Review of hurricane rural reconstruction and recovery II, rural primary schools

Audit report covers the period 11/76-6/80 and is based on site visits, document review, and interviews with USAID/H and Government of Honduras (GOH) officials. Because the GOH has emphasized construction at the expense of training and equipment procurement and because USAID/H has inadequately monitored the project, many inputs have not arrived and key outputs will not be achieved. Rather than renovating/enlarging the planned 335 school units, the GOH has abandoned all renovations and constructed 225 new classrooms and 33 new shops (a shop is equivalent to two classrooms) for a total of 291 units. In many cases new schools were built and new facilities were added to undamaged schools. Because the teacher training center will not be completed until 10/80, plans to train 1,200 teachers have been abandoned. Further, the delayed procurement of teaching kits and shop equipment has prevented full utilization of the 33 shops; cement chalkboards and defective furniture are unusable; some facilities lack adequate water supplies; and no provisions have been made for facility maintenance. Because of overstated costs and unanticipated local contributions, A.I.D. has reimbursed the GOH $184,212 in excess of actual costs. The GOH has tentatively approved spending the money on construction, but a formal agreement has not been reached; no payments have been made against the initial A.I.D. advance. Finally, signs indicating A.I.D."s role in construction activities have not been displayed. It is recommended that USAID/H: (1) obtain repair of defective furniture and ensure future shipments are usable; (2) require adequate chalkboards for all classrooms; (3) reimburse the GOH only for classrooms with adequate water supply and latrines and document cases where this is geologically infeasible; (4) enter into a formal agreement with the GOH specifying the use of overpayments and setting more reasonable payment rates; (5) make deductions from future reimbursements to apply against the initial advance; (6) ensure that A.I.D."s role is identified at project sites; and (7) request periodic progress reports from the GOH.