TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR)

Supporting On-the-Job Training (OJT) for Students

1 BACKGROUND

Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) is the principal institution

responsible for the promotion of Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs)
in rural Nepal. Under its umbrella, AEPC has implemented various
programmes and projects, one of them being the Energy Sector
Assistance Programme (ESAP). ESAP is a comprehensive energy
support programme which was introduced in 1999 with an expected
implementation period of 15-20 years. ESAP Phase I, completed in 2007,
has benefited more than 1.5 million rural people through its provision of
improved cooking stoves, electric lights and other basic services (solar
home and micro hydro systems). The governments of Nepal, Denmark,
and Norway signed a joint financing agreement on March 15, 2007 to
support the second phase of ESAP (hereinafter referred to as ESAP II) for
a further period of five years.

ESAP II specifically targets micro hydro installations for rural electrification

through off-grid power production, Solar Home Systems (SHS) of 10
Watts-peak and above, as well as Small Solar Home System (SHSS)
installations to replace kerosene lamps. In addition to this, it promotes
improved biomass technologies to meet cooking and other heating energy
needs.

ESAP wishes to extend further cooperation with relevant educational

institutions particularly with regards to enhancing practical knowledge of
students on RE. This ToR is drafted with the purpose of serving that
recommendation of the JRM aimed at supporting On-the-Job (OJT) for
students.

2 OBJECTIVES
2.1 Development Objective:

The development objective of ESAP-II is to:

Improve the living conditions of the rural population by enhancing their
access and affordability to rural energy solutions that are efficient,
environment-friendly and that address social justice

2.2 Immediate Objective:

The immediate objective of this activity is in line with the following ISRES
immediate objective:

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 Relevant institutions are capable to coordinate, develop, implement,
and monitor rural energy policy/programmes

2.3 Objective of the ToR

The objective of this ToR is to support students to undergo OJT at various

RE sector institutions in order to enhance their practical knowledge.

3 SCOPE OF WORK (SOW)

A typical SoW under each OJT assignment will depend on the RE sector
organization willing to accept the student. The activities may cover any or
some of the following, depending as well on individual students
background and interest;

Performance of various Renewable Energy Technologies (solar,

micro-hydro, improved cooking stoves, biogas, improved water
mill, wind energy, etc) promoted by AEPC/ESAP

Impact of Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) on rural

communities/households

Gender aspects related to RETs

Specific impacts of RETs on women

Review of policies related to RETs in Nepal

Technical and/or institutional aspects related to RETs in Nepal

Comparative assessment of implementation modalities of

various organizations active in the RE sector

Any other study aimed at suggesting recommendation towards

improvement in the Nepali RE sector

4 INPUTS FROM AEPC/ESAP

Although the students may be placed at various RE sector institutions
other than AEPC/ESAP for their OJT assignments, all OJTs have to be
undertaken in coordination with ISRES component of AEPC/ESAP. The
time of relevant AEPC/ESAP staff and budget will be the main inputs from
AEPC/ESAP. Besides, OJTs will receive guidance/supervision from
respective supervisors at the OJT placement offering institutions and their
advisor/supervisor at their educational institutions.

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5 TIME AND BUDGET
5.1 Timing
It is estimated that each OJT assignment will be for no more than six
months. Extensions may be granted in exceptational cases1. The
students shall propose a realistic workplan for this timeframe and/or
schedule.
5.2 Budget

ESAP intends to provide support at the rate of NRs.300 per day per
student during the course of the OJT. If the OJT assignment requires
field visits, students will be provided with travel costs and daily
subsistence allowance of NRs.300 per day. Besides, if the OJT
placement is to be carried out in a city other than where the applicants
educational institute is located, a one-time travel by road to and from as
per actual basis will be reimbursed upon submission of receipts. Any
additional costs will be the responsibility of the student and/or his/her
educational institution.

