Terms of Reference IAEA Language Training Programme Approved Division of MTHR Revision Date Status Comments 1.0 22.02.2011 J. Kratzheller 2.0 08.03.2011 3.0 24.06.2011 Remarks from MTPS 4.0 final Submitted by MTHR TOR 6.0.docx
Page 2 I. Background Information The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is seeking to enter into an agreement with duration of up to 5 years with a provider for language training. The IAEA is an International Organization located in Vienna, Austria. The IAEA s mandate is the promotion of peaceful uses for nuclear technology. The IAEA staff is a multidisciplinary team of 2 200 professionals and support staff from over 90 countries. The IAEA actively promotes multilingualism and encourages staff members to learn one or more official UN languages as part of its staff development activities. To facilitate language training for its staff members, the IAEA, for many years, has organized a language training programme for all official languages of the United Nations (UN) plus German. The language training programme is organized into two semesters per year and attended by 500 to 1000 students per semester. Participants are IAEA staff members as well as staff from other UN agencies, mission and embassies, and dependants of staff members and consultants. The number of students per language during the last semester was: Language Participants Arabic 19 Chinese 22 English 129 French 95 German 244 Japanese 15 Russian 25 Spanish 98 TOTAL 647 Currently all languages are taught as regular semester courses on seven levels which lead up to the UN Language Proficiency Examination (UNLPE). It is essential that courses are designed specifically to prepare students for this UN wide examination (information on the UNLPE including practice exams can be found at http://www.un.org/exam/lpe/about/main.asp). In addition to regular semester courses, special courses, workshops and summer courses are offered in conversation, writing, listening, and grammar. All language training courses are conducted on the premises of the Vienna International Centre (VIC) where the basic training facilities such as white boards, flip charts, access to a network copy machine, and student desks are provided by the IAEA. In order to minimize disruption of the regular work of staff, the majority of classes are conducted outside core hours or during lunchtime.
3 Page 3 II. Technical Requirements 1. Scope of the Language Training Programme The Contractor shall provide a language training programme for IAEA staff members which shall consist of various levels, each level requiring approximately 48 hours of classroom instruction which shall be conducted during a semester lasting approximately sixteen (16) weeks. The nature of the training shall be such that following the outlined number of levels a student shall have covered the necessary material with the goal to pass the UN Language Proficiency Examination (UNLPE). The language programme shall follow the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Clear learning objectives shall be required for each language and level and at the end of each semester tests shall be administered to monitor the individual progress and to determine whether the learning objectives have been met. Staff completing the highest level in each language course shall be adequately prepared for the UNLPE. Annex 1 shows a comparison of the UNLPE level against the CEFR system. The language training programme shall comply with following requirements: 1.1 Core Languages Requirements for the training of core languages include: Language training shall be provided, according to demand, in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Russian, and Spanish. The main focus of the language programme is to provide on-going training to attain proficiency in an official UN language or in German. For each language, levels of competency from beginner to proficient are required. Additionally, the following types of training courses shall be offered on demand: Type I: Brush up training in oral and written English for newcomers. Type II Training in additional languages required for operational assignments. Type III Intensive training to address participants who wish to progress more rapidly to a higher level of proficiency. 1.2 Additional Language Training Courses For all core languages and based on demand, the IAEA may request the Contractor to provide: Conversation classes; Report writing classes; Summer intensive group courses: o To maintain or accelerate learning; o To enable new arrivals in Vienna to get settled; o To help students with specific difficulties e.g. pronunciation; and o To give revision classes to students to recently failed a course. Optional self-learning courses, on-line courses, and distance learning.
