From Education to EmploymentCall for Proposals – Pilot Areas

Non-formal training program for hard-to-place youth

Guidelines for applicants

Contracting authority: IP ConsultThe first call: 10 May, 2017Deadline for submission of full applications: 03 June, 2017

“From Education to Employment” (E2E) Program is financed by the Swiss Development Cooperation and implemented by IP Consult. The project tests different youth

employability enhancement models in Novi Pazar, Knjaževac, Pirot, Kruševac and Kragujevac through promotion of public-private development partnerships (PPDP)

between public institutions, businesses and training providers and support to trainings that address the skills gaps at the local labor market. In the five pilot areas, local mediators

act as main partner organizations of E2E.

Purpose of the Call

The E2E Programme facilitates person-centered approaches of institutions and organizations to identify or develop the right trainings for disadvantaged youth and to ensure their access to selected trainings;

Non-formal trainings, internships, apprenticeships, target-group specific interventions or supported employment possibilities for hard-to-place young people, support the work integration of the young people from the five pilot areas;

The applicant supports its clients/ beneficiaries to participate in trainings that meet both requirements: labor market needs and individual’s competences;

Best practices of supported programs will provide feedback to the national dialogue on youth employment and social inclusion policies;

The E2E programme relies on public and private experiences from Switzerland that focus on the integration of hard-to-place or disadvantaged young people in the labour market.

1 Background and objectives

1.1 Context

The position of youth on the weak Serbian labor market is considerably difficult. In the past years, youth are the only major demographic group that have played virtually no role in the labor market recovery processes. Despite the high youth unemployment rate, there are also great indications of discouragement: 20% of youth (up to 24% within 15-29 years old in 2015 according to recent ILO studies) are Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET). During the last decade, youth inactivity increased continually from nearly 67% in 2008 to 72% in 2014.

The NEET youth group is a major concern: 20% of youth aged 15-24 belong to this group. The main reason for inactivity is not only discouragement but also disinterest in work due to the availability of other sources of income (e.g. family household income, remittances). Discouragement is the consequence of the low probability that youngsters find a job given the current high youth unemployment rate and the lack of future job opportunities.

Many inactive young people have neither work experience nor practical skills and being trapped in long-term unemployment which further diminishes their prospect of activation and employment. The social support system is not conducive to activation and there is also a lack of flexible jobs that could be reconciled with education, which is further accentuated by the existence of a statutory minimum social insurance contributions base.

In mid-2015, 177,623 young people in Serbia have registered at the NES as unemployed, out of these, 92,154 are young men and 85,460 are young women resulting in a youth unemployment rate of 41.1%. Long-term unemployment is a very serious problem for the youth in Serbia, as over half of the unemployed youth has been seeking employment for more than one year.

Long term unemployment has a particularly adverse effect on youth and their position on the labour market as it often leads to skills erosion, to a move into discouragement and inactivity. As a result, their knowledge becomes outdated and the probability to become employed decreases proportionally to the length of their unemployment, which could potentially lead to their permanent exclusions from the labour market and most likely from the prospect to work in an occupation they have been trained for.

Many youngsters in Serbia decide to pursue further education only because they were not able to get their first job, due to the dire economic situation and due to the lack of adequate labour market information to make informed career pathway decisions (e.g. lack of vocational orientation, career guidance and counselling). Deficiency of quality and relevant education (e.g. the lack of labour market oriented relevant education), which is currently often not preparing young people for the world of work, is the main cause of youth inactivity.

Women and men don’t participate equally in the job market; wage gap between men and women is remarkable. Long-term unemployment is higher for young women than for young men (52 months vs. 41 months). In addition, inactivity rates of young women were registered at 42% compared to the 27% of young men. Young women belong to hard to-reach and disadvantaged groups and require therefore additional attention for all measures targeting young unemployed.

1.2 Target groups and beneficiaries

The target groups under this call are young women and men in and around Novi Pazar, Knjaževac, Pirot, Kruševac and Kragujevac, at the age from 15-29, with no or low qualification, who are either actively looking for a job or for further secondary education, who are unemployed or inactive as well as belonging to the NEET group. In justified cases, the Program may also support young people up to 35; this applies above all to youth with disabilities due to slower work integration process.

