TRANSFER TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT SKILLS

THE DTEC IS THE IMPLEMENTING AGENCY. COMMITTED PROJECT FUNDS TOTALLED $890,000 FOR ADVISORY SERVICES AND $1,250,000 FOR TRAINING AS OF 12/31/79. APPROXIMATELY $1.4 MILLION OR 32% OF THE FUNDS REMAIN FOR THE NEXT 21 MONTHS OF THE PROJECT. PROJECT OUTPUTS INCLUDED 306 PERSON-MONTHS OF ADVISORY SERVICES AND 1,522 PERSON-MONTHS OF TRAINING. ABOUT HALF OF ALL ADVISORY POSITIONS WERE FILLED IN A TIMELY MANNER. IN THE REMAINING CASES, THE LAG TIME BETWEEN APPROVAL AND SIGNING OF THE CONTRACT WAS SOMETIMES 2 YEARS. RECRUITMENT DELAYS WERE DUE TO VAGUE, POORLY WRITTEN SCOPES OF WORK, INADEQUATE RECRUITMENT CHANNELS, AND ADMINISTRATIVE RESTRAINTS TO CONTRACT NEGOTIATION. THUS FAR, 63 PARTICIPANTS HAVE BEEN PLACED IN ACADEMIC PROGRAMS AND 311 PARTICIPANTS HAVE ATTENDED SHORT COURSES. ENGLISH LANGUAGE QUALIFICATION WAS A MAJOR PROBLEM FOR THAI CANDIDATES ATTEMPTING TO ENTER US GRADUATE SCHOOLS. USAID AND DTEC WERE DISAPPOINTED IN THE BACKSTOPPING PROVIDED BY AID/W AND SECID AND USDA, THE 2 TRAINING CONTRACTORS. QUESTIONNAIRES WERE SENT TO 25 RETURNED PARTICIPANTS AND 7 SUPERVISORS. ALL WHO COMPLETED THE FORMS INDICATED THAT THEY WERE SATISFIED WITH TRAINING AND SUBSEQUENT POSITIONS. AUTHORS NOTE THAT OVERALL THE RTG LACKED ANY KIND OF UNITED POLICY OR FOCUS WITH REGARD TO PROJECT ACTIVITIES. RTG TECHNICAL AGENCIES WERE NEVER FORMALLY ADVISED OF THE PROJECT. AUTHORS RECOMMEND THAT THE PROJECT BE AMENDED TO ALLOW FUNDS TO BE USED FOR LOCAL ADVISORS AND TRAINING IN THAI INSTITUTIONS. OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDE: (1) CONTINUED USE OF A "PACKAGE" APPROACH, COMBINING TRAINING AND ADVISORY SERVICES TO OBTAIN THE GREATEST IMPACT; (2) IDENTIFICATION OF SEVERAL CANDIDATES BY AID/W FOR EACH ADVISORY POSITION; (3) CONSIDERATION OF USING SHORT-TERM CONSULTANTS TO ASSIST IN DRAFTING SCOPES OF WORK, AND (4) THAT ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS FOR SHORT COURSES IN THE US BE REVIEWED.