Page 4 1.3 Placement Tests and selection of students Tests required for placement purposes shall: Be designed by the Contractor as both written as well as oral tests for each language; Be provided to the students at no extra cost; Evaluate the level of new students for placement at the appropriate level, or be used as a prerequisite for registration for the UNLPE for recognized dependents;. IAEA staff shall have priority in placement into the Contractor s language training classes, however, the Contractor may accept other participants that enjoy normal VIC access privileges if space permits. 1.4 Student Assessment Both student s attendance and progress in learning shall be regularly monitored in order to comply with IAEA requirements. Therefore, the Contractor shall prepare and conduct intermittent evaluations and standardized course-end examinations to demonstrate successful achievement of the level requirements. Progress evaluations shall be both oral and written. At the end of each course, the evaluation shall determine whether the student can progress to the next level. 2.0 Teaching Methodology 2.1 Technology and Best Practice The programme shall make use of the latest advances in technology and teaching methods. 2.2 Communication with Students The Contractor shall adopt modern communication tools to provide students with up-to-date information regarding course description, home-work assignments, examination dates, classroom code of conduct, etc. 2.3 Teachers Requirements and Course Evaluation Quality standards for teaching staff and administration of the program by the Contractor shall be measured as follows: The teachers shall: o Be fluent in English; o Have a relevant certificate as adult language teachers in the language they are teaching; o Have mother-tongue proficiency of the language they are teaching; o Have a minimum of three (3) years teaching experience in the relevant language. The Contractor shall establish a bi-annual evaluation report of each instructor by class.
5 Page 5 The Contractor shall evaluate on a yearly basis the results of the language training programme. The yearly evaluation report is to be provided to the IAEA Director of Human Resources (DIR-MTHR). DIR-MTHR will periodically initiate an independent evaluation of the language training programme. 3.0 Programme Aspects 3.1 Academic Schedule The academic schedule shall be arranged as follow: The language training programme shall be divided in two semesters, one from September to January and one from February to June. Official IAEA holidays may differ from Austrian holidays. The Contractor shall offer the normal range of classes during official Austrian holidays that may be considered as working days for the IAEA. Classes shall generally consist of 8-15 students. If deemed necessary, classes may be formed with less than eight students. To the extent possible, new classes shall be opened for every group of eight students. Students progressing to the next higher level of language training shall be provided such training, if possible, even if the class size does not meet the accepted minimum of eight students. 3.2 Timetable Classes shall be conducted at the VIC during IAEA working days/hours and scheduled so as to avoid as much as possible interference with the work of staff. Preferred hours are 8:00-9:30, 11:30-14:30, 16:30-18:00. 3.3 Premises Classes shall be offered on-site at the Vienna International Centre under the following conditions: Nine (9) rooms may be made available for language training purposes with a total size of 51 office modules/windows. Each module is 4.6m2, which translates into 234.6m2; the smallest room is four modules, the largest eight. The IAEA will ensure that classroom space is made available as per the Contractor s course schedule. However classrooms will not be dedicated to language training and as such are open to be used for other meetings when class is not in session. The IAEA will provide class rooms with basic equipment (white boards, flip charts, access to shared copy machine, student desks and chairs). The Contractor shall maintain an on-site contact point during the normal working hours of 08:00 17:00. The IAEA will make one of two options available for the Contractor to use as an office and storage space: o 3 modules (13.5 m2); or o 9 modules (40.5 m2)
Page 6 The Contractor shall pay rent for the office and storage space utilized, at a rate set by the Austrian government. This is subject to change but is at the time of release of this Terms of Reference the amount is 24.47 /square meter/month. Enhancements to the equipment infrastructure of the training rooms shall be borne by the Contractor. Any enhancements which may require changes to the classroom infrastructure shall first be cleared through the IAEA. This work shall then be contracted to the Vienna International Centre (VIC) Buildings Management Services (BMS), the costs of which shall be borne by the Contractor. If necessary, the Contractor shall provide a DSL connection or USB wireless device to connect to the internet via the IAEA s guest account (NOMAD). Connection of outside devices to the IAEA s network will not be permitted. 