Requests for Tender are advertised on this link and the AusTender website for 25 calendar days before closing. Details on the requirements are contained in the four-part Request for Tender documentation which includes links to the templates to be when submitting bids. Templates for submissions include:

• Technical Proposal (as part of the Part D: Response to Tender)
• Financial Proposal (required)
• CV
• Training Plan (if applicable)
• Coaching Plan (if applicable)

Once a tender is advertised all questions on the tender may only be made through the message board with questions and answers visible to all potential bidders. The Message Board closes 2 working days before the close of the tender.

An online pre-bid conference for potential bidders is held 3 days after the release of tender. The link to the event is in the tender notification page and posted on the Message Board.

Assessment of Bids is done by a Tender Assessment Panel (TAP) comprising members from the Philippine Government, technical specialists in the subject area, and Australia Awards staff.

Assessment of bids is a two-step process. Technical Proposals of bidders are assessed first. The Financial Proposals of shortlisted bidders are assessed subsequently.

Shortlisted bidders are invited make a presentation to the TAP on their technical proposal and to respond to questions. Bidders may be asked to amend and resubmit their technical proposals to address matters raised by the TAP.

Bidders will be notified of the TAP’s decision, at most 3 working days after their TAP presentations.

A draft contract is included in Part C of the Request for Tender Documentation. Contract discussion commences after the Australia Awards Program approval of the TAP recommendations.  The winning provider will also need to answer questions in the  Ethixbase360 platform that helps us identify, manage, and mitigate risks of services provided by our LSPs

Contracts for training program delivery typically have three Milestones as triggers for payment:

• Inception Report.  The Inception Report which sets out the training plan and the on-the-job coaching plan and the pre-and post-course assessment instrument.
• Completion Report.  The Completion Report which identifies the pre-course competency assessment outcome and the projects or duties to be undertaken on return to the workplace.  The Completion Report will also include summary of the post-training LSP Evaluation Form. 
• REAP Implementation Report.  The REAP Implementation Report which identifies the competency level of the course participant.  It will also contain the Competency Scorecard of each participant.  The REAP implementation report will also specify who among the participants will get a Certificate (Certificate of Participation or Certificate of Completion.)

Australia Awards short courses are competency-based and address competency gaps identified by partner agencies in their Organisational Training Needs Assessments.  The Civil Service Commission defines competencies as “observable, measurable and vital knowledge, skill and attitudes”. 

Competency-based assessment is undertaken through gathering and validating evidence on the competency of individuals.  The Learning Service Provider (LSP) is to develop competency assessment instruments that measure the knowledge and skills of learners through a pre- and post-course competency self-assessment instrument, supervisor validation instruments and through observation upon return to the workplace.  Course participants are approved based on demonstrated competency gaps identified through a competency self-assessment.  LSPs are to ensure nominated applicants complete the online instrument and to confirm their need for training.

Australia Awards short courses are modular and framed against individual units of competency.  They comprise a teaching component, focused largely against the knowledge aspect of the competency and a skill development component that enables the application of the competency upon the participant’s return to the workplace supported by coaching from the LSP and mentoring by the agency.  This skill development aspect is structured against a re-entry action plan (REAP) developed by each participant during the course and approved by each participant’s supervisor that identifies tasks or outcomes to be undertaken by the participant on return to the workplace.  The development and implementation of the REAP is a mandatory and an indivisible component of each Australia Awards short course.

Each Australia Awards partner organisation has signed a Partnership Arrangement in which they commit to “provide necessary support for, and ensure the implementation of, the REAPs”.

LSPs may identify the REAP outcomes during the consultation phase with agency work units or through scheduling REAP session with course participants and supervisors in the module introduction session at the commencement of the training program. 

Most REAPs are individual REAPs generally relating to undertaking a new task that the participant is now competent to perform.  Group REAPs are generally project related undertaken by participants from the same work unit or between work units in the same agency.

While participants may be enrolled in more than one module within a training program, they are only required to do a single REAP that covers all the material covered in the modules they have attended.

