RFI_STEM_March 2024-AASigned.pdf

U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

1A Nady El Etisalat Street (off Laselki) New Maadi, Cairo, Egypt Postal Code11435

(2‐02) 2522‐7000 cairomedia@usaid.gov usaid.gov/egypt | #usaidegypt | @usaidegypt

Request for Information (RFI) #72026324RFI00003

Activity: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Education

Issuance Date: March 12, 2024

Response Date: March 26, 2024, at 15:00 Cairo Local Time

Response emails: nafify@usaid.gov and avonbriesen@usaid.gov

To All Development and Private Sector Partners and Members of the Development Community, The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Egypt hereby issues a Request for Information (RFI) to gather feedback to strengthen the design of an upcoming science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education activity. This activity aims to support the Ministry of Education and Technical Education’s (MOETE) vision of expanding STEM education concepts across mainstream public schools in Egypt, providing students interdisciplinary learning opportunities, project‐based instruction, and soft skills development in addition to core technical skills that will prepare them for a rapidly evolving labor market.

This is a Request for Information (RFI), providing information to parties interested in USAID’s support in Egypt, and seeks to collect any information and suggestions about USAID’s planned programming.

Information collected is intended to contribute to the Mission’s activity design and development for an intended future Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Application (RFA).

USAID/Egypt is only seeking feedback on the attached document. Please note that USAID/Egypt is not seeking technical or cost proposals/applications at this time. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or assistance agreement.

Responses to this RFI are voluntary and USAID/Egypt will not pay respondents for any information provided in response to this RFI. If a future RFP/RFA is issued, it will be announced on www.SAM.gov or www.grants.gov at a later date.

Please note that responding to this RFI will not give any advantage to any organization or individual in any subsequent competition. Responses may be used by USAID without restriction or limitation, therefore, proprietary information should not be sent. While we welcome any comments you may have, we ask that if you choose to respond, that you address the issues/questions in the attached document.

Please limit responses to five (5) pages and include your organization’s name, address, point of contact, and email address. Please do not submit applications, proposals, resumes or promotional materials, as they will be discarded. The submission shall be written in English and typed on standard 8 1/2" x 11" paper, single spaced, font size 12 with each page numbered consecutively.

Please send all responses to this RFI via email to Nermin Afify and Amelie Von Briesen at the email addresses and date indicated above with the title “72026324RFI00003”. You will receive a confirmation acknowledging receipt of your response but will not receive individualized feedback on any comments or suggestions.

Questions regarding this RFI will not be answered. After USAID reviews and considers any responses, a decision will be made regarding whether and how to proceed with the design and solicitation of a new activity.

Thank you for your assistance and interest in USAID/Egypt programs.

Sincerely, Alula Abera Contracting & Agreements Officer

Attachment A: Background & Purpose Attachment B: List of Questions

Attachment A: Background and Purpose

I. Introduction

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to collect written information about an upcoming

STEM education activity, in which USAID seeks feedback from potential implementing organizations, local, international, private sector, and other development partners.

II. Purpose

This RFI intends to gather market insights for a potential science, technology, engineering, and math

(STEM) education activity. This activity aims to support the Ministry of Education and Technical

Education’s (MOETE) vision of expanding STEM education concepts across mainstream public schools in Egypt, providing students interdisciplinary learning opportunities, project‐based instruction, and soft skills development in addition to core technical skills that will prepare them for a rapidly evolving labor market.

USAID is seeking:

● Information on the technical capacity organizations have to help USAID partner with the

Government of Egypt to expand STEM education concepts into mainstream public schools.

● Recommendations for partnering with the private sector to ensure sustainability of current technology often incorporated into STEM education.

● Insight into local players willing to invest in Egypt’s STEM education.

● Suggestions for the best age or grade for students to be exposed to STEM education.

● Ideas on ways to: 1) improve the enabling environment of STEM education in Egypt, 2) link higher education institutions to STEM schools, and 3) incorporate STEM concepts into mainstream public schools.

● Insight on other identified systematic gaps and barriers to mainstreaming STEM concepts into public schools that may be overlooked.

USAID may use the feedback from this RFI to develop future anticipated programs.

Attachment B: Questions to Interested Parties

Interested parties are invited to provide feedback on the items listed below. The total number of responses should not exceed five (5) pages, including a one (1) page limit for summarizing your organization’s capacity to support USAID/Egypt’s science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education objectives. The remaining four (4) pages should respond to the below questions and also provide any other insights or previous experience in investment in STEM education, sustainability of technology, and proven behavioral‐change approaches for teachers in student‐centered instruction, interdisciplinary curriculum, soft skills development, and project‐based learning. Please include specific experiences relevant to the Egyptian or regional context.

Questions to Interested Parties

1. This activity will explore opportunities to mainstream STEM concepts into public schools across Egypt. What are some best practices for incorporating STEM concepts into mainstream public schools and pitfalls to avoid, if any?

2. This activity seeks to mobilize innovative models to engage the private sector in STEM education. In your experience, what can the private sector or civil society offer to STEM education in Egypt?

3. Who are the current local players that might be interested in investing in Egypt’s STEM education?

4. This activity seeks to improve the enabling environment for STEM education in Egypt which may include private sector or higher education institution linkages with the Government of

Egypt or STEM schools. What challenges and opportunities exist to improve this enabling environment?

5. Would your organization be interested in being part of a co‐creation or co‐design1 process, if the opportunity arises? What other stakeholders would you suggest inviting to such an opportunity?

6. Leveraging the positive contributions of STEM graduates to Egypt’s economy is one of the priorities of this intervention. How would you qualify the current state of the STEM job market in Egypt? What opportunities does the economy offer to both young men and women specialized in STEM fields, and what may be missing?

1 Co‐creation is a design approach that brings people together to collectively produce a mutually valued outcome, using a participatory process that assumes some degree of shared power and decision‐making. Additional resources and information on co‐creation can be found at workwithusaid.gov.