Ecuador - Vocational Training Project

Report No. 621a-EC FILE COPY Appraisal of a Vocational Training Project Ecuador April 1, 1975 Education Projects Division Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office Not for Public Use Document of the international Bank for Reconstruction and Development International Development Association This report was prepared for official use only by the Bank Group. It may not be published, quoted or cited without Bank Group authorizatiorn. The Bank Group does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness oif the report-  Currency Equivalents us$ 1.00 s S/. 25.00 S/.1 = US$ 0.04 S/. 100 = US$ 4.00 S/. 1,000 = US$ 40.00 3/. 1,000,000 = US$ 40.000 Measures 1 m2 10.76 sq. ft. 1 km2 0.38 sq. mi. 1 hectare 2.47 acres Fiscal Year January 1 - December 31  ECUADOR APPRAISAL OF A VOCATIONAL TRAINING PROJECT TABLE OF CONTENTS Page No. BASIC DATA SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS .......................... i - iii I. INTRODUCTION ..................................... 1 II. THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC SETTING ....................... 2 Background .................................. 2 Development Prospects and Human Resource Needs ............................ 3 II. EDUCATION AND TRAINING ........................... 5 Art Overview of the Formal System .... ........ 5 Tetchnical Education and Vocational Training .................................. 6 Nconformal Education and Training .... ........ 6 Servicio Ecuatoriano de Capacitacion Profesional (SECAP) ....................... 7 IV. THE PROJECT ...................................... 8 Objectives .................................. 8 Project Description ......................... 8 Technical Assistance ........................ 10 Cost of the Project ......................... 11 Project Recurrent Costs .... ................. 12 V. IMPLEMENTATION ................................... 12 VI. AGREEMENTS REACHED AND RECOMMENDATIONS .... ....... 14 This report is based on the findings of an appraisal mission which visited Ecuador during April/May 1974. The mission was composed of Messrs. A. Salmon (general educator), J. Besa (architect), R. Hemingway (technical educator), C. Vidalon (agricultural educator) and Mrs. R. Brandenburg (economist).  TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont'd). APPENDIX I. Nonformal Education and Training Finance ANNEXES 1. Comparative Education Indicators 2. Annual Manpower Requirement Projections by Skill Level 3. SECAP - Vocational Training Programs 4. SECAP - Budget (1970-1977) 5. SECAP - Unit Capital Costs and Use Factors 6. Summary of Estimated Costs 7. Contingency Allowances 8. Implementation Schedule 9. Estimated Disbursement Schedule CHARTS 1. Structure of the Education and Training System (1973) 2. SECAP - Administrative Structure MAP  VOCATIONAL TRAINING PROJECT BASIC DATA 2 (1972) Total Population: 6.50 million Annual growth rate 3.4% Active Population: 2.08 million as percentage of total population 32% Gainfully employed 930,000 Subsistence level workers 1,045,000 Unemployed (official estimate) 105,000 Employment by Sectors: Agriculture 407,000 Secondary Sector 138,000 Services/Government 385,,000 Urban Populatio:n: 2.80 million of which Guayaquil 962,000 Quito 630,000 GDP Growth Rates: 1971 1972 1973 7.9 9.7 10.4 GNP (Market Prices) US$ 2,370 million GNP Per capita US$ 360 Senior Secondary Technical Enrollment: 28,446 Agriculture (7 percent) 2,025 Industry (12 percent) 3,296 Commerce (79 percent) 22.,455 Art ( 2 percent) 670 as percentage of total senior secondary enrollment 36% Public Expenditures on Education (rounded) $ 74.5 million as percentage of total public expenditures 19 Estimated public expenditures on nonformal education and training (including external assistance) $ 3.8 million as percentage of public expenditures on education 5% %/ See also Annex I.   ECUADOR APPRAISAL OF A VOCATIONAL TRAINING PROJECT SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS i. This report appraises a project for the expansion and improvement of vocational training for industry and agriculture in Ecuador, for which a Bank loan of US$4.0 million is proposed. The project would address a major constraint to the country's economic development -- the lack of qualified middle-level manpower -- by assisting the Servicio Ecuatoriano de Capacita- cion Professional (SECAP), a semi-autonomous government agency, in expanding and improving nonf'ormal training opportunities, for out-of-school youths and adults in urban areas and rural communities, thereby substantially contributing to meeting national needs. ii. This project would complement the first Bank Group education pro- ject in Ecuador (Credit 124-EC, signed in 1968), which provided US$5.1 mil- lion to assist the government in consolidating and improving primary teacher training and in introducing a reform curriculum with diversified practical courses at secondary level. Implementation of this first project is expected to be completed by the end of 1975. iii. A signil'icant turning point in Ecuador's economic situation occurred in 1972 with the emergence of petroleum as the major contributor to GNP. Ecuador has a highly dualistic economy