3.4 Reporting to the IAEA The Contractor shall provide the following information in the way of reports: At the end of each regular semester of training, the Contractor shall, within 2 weeks of the last exam, report to the IAEA the results of the language training and projected training for the next semester. Prior to begin of a new academic year; the Contractor shall hold meetings with the IAEA (MTHR) to agree on the academic programme and number of courses to be offered. Classes may only be offered subject to the approval of the IAEA. Training proposals and timetable shall be adjusted each year depending on demand and requirements. 3.5 Training Materials and Books The materials and books used for language training shall be administered as follows: The Contractor shall propose and sell students books and materials at competitive rates, according to each course and language, and subject to approval by the IAEA. Students will be required to pay the cost of the books directly to the Contractor. The Contractor shall provide adequate training materials and materials for self-study free of charge. For additional, optional, training materials a reasonable charge may be collected. The Contractor may charge the students a reasonable fee for supervision in self-studying facilities. 4.0 Administration of the language courses 4.1 Responsibilities of the Contractor In addition to obligations specifically mentioned in previous paragraphs, the Contractor shall be responsible for the following administrative matters: Administrative aspects of the language courses covering the following:
7 Page 7 o Recruitment and contracting of the required number of qualified mother tongue (or mother tongue proficient) language teachers based on a maximum of fifteen (15) students per class. The IAEA shall not have any direct contractual relationship with teachers; o CVs of all new teachers shall be submitted to the IAEA for approval prior to appointment to the language programme s teaching team; o Provision of substitute qualified teachers (for example in the case of prolonged illness) to ensure continuity of services at the same pedagogical level shall be provided within 15 working days; o Training, evaluation and provision of pedagogical supervision to the teachers, and provision of related reports to the IAEA; o Administrative tasks related to the teachers recruitment and employment; o Maintenance of the language providers teaching equipment and pedagogical material; o Design of language courses to be provided and the methodology, subject to approval by the IAEA s management; o Marketing of courses through registration drives in the VIC and via other suitable means; o Sale of teaching material (books); o Develop quality assurance measures (e.g. end of term student surveys). Administrative aspects and management of students covering the following: o Preparation and conduction of placement tests; o Registration of students; o Class formation; o Communication of class lists to IAEA (within two weeks of the start of each semester); o Monitoring of attendance; o Management of instructor absences; o Communication to students of end of year results; o Handling of course fee payments (collection of course fees); o Preparation and grading of exams; o Issuing of certificates. During the semester, the contractor shall dedicate a focal point to take care of the above administrative matters and shall be present in the VIC during normal office hours. 4.2 Support of the IAEA for the Language Programme The IAEA will have the following responsibilities: Approval or rejection of the proposed number of classes to be opened at the start of each term, depending inter alia on the eligibility of participants, enrolment numbers and available classroom space; Approval or rejection of nominations of teachers proposed by the Contractor;
Page 8 To advertise the language courses regularly and provide relevant information to staff members; To advertise the dates and enrolment requirements for the UNLPE; and Make facilities (rooms, chairs, desks, flip charts, access to network copy machine) available for the provision of the language training courses. 5.0 Key Performance Indicators Devices for Key Performance Indicators End of term student surveys are to be developed by the Contractor but cleared by MTHR before issuance to ensure that statistically valuable, unbiased information is being collected. Surveys shall also include information regarding general administration of the language programme including ease of registration, timely availability of course books, classroom set-up, etc. Special surveys shall be developed for participants recently having completed their LPE exams to gauge the preparedness of participants and their feedback on the language programme. Key Performance Measures for Instructor Quality Unsatisfactory end of term student surveys shall be addressed between the teacher and the Contractor, two consecutive unsatisfactory end-of-term student surveys can result in the removal of the teacher from the teachers roster. Key Performance Measures for Administrative Quality Regardless of survey results, administrative aspects shall be discussed between MTHR and the Contractor after each semester. If the language training provider is found to be performing to non-satisfactory standards, the Contractor shall be given two semesters to make improvements otherwise the IAEA may terminate the Contract.
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