions and responsibilities. Section 4 will discuss the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and the data collection arrangements to effectively measure project results and communicate them to the project stakeholders. Section 5 will clarify the roles and responsibilities related to the financial management arrangements of the project, including the fiduciary responsibilities, reporting requirements, disbursement arrangements and financial controls and auditing of the project. Section 6 will expand on the procurement management and guiding principles. This will also include updating the procurement plan and preparation of Annual Work Plans and Budget (AWPB).

Section 7 will discuss social and environmental safeguards requirements and procedures

Section 8 will discuss Grievance Redress Mechanisms, (GRM), Citizen’s Engagement, Gender and Climate actions.

Section 9 will discuss the communication plan for the project

Section 10 will discuss training and capacity building plan under the project

Section 11 will discuss other provisions

The Consultant shall deliver the following products:

Outline of the Project Operations Manual. Draft version of the POM Final version of the POM

The assignment is planned for up to 3 months between November 2026 and January 2027 and the expected level of efforts is 35 working days. The initial two (2) weeks will be earmarked for the outline of the POM, six (6) weeks for the draft version of the POM and the last four (4) weeks for the final version of the POM.

The consultant will report to the Project Coordinator at the Ministry of Child Welfare and Basic Education, Gaborone. The Consultant will work in close coordination with PDU and MCWBE staff and liaise with the World Bank task team, as required. The Ministry of Child Welfare and Basic Education now invites eligible individual consultants to indicate their interest in providing the services. Interested consultants must provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the services.

The Consultant shall have:

At least a master’s degree in economics , social sciences, law, business administration, management or a related field. Background in engineering/architecture will be an added advantage.

At least 8 years of experience in P