and the distribution of income is very uneven, with 54% of the population at the subsistence level. The already low urban skill profiLe of the labor force has been exacerbated by a pronounced exodus of migrants from the rural areas, mainly to the two major cities of Quito and Guayaqu:Ll. As much as 65% of the urban labor force has received only five or fewer years of education and has had limited opportunities to receive specific job-oriented training. Inadequate training arrangements, irrelevant education and the absence of any provision for the occupational training of school leavers from the formal education system have also contri- buted to the very low productivity of the labor force. iv. Prior to the oil boom, human resource development was not oriented to long-term socio-economic needs and was partly constrained by a lack of financial resources. The growth of the petroleum sector has eliminated the financial constraint to development, and the government is now faced with the challenge of expanding the country's productive capacity while at the same time improving income distribution and achieving better physical and social integration of the country. Substantial investments are envisaged in manu- facturing, construction, energy and the service sector. The scarcity of trained manpower, however, will be a constraint to growth unless immediate corrective action is taken. The planned expansion of the economy will place a premium on the present limited supply of trained human resources and will require substantial organizational and training efforts in both the formal and nonformal areas.  - ii - v. The proposed project is intended to increase the capacity of SECAP by about six fold and to help diversify its training program. It would assist SECAP in the efficient expansion of its nonformal vocational training programs to meet specific manpower requirements in priority sectors of the economy and to increase the productivity of the labor force. In addition to its upgrading programs, training would be available for unemployed youths and adults living in the marginal districts of Quito, Guayaquil and other small urban areas and in rural communities. The project would thus contribute to increasing the participation of the subsistence-level population in the modern sector. Socio-economic data on the target populations served by the project would be provided through the surveys of human resources and manpower needs which are being conducted by the Organization of the American States (OAS) in collaboration with the National Economic Coordination and Planning Board (JUNAPLAN). vi. The proposed project consists of: (a) construction of and furniture, equipment and teaching/learning materials for the extension of the existing Vocational Training Center in Quito from 390 to 1,110 trainee places, and for the establishment of a new Vocational Training Center with 1,245 trainee places in Guayaquil to provide training opportunities for a total of about 5,640 trainees annually; and (b) two mobile training units to provide training opportunities for about 500 trainees annually in rural communities and small townships. vii. Both training centers would operate on a double-shift basis. Their total annual output of newly trained skilled workers would be about 5,640 meeting about one-third of the estimated annual middle-level manpower requirements in industrial trades. Through SECAP's in-plant training program it is estimated that another 5,000 would be trained annually within enter- prises and 1,200 via mobile action. A wide range of training and upgrading programs for apprentices and adult workers in the mechanical, electrical, agriculture and construction fields would be introduced. The training of apprentices would normally be in three-year courses, with the first year spent full time at the training center; in each of the remaining two years they would be given six months' full-time training at the center and six months supervised on-the-job training in an enterprise. Accelerated train- ing courses would be offered to unemployed adults and dropouts from the education system who wished to train for specific occupations within a narrow field of specialization. viii. Training would be based on occupational analysis and would meet established trade standards. Skill levels would be tested. A placement service for the trainees, a tracer system to follow up their career develop- ment, and training program evaluation procedures would be established on a  - iii - permanent basis. Instructors and supervisors required to operate the centers and mobile units would be trained by the technical assistance experts already assigned to the Vocational Training Center in Quito under bilateral and multi- lateral schemes. ix. The total project cost is estimated at US$7.9 million, with a foreign exchange component of US$4.0 million. The proposed loan of US$4.0 million equivalent would represent about 51% of the total project cost and finance all the foreign exchange costs. Prices as of February 1975 were used to estimate the base costs, to which contingency allowances of 35% have been added. 