E2E addresses this target group at all stages of the process. The stages cover the entry of youth into a new phase of life that might be the decision for an educational program or an active search for a job; and the stages end with their access to non-formal trainings and deployment at companies (via internships, trainees, apprenticeship). The scope of the program therefore encompasses working with youth at different stages and in different situations, with a focus on the school-to-work transition that can be enhanced by tailored labour market measures, non-formal trainings and other support towards work integration and social inclusion.

The E2E under this call specifically addresses institutions and organisations that explicitly target the work integration of young people that (also) face difficulties to be placed due to their belonging to one of the following target group in the five pilot locations (figures from 2015). Applicants are expected to develop tailored programs and support schemes for their target group.

Pilot location

Prioritised target group of hard-to-place youth Number of youth aged 15-29/30 of this target group

Knjaževac Youth from rural areas 1800

Drop-outs, early school-leavers, youth without secondary education

1245

Kragujevac Unemployed slightly mentally and physically disabled youth

244

Young women from rural area 1500

Other women target groups: poor, un-/low-qualified, victims of domestic violence, single mothers

No figures

Kruševac Youth offenders and ex-offenders from Rasina area 50-60

Novi Pazar Youth returnees 12 (in 2015)

Youth in the register of the Centre for Social Work 1280 (aged 18-25)

Pirot Roma youth 800 (750 unemployed)

1.3 Objectives of the program and priorities

The overall goal of E2E program is to increase youth employability in Serbia in a socially inclusive and sustainable way. Unemployed, vulnerable and hard-to-place youth shall position themselves better into the labour market due to a set of information and guidance services, labour market measures and job-market-driven non-formal trainings facilitated through local public-private development partnerships (PPDP) in five pilot areas.

The labour market measures and non-formal training programs shall be either exclusively tailored or accessible for (and used by) the above mentioned prioritized target groups. They are considered a first priority-setting based on the assessment of the inception phase of E2E. Nevertheless, applicants may also propose interventions for other specific target groups.

With following key actions, the E2E project team will facilitate the local partners and selected applicants under this call to design solutions that are tailored and meet the very specific needs of their target groups and individuals.

To develop target-group specific partnerships, structures and educational models/ services for hard-to-place youth (if required with support of national and international experts), such as bridging options, motivation semesters, introductory courses, apprenticeships as well as work integration measures for youth with disabilities and disadvantages;

To organize inspiring study visits to Switzerland to learn about different models of effective labour integration of hard-to-place youth;

To provide trainings to develop vocational profiles for the clients, in order identify the right trainings through person-centered approaches and if reasonable to develop tailored curricula for all individuals of the targeted group;

To implement, under this call, the non-formal training program through provision of financial and technical assistance to institutions or organizations that facilitate or provide non-formal training programs for hard-to-place youth.

2 Rules for this call for proposals

The fund provides financial assistance to institutions or organizations that support the work integration of disadvantaged young people from the five pilot areas. Eligible institutions and organizations promote access to and participation in non-formal and work-based training opportunities for the clients of their target group. By using person-centered approaches, they support the choice and development of the right trainings. The applicant should support its clients/ beneficiaries to participate in trainings that meet both requirements: labor market needs and individual’s competencies.

The E2E programme supports person-centered approaches incl. case management that strengthen the capacity of organizations and institutions to develop individual vocational/ skills profiles of their clients. Such profiles and approaches shall facilitate the identification of the right trainings and other supporting measures to effectively raise the employability and chance to find employment.

The applicant supports the beneficiaries to define their individual vocational profile(s) and to identify the training that would support their work integration. The institution/ organization provides to beneficiary lists of training opportunities and can accept new trainings proposed by the beneficiary.

As a principle, the beneficiaries shall take the final decision for a training, whereas the applicant reserves the right not to provide support when the desired training does not correspond with the training needs.

The Non-formal training program for hard-to-place youth wants to stimulate organizations to actively search for partnerships with local institutions (and vice versa) towards building wide-ranging and expansive local PPDP on improvement of employability and employment of hard-to-place young people. The more effective the placement of disadvantaged people is, the less will be the public costs for social assistance.

The applicants are expected to appoint experienced employees to attend the training offerings provided by E2E.

2.1 Eligibility Criteria

There are three sets of eligibility criteria which relate to:

1) the actors – the entity submitting the proposal

2) the actions – activities for which funds may be awarded

3) the costs – types of costs that may be taken into the grant budget

2.1.1 Eligibility of applicant

Eligible are public institutions such as the National Employment Service, Centres for Social Work, Municipalities and Women Houses, as well as foundations and any other not-for profit organizations or firms that provide, outsource or advocate for labor market measures aiming at integration of specific target groups into the world of labor.

