Evaluation of the training for private sector development project (515-0212)

training to Costa Rican private sector personnel. External midterm evaluation covers the period 9/84-6/85; is based on interviews with project personnel and participants and on document review; and focuses on the institutional capacity of CINDE-PROCAP, the local implementing institution. CINDE-PROCAP, the training arm of the Costa Rican Coalition of Development Initiatives (CINDE), has made an impressive start. A substantial amount of in-country training has been conducted, on schedule, in all sectors related to export expansion and foreign exchange; a total of 745 persons have been trained through 24 in-country sessions. Trainees have expressed a high level of satisfaction with the courses. CINDE-PROCAP"s strong performance is the result of the hard work and professionalism of its staff of four. Each training course has been based on a study of industrial sector, company, and individual needs, and training contractors and trainees have been carefully screened. CINDE-PROCAP has demonstrated management competence in meeting all A.I.D. requirements, and has served 190 companies at the modest cost of $1,208 per person-month of training - 64% of which has been contributed by trainees or their companies. The project could become self-sustaining if the quality of courses remains high. There is some concern that CINDE-PROCAP might overextend itself: indications are that CINDE-PROCAP is not exerting sufficient control over the performance of instructors of in-country training nor exploiting course evaluations. As for participant training, confusion about where management reponsibility for the program lies has hampered start-up; much of the confusion is due to inconsistencies in project documentation. Awaiting the results of this evaluation, AID/W has not yet issued a request for proposal to obtain U.S. contractors for administering U.S. training. However, CINDE-PROCAP has further demonstrated its understanding of A.I.D. policies and procedures as well as its capability to monitor the contractors by going ahead with: planning training specifics with Costa Rican institutions; verifying the existence of qualified trainees for U.S. training to avoid later delays (only 30 will receive long-term U.S. training, while 394 will receive short-term training); devising a set of participant regulations based on A.I.D. Handbook 10; and ensuring that a trainee"s absence will not negatively affect his organization. Twelve recommendations are provided for USAID/CR, AID/W, and CINDE-PROCAP.