LSP roles and responsibilities in the management of the REAP process is reflected in each of the short course contract milestones:

1. In the Inception Report, in addition to the training plan, LSPs are required to develop a workplace coaching plan which identifies the coaching and mentoring arrangements to assist participants in the implementation of their REAPs.
   1. LSPs identify REAP outcomes for each participant
2. In the Completion Report, LSPs are to update the REAP titles and identify whether the REAPs are individual or group REAPs.
   1. This information is collected from the REAP forms that participants are required to complete before the end of the teaching component. Links to this and other participant data are provided to the LSP by the Program.
   2. LSPs are to ensure that participants complete the online form including their supervisor’s written agreement to the REAP and commitment to support its implementation.
3. In the REAP Implementation Report, submitted 6 months from the end of the teaching component, LSPs are required to report on the level of progress in the implementation of each REAP:
   1. As noted above, REAPs are the skills component of the competency through the practical application of the knowledge learned in the training module. REAPs are regarded as complete when the participant is assessed as competent against the learning outcomes or behavioural indicators of each competency by the LSP.
   2. In assessing the competency of individual participants, LSPs are to gather evidence of the application of the competency, including from each participants’ supervisor, as to the satisfactory demonstration of competence in their workplace;
   3. The report is also to contain information on the workplace coaching provided relevant to the workplace coaching plan submitted in the Inception Report.
4. The LSP is to prepare a Closing Ceremony program which is to feature some of the notable REAPs completed by participants, usually by a video presentation prepared by participants, write a related feature story to be posted on the Australia Awards website, and prepare Certificates to be awarded to course participants at the Ceremony.

Templates for each of these reports, training and coaching plans can be accessed from the Australia Awards website

Certificates prepared by the Learning Service Provider for awarding to course participants are to be signed by the Course Leader and the Australia Awards Program Manager and sent to be participants.  The Certificates are forwarded to participants after the Closing Ceremony which occurs after the REAP Implementation period, that is, 6 months from the end of the teaching component.  Soft copies of the certificates are to be signed electronically and sent to participants by the LSP immediately after the Closing Ceremony.  The hard copies of the certificates are to be signed and forwarded to Australia Awards for co-signing and distribution. 

Certificates are not awarded to participants who do not attend at least 80% of the teaching component. 

There are three kinds of certificates to be issued by LSPs with the following requirements:

1. Certificates of Appearance to be provided to participants at the completion of each module. Participants require these certificates to explain their absence from the workplace.
   1. This will be issued by Australia Awards and Alumni Engagement Program – Philippines on the advice of the LSP.
2. Certificates of Completion to be provided to participants who have achieved between 51 to 75% of their REAP’s implementation. This level of achievement is to be certified by supervisors on the Program’s website. 
3. Certificates of Participation can be awarded to participants on completion of the course module and for those who do not complete 50% of their REAP implementation.

These Certificates should be prepared by the LSP, in both soft and hard copies and sent to the Australia Awards Program Manager for co-signature.  The signed soft copies are to be distributed by the LSP to participants.  The hard copies will be distributed by the Australia Awards Program.  Certificates of Completion may be provided to participants directly after completion of their REAPs.  Certificates of Participation are provided upon the Program’s acceptance of the REAP Implementation Report submitted six months after the conclusion of the last module of the training program.

A Competency Scorecard for each participant is prepared by the LSP as part of the REAP Implementation Report.  The Scorecard identifies each participant’s competency based on the results of the pre- and post-course competency self-assessments and the views of the LSP on competency improvement gained through coaching and mentoring provided during the REAP implementation process.  The Scorecard provides advice to supervisors on the current competency of the participant, the kind of work the participant is now competent to perform, the ongoing learning support required and advice on the implementation of the REAP.  The Scorecard is to be provided to supervisors of participants, to the HR contact in each agency and to each participant.  Contact information for the recipients will be provided by the Program.

Templates for each of these certificates and the Competency Scorecard can be downloaded from the Program’s website.