'SECAP has already a senior official to coordinate all activities related to project implementation. x. The sites selected for the project institutions are government properties already assigned to SECAP. Contracts for civil works would be awarded on the basis of competitive bidding advertised locally and in accordance with local procedures which are satisfactory to the Bank. Contracts for furniture and equipment would be awarded on the basis of international competitive bidding in accordance with Bank guidelines. Items would be grouped to form sizeable packages for bulk procurement. However, items that cannot be grouped into packages of at least US$40,000 would be procured in accordance with the government's regular procurement procedures which are satisfactory to the Bank. The total value of items purchased in this manner would not exceed US$200,000, corresponding to about 10% of the total cost of furniture and equipment. Local manufacturers of furniture would be allowed a margin of preference equal to the prevailing tariff or 15% of the c.i.f. prices, whichever is lower. xi. The project is expected to be completed in three years and the proposed loan would be disbursed over a period of four years. A small amount of up to US$120,000 would be disbursed retroactively to cover expenditures incurred after June 1, 1974, related to site development, construction and furniture and equipment for the project administration. xii. The proposed project constitutes a suitable basis for a Bank loan of US$4.0 million equivalent to the Government of Ecuador for a term of 25 years, including a grace period of five years.   ECUADOR APPRAISAL OF A VOCATIONAL TRAINING PROJECT I. INTRODUCTION 1.01 The Golvernment of Ecuador has requested Bank financing for a project which would address one of the principal constraints to the coun- try's economic development: the lack of qualified middle-level manpower. The proposed project would assist the Servicio Ecuatoriano de Capacitacion Profesional (SECAP), a semi-autonomous government agency, in expanding and improving its programs in nonformal training for out-of-school youths and adults in both urban and rural areas, thereby increasing training opportuni- ties and helping to meet Ecuador's middle-level manpower requirements. A Bank loan of US$4.0 million is proposed, which would cover the estimated foreign exchange component of the project, the total cost of which is esti- mated at US$7.9 million equivalent. 1.02 This would be the Bank Group's second lending operation for the development of education and training in Ecuador. Credit 124-EC for US$5.1 million was signed in June 1968 to help finance a project to consolidate and improve primary teacher training and to introduce a reform curriculum with diversified practical courses at secondary level. Initial shortages of counterpart funds and weak project administration have caused delays in implementation of the project, which is now expected to be completed by December 31, 1975. 1.03 InitiaL discussions with the government on a possible second educa- tion project commenced in September/October 1972 when a Unesco mission identified priority project items. In February 1974 a Bank reconnaissance mission agreed with the government on the content of a possible education project. In March/April 1974 a Unesco mission assisted the government in preparing the project, which was appraised in April/May 1974 by a Bank mission comprising Messrs. A. Salmon (general educator), J. Besa (architect), R. Hemingway (technical educator), C. Vidalon (agricultural educator) and Mrs. R. Brandenburg (economist). 1.04 The project as initially identified and prepared also included teacher training and the provision of basic education and training opportuni- ties for the poorest segment of the population in urban and rural areas. These items were deleted during appraisal at the request of the government. Also, a third and smaller vocational training center was deleted for lack of manpower justification.  -2- 1.05 The amended project, as approved by the government and SECAP, con- sists of: (a) one new vocational training center at Guayaquil with a capacity of 1,245 places to provide training opportunities for about 2,895 trainees annually; (b) extension of the vocational training center at Quito to increase the capacity from 390 to a total of 1,110 places and thereby provide training opportunities for about 2,745 trainees annually; and (c) two mobile training units to provide training opportunities for about 500 trainees annually in rural communities and small townships. II. THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC SETTING Background 2.01 The year 1972 marked a significant turning point in Ecuador's economic situation with the emergence of petroleum as the major contributor to GNP. The significance of this development and the concomitant impli- cations of the development of petroleum exports, large in relation to the size of the economy, are far reaching and very complex. Even before the petroleum boom Ecuador had a highly dualistic economy; a relatively small modern agricultural export sector contrasted sharply with a vast traditional sector upon which half the population depended. The benefits of Ecuador's impressive growth, 9.7% of GDP in 1972 and 10.4% in 1973, when petroleum became the largest export, have been concentrated and have not affected the majority of the population, whose standard of living has remained low due to an extremely unequal distribution of income. The top 2.5% of Ecuador's population of 6.5 million earns 42% of the total income, while 54% of the population is at the subsistence level. More than two-thirds of the latter are unemployed or underemployed rural workers. 