Project assistance completion report : project 608-0157 -- social services training

Overall, the project was successful in developing institutions capable of providing training services which could increase the employability of the target population. Control of these institutions has been entirely taken over by qualified Moroccan teachers, instructors, and administrative staff, many of whom were trained under the project. Most importantly, the Ministry of Handicrafts and Social Affairs (MAAS) is continuing activities initiated under the project with its own resources. Under the project-established National Institute of Social Action"s (INAS) 2-year social worker training program, 143 participants have graduated, and 47 more are currently in the first year of the program; 45% of all trainees are women. Most graduates have been hired by MAAS/Entraide Nationale (EN); however, most are performing accounting and recordkeeping rather than professional tasks, and placement of future graduates at MAAS/EN is very unlikely. Eighteen short-term training sessions were held at INAS, which were attended by 1,133 MAAS entry- and mid-level staff (854 women and 279 men), vs. a target of 1,100. No study of the impact of this training was made, however, and some participants felt that the sessions were too short (2 weeks) to be of much academic or practical value. Five pilot skill centers (CET"s) were opened to train disadvantaged young women in non-traditional vocational skills. A total of 329 women have completed 2-year training programs in carpentry, welding, food preparation, kindergarten administration, leatherwork, and typewriter repair, and another 89 have finished their first year of training; the total number of women trained represents 100% of the project target. All the centers had problems, however, in the areas of job placement, curriculum development, diploma equivalency certification, placement follow-up, and funding for raw materials and spare parts. A total of 13 Vocational Educational Centers (CFP"s) were established to train poor young primary school dropouts, mostly males. Two teams of Peace Corps volunteers (PCV"s) set up and staffed 40 workshops in programs such as electricity, welding, auto mechanics, and carpentry; official data on graduates were unavailable, but projections indicate that about 1,340 completed 2-year programs, and 480 completed one year of training. However, enrollments have fallen steadily, due mostly to inadequate facilities and a poor record on job placement. The Moroccan instructors who replaced the PCV"s in 1983 appear to be competent and committed, but there are no documented, standardized curricula for them to follow. Five of the eight planned academic training (U.S. and third country) participants have completed M.S. degrees and have returned to employment in Morocco; two have extended their studies, and one has been dropped. Major deficiencies included: (1) a lack of detailed curricula in all training centers; (2) unresolved diploma equivalency issues between CET"s, CFP"s, and other vocational educational institutions; (3) a lack of evaluation capabilities to analyze the impacts of training on beneficiaries; and (4) poor progress made by MAAS/INAS in revising curricula and developing a job placement system for graduates. A final problem was overcentralization of decisionmaking at MAAS, leaving Entraide Nationale, the institution charged with actually implementing the program, out of all planning stages and much of the later direction of the program.