6 DELIVERABLES
The student shall deliver the following outputs:

The student shall complete the OJT and other requirements of

his/her degree within the required time-frame
One electronic and hard copy of the OJT report shall be provided to
ESAP within one month of OJT assignment completion

7 QUALIFICATION OF THE STUDENTS

Both Master and Bachelor level students with relevant engineering and
non-engineering backgrounds are eligible to apply. Only applications
from full-time and regular students are eligible for support.

Special preference will be given to the persons from disadvantaged and

discriminated groups and they will be accorded special consideration
while making the support available.

8 SUBMISSION, EVALUATION AND SELECTION

Qualified and interested students are advised to submit their applications
along with all required documents. AEPC/ESAP will not entertain
applications not submitted within the deadline and elsewhere than the
given address. AEPC/ESAP reserves the right to revise, postpone and/or
cancel this call for application/proposal, timely notice of the same will be
conveyed to all concerned.

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For details, see Annex I: Concept Note for Supporting OJT for Students

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 The applications/proposals shall be submitted by 5 pm, Sunday, 18 July
2010, strictly to the following address mentioning, ISRES-
Application/Proposal for OJT, in the cover of the envelopes.

ISRES Component
Energy Sector Assistance Programme
Alternative Energy Promotion Center
Khumaltar Height, P.O. Box 26143 (GPO Kathmandu)
Lalitpur, Nepal
Tel: 5539390-1

Applications/proposals may also be submitted electronically to

kiran.bhattarai@aepc.gov.np mentioning,Application/Proposal for OJT,
in the subject line of the emails. All attachments will have to be MS word
files. Originals of all submitted documents may be asked from successful
applicants for verification purposes.

Evaluation of the application/proposal will be done on the basis of their

overall merit, considering factors such as relevancy, expected outputs and
cost-effectiveness. Based on the review, further information and/or
documentation may be asked from the applicants. The decision on the
support will be taken based on the recommendation of the reviewing
expert(s).

The evaluation criteria will be as follows:

Overall Quality of the Proposal/Application 80%

(relevancy, expected outputs and cost-effectiveness)

Average Grade (AG) of Applicant

20%

(AG 85.1 and above= 20%; AG 75.1-85%= 15%;

AG 65.1-75%= 10%; AG 50.1-65%= 5%; AG below 50%= 0%)

(Disadvantaged and Discriminated group members will automatically

be granted additional 10%)

Within AEPC/ESAP an appraisal team of three members will be

constituted for evaluation purposes.

9 DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED
A cover letter (application) with all relevant details (including time
schedule) about the intended OJT

Letter of approval/recommendation from the supervisor/advisor at

the applicants educational institution. The letter should include: the
introduction of the applicant, his/her enrolment and anticipated
graduation dates, and other relevant information.

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 Letter of endorsement from the concerned Head of Department
(HoD) at the educational institution

Copy of Nepali citizenship

Copy of applicants latest mark-sheet

Copy of applicants CV

Documentary evidence of support from other parties, if applicable

Any other relevant document supporting the application (for

instance, letter from the RE-sector-organization willing to accept the
OJT placement)

10 ANNEXES
ANNEX I
Concept Note for Supporting OJT for Students

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Annex I

Concept Note for

Supporting On-the-Job Training (OJT) for Students

Introduction

Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) is the principal institution

responsible for the promotion of Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) in rural
Nepal. Under its umbrella, AEPC has implemented various programmes and
projects, one of them being the Energy Sector Assistance Programme (ESAP).
ESAP is a comprehensive energy support programme which was introduced in
1999 with an expected implementation period of 15-20 years. ESAP Phase I,
completed in 2007, has benefited more than 1.5 million rural people through its
provision of improved cooking stoves, electric lights and other basic services
(solar home and micro hydro systems). The governments of Nepal, Denmark,
and Norway signed a joint financing agreement on March 15, 2007 to support the
second phase of ESAP (hereinafter referred to as ESAP II) for a further period of
five years.

