Effectiveness of Opportunities Industrialization Centers International in establishing vocational training in developing countries

Audit report covers the periods 10/77-9/79 (financial activities) and 7/75-9/79 (project performance) and is based on visits to OICI central office and field sites. OICI has used the $8.3 million provided by A.I.D. to establish six functioning VTC"s (in Togo, The Gambia, Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Zambia) and to expand one other; as well as to recruit local staffs and boards of directors, acquire training facilities, and provide technical guidance. Most VTC"s, however, have experienced shortfalls in meeting financial self-sufficiency and training targets. Only one VTC has raised local funds at the level planned; two have collected less than planned, and three have not collected any. OICI/Togo has expended 80% of its 5-year funds after only 2.5 years of operation. In addition, only 773 of 1,669 targeted students have been trained. Because of inadequate reporting, both OICI and A.I.D. lacked the timely and accurate information needed for decisions. Of the 274 field reports required by the OICI central office, only 127 were received; in reports to A.I.D., fewer than half the topics required by the grant were discussed. Reports also contained incomplete, inaccurate, and/or conflicting information, and no system to collect training cost comparison data was established. The differences between reported accomplishments and stated targets should have led the A.I.D. project officer to modify or discontinue country programs that were not achieving stated targets. It is recommended that: the Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Africa (AFR), review country programs and perform cost/benefit analyses so as to determine what can realistically be accomplished and at what cost; the Office of Contract Management (SER/CM), in conjunction with AFR, amend the grant to comply with the Office of Management and Budget"s requirement that performance reports compare actual accomplishments with targeted goals; and that SER/CM settle questionable costs totalling $4,828.