Pre-Bid Conference, March 25, 2018
Questions and Answers regarding the published RFP on Education – Development of Distance Learning in Science Education
- Where are the GDSET Centers?
Answers: The GDSET Centers of Excellence are in eight regional provinces. The provinces are: Central (Kabul), Central High (Bamyan), South (Kandahar), South-East (Khost), West (Herat), North (Mazar), North-East (Badakhshan) and East (Nangarhar).
- Can organizations preparing to respond to the RFP visit the GDSET provincial Centers?
Answers: Yes, the Foundation can facilitate this by visiting the GDSET Central Office in Kabul and its provincial center of Kabul at this stage. The other provinces can be visited following the declaration of winner organization.
- What kind of connectivity method the biddersshould propose for this RFP?
Answer: It is up to the bidders. However, the connectivity should support good internet speed/access, have good availability and not have regular technical problems, and maintainable using Afghanistan’s resources.
- Is the development of GDSET website a major activity?
Answer: Yes, it is a major activity and outlined in the RFP. It will serve as the place where people go to find links to modules, training schedules, and other key GDSET activities.
- Do the bidders develop a training package for the beneficiaries on how to use the product?
Answer: Yes, that is a must. A video clip or a training package should be developed so that the beneficiaries can understand the usage of product.
- In the RFP check list, it is mentioned about the risk assessment. What kind of risk assessment it should be?
Answer: It should be a project implementation risk areas. Example: A possible risk is that qualified technical personnel in a specific area may not be available in Afghanistan. How does the bidder propose to manage this risk? We are not asking for risks related to infrastructure, security etc.
- Can the development of all or parts of the solution be developed abroad?
Answer: Yes. However, the bidder must explain the rational for this. The Asia Foundation is an “Afghans First” organization, and if the talent is available in Afghanistan, it must be used. This also greatly facilitates sustainability by ensuring skills are available in-country for maintenance, upgrades, and so on.
- Who are the main beneficiaries?
Answer: The main beneficiaries are teachers, the academic staff of GDSET, and a few other areas in the Ministry of Education (MoE).
- Can we propose putting the developed materials into the CDs or DVDs?
Answer: No, it is not sustainable. It should be web based.
- The time boundary of project is not clear?
Answer: The initial/ first phase is for one year. Once the proposal is accepted, the Foundation will work with the bidder to clearly define a timeline with specific deliverables and this will be part of the contract.
- Should the bidders propose facilitators for trainings on how to use the application?
Answer:Yes. The first round of training and training materials must be provided by the bidder. Subsequently, once capacity is developed, this training can be taken over by the regional GDSET staff.
- Can three or four companies bid as a consortium of companies?
Answer:The Foundation will contract with ONLY one organization. If the organization, in turn, wants to enter into sub-agreements with other organizations, that is up to them.
- Do we (organizations/ companies) deal with The Asia Foundation or MoE?
Answer:You are dealing with the Foundation and coordinating with the MoE/GDSET, but the Foundation is facilitating this coordination.
- What is the date for evaluation of proposals?
Answer: It is still to be determined, but it will not take long as the Foundation is moving this forward quickly.
- How is the review and procurement process?
Answer: The Foundation is fully implementing its own procurement process. In the first stage, the Foundation through a committee, reviews and shortlists the technical proposals.After shortlisting four proposals, the committee will invite each of them to a face-to-face interview for further clarification. Upon completion of this, the Finance department reviews the financial proposal to evaluate the budget presented.
The technical score is 75% and the budget is 25%. Once the scores are combined, the procurement department submits the winning bid to program and finance areas for moving it forward.
- If abidder has additional questions, how can communicate?
Answer: The responses of this pre- bid conference will be published within two days. If there are additional questions, the bidder can send an email to the email address provided in the RFP and they will get the response very soon. No phone calls are permitted. The email response will go out to all known bidders to-date.
- Can we visit the GDSET Central Office to further understand its potential for providing distance-learning?
Answer: Yes, the Foundation is setting up a time and will communicate with the organizationson date and time.
- How ca we review the GDSET strategic plan to further understand its priority for using technology to improve the science education?
Answer: The Foundation will share the GDSET strategic plan through email.
Important Note: The deadline for submissions onthis RFP is extended to
April 08, 2018 3:00pm.