Audit of USAID/Pakistan"s participant training program

The audit covers participant training activities as of 10/90. USAID/P has encountered serious problems in managing one of A.I.D."s largest participant training programs. In the first place, its centralized database, which tracks trainees and their post-training employment, is not to up to date. As a result, it does not know whether 2,600 participants, who received training valued at $47.4 million, have returned from overseas, and it is also unaware whether another 1,400 trainees who reportedly did return have used their training effectively. Second, even though only about 45% of available training slots have been filled during the last 3 years, USAID/P has not revised its training plans. There is potential for deobligating or reprogramming an estimated $27.2 million for five of six projects reviewed. Third, USAID/P has not ensured that the training institutions selected were the most cost-effective or that payments were made only for allowable costs. It is estimated that if the Mission had limited annual tuition costs to less than $6,000, tuition for participants sent for long-term training during FY90 would be reduced by about $470,000. The Mission has also failed to enforce requirements for English language proficiency. Of a sample of 20 participants, only 7 candidates had taken a language test. Finally, USAID/P has not obtained the contractor reports needed to monitor participants" performance. For example, of a sample of 45 returned participants, documentation on completion of training was available for only 4. The Mission also failed in many cases to receive timely information on poor student performance. In one case, a 36-month Ph.D. program had to be extended at the last minute, resulting in an increase in cost of almost 40% over the original budget.