Applicant must be a legal entity, registered as not for profit organisation, or be a public institution

Applicant must be registered in Serbia and with operations in and around one of five targeting areas: Krusevac (Rasinski okrug), Knjazevac (Zajecarski okrug), Pirot (Pirotski okrug), Novi Pazar (Raski okrug), Kragujevac (Sumadijski okrug)

If an NGO, applicant should have positive balance in the last budget year

Target groups are not limited, but priority will be given to above mentioned prioritised target groups of hard-to-place youth in the pilot areas

Applicant must participate actively on building local PPDP about youth employment and work integration/ social inclusion of disadvantaged groups

Applicant must be the project holder directly responsible for development and management of the project activities and, in case of partnership with other organisations, companies, institutions, be the lead partner

Partnerships of different organisations, public institutions and/or other entities that may result with synergy effect and additional value are encouraged. Potential partner to the applicant may be another company, public institution, CSO or educational institution/training provider under the same criteria of eligibility related to legal status and geographical position as the lead applicant.

2.1.2 Eligibility of actions

The activities proposed by the applicant are supposed to lead to a Non-formal training program for hard-to-place youth as described under target group, containing:

Development and implementation of competence assessment tools, vocational profiling tools, person-centered approaches and case management innovation;

Development of support schemes for the target group and individual career development/ training/ support measure plans;

Support the participation of clients/ beneficiaries in non-formal trainings that provide concrete solutions and benefits in terms of their employability and employment perspectives, and provide an appropriate proportion of work-based learning within a company, in the form of internship, apprenticeship or mentoring;

Development and promoting of tailored training opportunities, either through networking to companies and training providers, and/ or design or improve tailor-made soft/ core skills trainings for all (or more) clients of the same target group;

Every training program for an individual should be based on a personal vocational profile/ assessment of the client;

Trainings with participation of applicants’ clients shall ideally be based on an occupational profile and SKA (skills, knowledge, attitudes) analysis.

Each training should be accomplished with a certificate or a final exam to test participant’s achievements in gaining relevant competences, to be provided to each participant. As a means of verification, the project holder is obliged to submit to the Contracting Authority copies of participation list, attendance lists, protocols, training material, evaluation lists and copies of certification of attendance/achieved competences issued to participants.

Non-eligible actions are

Actions related to gambling industry, weapons and arm industry

Actions concerned only, or mainly with individual activities or private participation on events

Actions aimed at supporting political activities

Duration

Duration of Non-formal training program for hard-to-place youth under this call is limited to 12 months. It is expected that applicants will propose a program with optimal duration depending on the training needs of their clients and the availability of relevant offerings on the market

2.1.3 Eligibility of costs

The grant will cover only eligible costs that are directly connected to project activities and necessary for completion of activities. The amounts or rates must be based on estimates using objective data such as actual market prices, statistical data or any other objective means or with reference to certified or auditable historical data of applicants.

The budgeted costs must correspond fairly to the actual costs that are expected for realization of activities by the project holder and associated partners. The proposed budget should verify that costs are in line with accounting practice and that costs are not already covered by other source of funding.

Additionally, in the column of proposed budget (Annex 2) - ‘Justification of the estimated costs’, per each of the corresponding budget item or heading applicants must:

Describe the information and method used to establish the amounts of unit costs, lump sums, flat rates etc.;

Clearly explain the formulas for calculation of the final amount (staff costs, travel expenses, specific costs arising from organization of an event, etc.)

Brief explanation of the necessity of each cost for realization of activity

IP-Consult, as Contracting Authority may request additional clarification of the proposed budget and may impose certain modifications or reductions of the proposed budget. It is therefore in applicants’ interest to provide a realistic and cost-effective budget.

Eligible direct costs may include all expenses directly related to realization of Non-formal training program for hard-to-place youth:

Operational costs related to realization of activities -renting space, utilities, and stationery;

Development of vocational profiles and assessments of the beneficiaries (clients);

Technical assistance in development of training curricula (based on SKA analysis or other analysis);

Selection of training participants;

Realization of theoretical part of the training – trainers’ fees and expenses, training material, renting a training venue, costs related to realization of training;

Realization of practical part of the training – material and resources necessary for trainee’s practical work, fees for potential mentors;

Expenses related to interns’ monthly allowance (costs of transportation, meals…);

Expenses related to final exam.