ESAP II specifically targets micro hydro installations for rural electrification

through off-grid power production, Solar Home Systems (SHS) of 10 Watts-peak
and above, as well as Small Solar Home System (SHSS) installations to replace
kerosene lamps. In addition to this, it promotes improved biomass technologies
to meet cooking and other heating energy needs.

ESAP wishes to extend further cooperation with relevant educational institutions

particularly with regards to enhancing practical knowledge of students on RE.
This concept paper is drafted with the purpose of serving that recommendation of
the JRM aimed at supporting On-the-Job (OJT) for students.

Objective

The objective of this concept paper is to enhancing cooperation with relevant

educational institutes by supporting the OJT placements of their students.

Intended support

ESAP aims at supporting the OJT requests of students financially with the
anticipation that the technical support and guidance will be provided by relevant
authorities of organizations offering placements in coordination with students
 advisors/supervisors at the educational institutes. ESAP intends to provide
support at the rate of NRs.300 per day per student during the course of the OJT.
If the OJT assignment requires field visits, students will be provided with travel
costs and daily subsistence allowance of NRs.300 per day. Besides, if the OJT
placement is to be carried out in a city other than where the applicants
educational institute is located, a one-time travel by road to and from as per
actual basis will be reimbursed upon submission of receipts. Any additional
costs will be the responsibility of the student and/or his/her educational
institution. The maximum period of OJT ESAP intends to support for each
student is six months, extension of individual OJT beyond six months may only
be done in well-justified exceptional cases.

Modality

o Eligibility:

Both Master and Bachelor level students with relevant engineering and
non-engineering backgrounds are eligible to apply. Only applications
from full-time and regular students are eligible for support. Special
preference will be given to the persons from disadvantaged and
discriminated groups and they will be accorded special consideration while
making the support available.

o Application Requirements:

Interested students should submit applications indicating their interest in

the OJT placement. The applicants shall indicate their preference, if any,
regarding the placements (for instance, within or outside of Kathmandu
valley) citing the reasons thereof. If the applicant has already discussed
the OJT possibility with any RE-sector-related organization and obtained
their concurrence, s/he shall mention these details in the application.
Applications shall describe for instance, objectives, rationale, time
schedule, literature review (if any), cost-sharing arrangement from parties
other than ESAP (if applicable), expected outputs, options for
dissemination (if any) of outcomes, etc.

o Review and Evaluation:

The applications will be reviewed by AEPC/ESAP in-house expert(s).

Applications will be evaluated based on their overall merit, considering
factors such as relevancy, expected outputs and cost-effectiveness.
Based on the review, further information and/or documentation may be
asked from the applicants. The decision on the support will be taken
based on the recommendation of the reviewing expert(s).
o Documents to be submitted:

i. A cover letter (application) with all relevant details about the

intended OJT

ii. Letter of approval/recommendation from the supervisor/advisor at

the applicants educational institution. The letter should include: the
introduction of the applicant, his/her enrolment and anticipated
graduation dates, and other relevant information.

iii. Letter of endorsement from the concerned Head of Department

(HoD) at the educational institution

iv. Copy of Nepali citizenship

v. Copy of applicants latest mark-sheet

vi. Copy of applicants CV

vii. Documentary evidence of support from other parties, if applicable

viii. Any other relevant document supporting the application (for

instance, letter from the RE-sector-organization willing to accept the
OJT placement)

o Conditions of Support:

i. The applicant shall complete the OJT and other requirements of

his/her degree within the required time-frame.
ii. The student shall strictly observe the rules and regulations of the
institution/organization offering OJT placement.
iii. One electronic and hard copy of the OJT report shall be provided to
ESAP within one month of OJT assignment completion.
iv. ESAP support will be provided usually in equal monthly
installments. The contract will specify the conditions for release of
each installment.
v. ESAP may ask the successful candidates to make necessary
arrangements to receive the support (for instance, related to
opening bank accounts, etc).
vi. ESAP may add any other condition(s) depending on the nature of
the OJT assignment, which will be specified in the contract.