YMCA vocational training project needs improved management and administration; audit report, 7/28/81

Audit report covers the period 5/79-12/80 and is based on document review, interviews with YMCA, A.I.D, and USAID/S personnel, and site visits. The VTC, with facilities in masonry, metalwork, electricity, and (for women) textiles opened 1/81, but its success is in doubt. Original budget underestimates and ineffective cost control by YMCA and its subcontractor could run total project costs from $1.8 million to over $5 million. Moreover, the VTC is not being operated as planned. Changes in the originally planned curriculum have slowed student progress; under current conditions, it will take 8 rather than 5 years to train the 280 students targeted; and curriculum in use may be abandoned when expatriates leave. Graduates face an uncertain future due to the lack of a follow-up assessment of job opportunities and the country"s deteriorating economic conditions. No approval has yet been obtained for granting a government-recognized diploma -- a key determinant of future salary. Although the Government of Senegal"s (GOS) contribution to the project has been impressive, only five of 13 counterparts have been trained, and only one of these (the co-director) seems ready to assume responsibility when the project is transferred to the GOS. It is recommended that: YMCA submit a revised and realistic budget for the rest of the project; relocate its administrative offices near the VTC; cease charging the costs of rural projects to the A.I.D. grant; assess (as a requisite for further A.I.D. funding) the in-country need for skills now being taught at the VTC; work with the GOS to secure a diploma for graduates; define the roles of expatriates and counterparts and prepare a counterpart training plan; develop adequate inventory records; and help in preparing to transfer funding responsibility from A.I.D. to the GOS. It is also recommended that USAID/S make funding of a business loan program for graduates contingent upon a plan for the program and require the project officer to report in writing on his field visits; and that the grant officer seek refund of the costs of the director"s and co-director"s trip to Nairobi and settle questioned and unresolved costs of, respectively, $24,162,66 and $134,313.50.