Participant training II

Special evaluation covers the period 2/78-6/81 and is based on participant questionnaire review and interviews with project personnel. Targets were not fully met. Although 38 participants received training in priority development sectors such as development administration, economic development and planning, environmental aspects of development, and women in development, only 39% of academic and 56% of non-academic training targets were accomplished due to an increase in U.S. training costs. The project provided 5.79 person-years of academic and 49.13 person-months of non-academic management training, 53% of the targeted amount. Most trained participants came from GOP agencies not called for in the project and none of the acquired knowledge appears to have been institutionalized through formal or informal training courses. Few participants have given special lectures or written articles on their particular areas of training; most transfered their knowledge through staff meetings, on-the-job instruction, and recommendations to superiors. In addition, limited regional participation in the project prevented the project"s potential impact on the programs and operations of targeted regional organizations. By contrast, program concentrations were adequate and the rate of retention of returned participants was 100%. All of the returned participants were assigned to the same agencies and positions that they came from. In accordance with the project"s aim of enhancing the role of women in Philippine economic development, 18 of 38 (47%) participants were women. Reflecting an emphasis on targeting government officials who possessed leadership and authority, 71% of participants came from junior, mid-career, and supervisory levels and 24% came from senior GOP levels. Eleven recommendations address: participant selection criteria; types of training; participating agencies; and the purposes, goals, and funding of future projects.