The budget may include a contingency reserve not exceeding 5% of the estimated direct eligible costs. It can be only be used with the prior written authorization of the Contracting Authority.

Ineligible Costs

Debts and debt service charges (interests);

Provisions for losses or potential future liabilities;

Fines, financial penalties;

VAT

Costs declared by the applicant and financed from another source;

Purchasing of material or equipment that is not related to Non-formal training program for hard-to-place youth, or beyond the necessary quantities; exceptions may be possible for equipment/ technical interventions that are a precondition for employment of youth with disabilities, and tools/ materials that are required to offer specific services for disadvantaged youth.

2.1.4 Other provisions

Number of beneficiaries and if possible, preliminary list of beneficiaries with specific reference to their vocational profile, training needs, and specifying place of living, age, sex, NEET status, education (with respect to data protection regulations: names only upon approval of beneficiary, otherwise to codify);

Training needs ideally meet the demands expressed by the private sector through Skills Gap Analysis, updated occupational profiles or are based on identified SKA needs by the applicant that refers to his/her vocational profile;

Listed beneficiaries meet the requirements by belonging to the specified target group;

List of accepted trainings are either exclusively tailored for the target group or – if an inclusive training for ‘all’ is provided - accessible for the target group;

Listed trainings provide concrete benefits to young women and men in terms of their employability and employment perspectives; contain work-based/ dual learning elements in companies; are

based on PPDP (cash, in-kind);

Sustainability of listed training measures in terms of follow-up labor market measures;

Budget, reasonable cost-benefit ratio of the proposed Non-formal training program for hard-to-place youth (expected average value of training expenses per individual; expected benefit for the target group);

Co-finance the intervention: Applicant (and/or associated third parties) is expected to provide cost share of min. 20% of the requested award; the contribution of up to 20% can be provided as in-kind contribution. Cash contributions are especially valued;

Applicant is ready to share project and evaluation results with national stakeholders (through SIPRU - Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit of Serbian Government) and local partners from other pilot areas;

Applicant is committed to share with IP Consult lessons learned and the impact of realised measures to beneficiaries (including but not limited to the key indicators set by IP Consult);

Applicants are obliged to take in the project proposal certain activities related to project visibility and promotion in public: create and communicate specific messages to the target group, using available means for communication such as internet, social networks; put on their website information about the project awarded and link to the website of the project ‘Znanjem do posla’; participate in all media and visibility actions taken by the Contracting Authority;

For contracting, awarded (lead) applicants will be asked to submit relevant financial documents to proof they made positive financial result in the previous budget year and statement that all taxes and other obligations of the company are fulfilled regularly;

Applicants may submit more than one application within each Call if they deal with dissimilar and unrelated topic.

2.2. Implementation procedure of awarded proposals

First phase of the project realization is to build capacity of awarded applicant:

to ensure the application of an appropriate person-centred or supported employment approach targeting both the job seekers(clients) and employers. Granted applicant focuses on identifying the skills, competences and abilities of job seekers (vocational profiling, professional and personal assessment) and matches these capabilities with the needs of employers;

Collection of relevant key labor market information for individual, to ensure informed career choices and person centred approach;

Identification of career opportunities and setting priorities for trainings and other required active labour market measures, for each individual.

The first milestone is the completed vocational profile and the personal assessment for each individual (beneficiary)and a definition of the individual career opportunities and the prioritised training needs, signed by both the granted applicant and the beneficiary. Based on Contracting Authority’s approval, the instalment of budget for the following phase will be transferred and project holder may proceed with activities.

Second phase implies the development of a feasible training and labour market program based on the results of the first milestone.

Identification of relevant training opportunities and ensuring the access to them; approach employers for vacancies in work based trainings or interships.

Agreement with training providers/ employers on the conditions of the trainings (work place acess, conditions, working hours, safety and other relevant issues).

If relevant, develop or improve tailor-made training programs for all or some of the clients; training program may be any kind of supporting interventions towards work integration.

Produce for each individual a detailed plan for trainings/ measures, with timeline and budget

The second milestone is a set of proposed training/ labour market measures for each individual, including the training curricula of tailored and all other trainings, the timelines, the budgets and the overall budget of all interventions. Contracting Authority will evaluate the prosed programs and upon approval the project holder may proceed with third phase of the project.

