REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

Republic of Tajikistan

Learning Environment – Foundation of Quality Education Project

Consulting Services

Contract No: MOES/LEARN/S/2025-25

 

Position: Disbursement Specialist

Issuance Date: 18 June 2025

Closing Date/Time: 01 July 2025, 17:00 (Dushanbe Time)

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BACKGROUND

The Government of the Republic of Tajikistan has received grant funding in the amount of US$50.0 million from the World Bank for the implementation of the "Learning Environment – Foundation of Quality Education Project” (the Project, LEARN) during 2023-2029. The Project will be implemented by the Ministry of Education and Science (MOES), and in close coordination with the Agency for Supervision in the Sphere of Education and Science (ASSES).

 

The Project Development Objective is to enhance the quality of teaching and learning environments in selected general secondary schools.

“Teaching and Learning environment” in this project refers to the complete physical, social, and pedagogical context in which learning is intended to occur. The teaching and learning environment in this project is defined as consisting of the skills and competencies of teachers and physical learning spaces where learning occurs . It is school settings (not just classrooms) and contexts in which students learn and teachers teach within the school premises.

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POSITION OVERVIEW

The main goal of this assignment is to support the LEARN project by managing the disbursement of funds in a timely and accurate way. The Disbursement Specialist will handle accounting tasks and make sure that all disbursement activities follow the rules and procedures set out in the LEARN Project Operations Manual, the World Bank Guidelines for Disbursements, and the laws of the Republic of Tajikistan. The specialist will help ensure that project funds are used properly and according to all requirements.

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RESPONSIBILITIES AND THE SCOPE OF WORK

• Assist in the implementation of components’ accounting to ensure proper control of components’ funds under the Project;

• Process original documents, enter all transactions and daily banking operations into the 1C accounting system with the preparation of the components’ bank documents;

• Make cash payments and advances in cash from the Project funds to cover operating and other costs of the project, at the expense of funds;

• Comply with all World Bank regulations on disbursements, payments, expenses and taxation rules applicable to the Project;

• Advance reports processing of implementing staff and other staff payable under the Project;

• Prepare all evidence and supporting documents for the expenses under the components with the recall statement;

• Assist in the preparation of monthly cash flow statements in the accounts of the project components;

• Maintain electronic cash book and control of bank statements;

• Control of consumption and maintenance of a report on the expenses of fuels and lubricants;

• Process accounting records for all tangible and intangible assets, participate in the annual inventory of fixed assets purchased and transferred under the Project components;

• Participate in the preparation of various reports as requested by the World Bank, the MOES and other relevant government agencies;

• Support the audit process, ensuring that all financial audit findings are properly corrected with due attention;

• Perform other related duties as requested by the Financial Management Specialist and the Project Director in respect of payments for all Components;

• Reconcile disbursement summaries of the World Bank and state enterprises with project records;

• Periodically participate in the development of the project's overall budget and payment plans under the project and submit to the management of the Ministry of Finance for approval;

• Implement at and monitoring of financial/expenditure plans of the Project;

• Prepare in timely manner the Withdrawal Application (Form 2803), Statements of Expenditure (SOE) and Special Commitments (Form 2831);

• Assist in the preparation of data, records and original documents for all operating costs payable from the Project’s accounts.

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MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

 

The candidate should meet the following qualifications:

• Higher education in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Public Administration, Economics or related field;

• 5 years of relevant experience at the national or international level in providing financial management advisory services and/or managing staff and operational systems;

• Strong understanding of the Finance and Accounting policies of the World Bank;

• Experience in Financial management and oversight of projects;

• Strong computer skills (MS Word, Excel, etc.), and practical experience with the 1C Accounting Software, and advanced knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems;

• Good knowledge of Tajik and Russian languages (oral and written) and the knowledge of English language will be an advantage;

• Two reference letters from the most recent employers

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ASSIGNMENT DETAILS

• Duration: 12 months, with an initial 3-month probationary period. The contract may be extended for additional 12-month periods based on mutual agreement and performance evaluation.

• Location: Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

• Reporting: The Disbursement Specialist will be accountable to Project Director/the Deputy Minister on Economic Issues on day-to-day project activities.

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APPLICATION PROCESS

Interested candidates are invited to submit their CV and a cover letter in both Russian and English to the following email addresses:

• procurementlearn.tjk@gmail.com

• c/c: coordinator.learn.tjk@gmail.com

Please ensure the position title is included in the subject line of your email.

The deadline for submitting applications is 01 July 2025, by 17:00 (Dushanbe time).

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The attention of interested consultants is drawn to Sections III, paragraphs 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” (July 2016, revised November 2017, August 2018, and November 2020), which outlines the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest.

 

For further inquiries, please contact:

 

Mr. Muzaffarzoda Badriddin

Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the

Republic of Tajikistan/Director of the Learning 

Environment – Foundation of Quality Project (LEARN)

Nisormuhammad str. 13a, Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Tel/Fax: (+992 37) 2-27-25-69