Third phase is the realisation of the trainings/ interventions according to the plans.

Financial contribution to training providers and, if relevant, the participants; administration.

Assistance, coaching, supervision of beneficiaries during the duration of the interventions.

Monitoring and evaluation of the interventions, in close cooperation with beneficiaries and the contracting authority, and definition of further steps after completion.

The third milestone is the fully realised training program by the project holder according to the training plans. The lead applicant is obliged to submit the final report with evaluation of the program executed. The applicants should take into consideration the structure of the project and follow the defined activities and milestones in their proposals, as well as budget allocations.

3 Application Procedure

3.1 Proposal

The applicants are expected to submit before the deadline the proposal using the application form (Annex 1), project budget (Annex 2) and other documentation requested by this call:

Copy of organisation’s registration document (the same goes for partners), or relevant confirmation of the public institution

Partnership agreements in case of partnership with other entities

3.2 Language

The language of the application is English. The application form is to be written clearly to enable full understanding of the project idea and methodical evaluation.

3.3 Questions, submission, deadline

Questions may be sent at latest 5 days before the deadline by e-mail to: nebojsa.simic@ip-consult.de

Answers will be provided in written and communicated to all applicants via www.znanjemdoposla.rs

Deadline for submission of the application: 03 June, 2017

Applications should be sent by email to: konkursi@znanjemdoposla.rs

4 Evaluation procedure

The award criteria evaluate the quality of application in relation to the objectives and priorities of E2E programme and award funds to proposals which maximize the overall effectiveness of this call for proposals. Applications will be examined by the evaluation team of the contracting authority.

All applications that passed the administrative checking will be evaluated using evaluation criteria in the evaluation grid below. If necessary, the team will invite applicants for interview and additional explanation of proposed action.

The selection criteria are used to evaluate applicant’s operational and financial capacity to verify that applicant has stable and sufficient sources of finance to maintain its activity throughout the proposed action, and have sufficient management capacity and professional competences to successfully complete the proposed action.

The evaluation grid is divided into sections and subsections. Each subsection will be given a score between 1 and 5 as follows: 1 = very poor; 2 = poor; 3 = adequate; 4 = good; 5 = very good.

Evaluation criteria Maximum score

General impression 5The application is well written, understandable and formally correct; the layout of the application is attractive and includes pictures and illustrative graphics.

5

Relevance 10The applicant describes very well the problems, challenges and needs of the disadvantaged group that shall be supported through training measures.

5

The proposed training program is understandable and relevant; it contains a procedure to identify appropriate trainings that aim at the work integration.

5

Benefits and social inclusion 15The program explicitly targets the work integration of individuals and supports work-based trainings.

5

The program offers both tailored trainings for the target group and support to the access of individuals to existing further trainings of other providers.

5

The applicant promotes the employability of young women. 5Objectives and results 10The objectives are realistic to achieve in regard of available resources and of the proposed implementation arrangements.

5

The program provides visible results for the targeted youth and the community. 5Know-how and experience 15The applicant demonstrates relevant expertise and experience in work with the specifically targeted youth.

5

The applicant demonstrates sound understanding of the local labor market, its potentials and limits vis-à-vis the target group.

5

The applicant has a comprehensive overview of the existing relevant and accessible training opportunities.

5

Partnerships 10The applicant proposes a public-private development partnership of public institutions, training providers, companies and/or civil society organisations that work with the targeted youth.

5

The project uses synergies with existing labour market measures, policies or initiatives of public institutions, private companies or donors.

5

Sustainability 10The application proves that beneficiaries do/may profit from other/ follow-up labor market measures in addition to the supported training measures.

5

The applicant shows genuine effort to ensure the continuation or institutionalization of the program after completion of the project.

5

Assumptions, risks and flexibility 10The applicant is aware of potential risks over the project and shows how to manage those risks that would have a negative effect.

5

The applicant has described weaknesses or gaps of the applying organisations/ institutions and teams and how to overcome them.

5

Budget 15The budget of the program is realistic and transparent. 5The program has a very good cost-benefit ratio (costs compared to number of beneficiaries and quality of labour market measures/ trainings).

5

The project is supported or developed by more than one institution/ organization and third parties (cash, in-kind).

5

Total score 100

5 Notification of final decision

The applicants will be informed in writing of the contracting authority’s decision concerning their applications, and, if rejected, the reasons for the negative decision.