2.02 These factors have encouraged a pronounced exodus of migrants from the rural areas, mainly to the two major cities of Quito and Guayaquil, where a significant stock of unskilled labor has developed over the years. This has exacerbated the already existing low skill profile of the labor force there. As much as 65% of the urban labor force has received only five or fewer years of education and has had very limited opportunities to receive specific job-oriented training. The 15-19 age group, representing 11% of the total population, is particularly affected by unemployment and about one-fifth are jobless. 2.03 Inadequate and limited training arrangements, irrelevant education and the absence of any provision for the occupational training of school leavers from the formal education system have contributed to the very low  skill profile of Ecuador's labor force of about 2.1 million. As a result of this labor productivity has not increased substantially since 1960. It is estimated that more than two-thirds of the 930,000 wage earners (Annex 2) in 1972 require specific and systematic skill upgrading. Prior to the oil boom, human resource development was not oriented to long-term socio- economic needs, being partly constrained like most other sectors of the economy by a lack of financial resources and inflexibility in fund reallocation within the education budget. Development Prospects and Human Resource Needs 2.04 The oil boom has alleviated the financial constraint to develop- ment. However, the government is aware that, unless properly controlled, the petroleum-related development will not only exacerbate the dualism between the modern and traditional sectors and external dependence, but will also aggravate ex.Lsting imbalances in the economic structure and their adverse social consequences. The government has therefore developed a plan calling for a greater degree of physical and social integration of the coun- try, using the petroleum earnings for diversification and expansion of the country's productive capacity and for improvement of the living conditions of the poorest segment of the population. Emphasis is given to the creation of employment at a rate higher than the annual increase in the labor force. The major sources of growth, apart from petroleum, are expected to be manu- facturing, construction, energy and the service sector. Substantial invest- ments are envisaged in these sectors; however, the scarcity of trained manpower will be a constraint to growth unless the government takes correc- tive action. 2.05 A little less than half of the population will continue to depend on agriculture for food and income in this decade. The government intends to bring about structural changes in the sector through agrarian reform, which is expected to integrate about 245,000 people into the market economy, and to promote the! use of modern technology and training in order to modernize small-scale farming. For that purpose, various delivery systems for providing formal and nonformial training are being contemplated, ranging from the use of rural schools to the organization of educational nuclei serving community learning needs at large, together with mobile units associated with the coun- try's vocational training centers for provision of training services to small townships and rural communities. 2.06 In the modern sector, the expansion of domestic incomes and in- creased domestic demand for manufactured products will not be sufficient to generate sufficient impetus to industrial growth; hence the government in- tends to emphasize the development of industries oriented to broader markets, including those established under the Andean Sub-Regional Agreement. An Industrial Development Law has already introduced tax incentives for indus- tries on the basis of employment generation and export orientation. Thus, the manufacturing sector has a most important role to play in Ecuador's  - 4 - economic and social development, with the potential to generate new produc- tive jobs, to absorb part of the labor force increase, to reduce unemployment and, over the long term, to replace the petroleum sector as the main generator of economic growth. 2.07 This planned expansion of the economy will place a premium on the present limited supply of trained human resources. It will require substan- tial organizational and training efforts in both the formal and nonformal areas so that the realization of the country's economic growth potential will not be constrained by the lack of suitably trained manpower. Because of the high prevailing economic uncertainties and weak data base, meaningful pro- jections of long-term manpower requirements are of limited value. Shorter- term manpower estimates, based on economic targets of the 1972-77 Development Plan, suggest that the biggest manpower gap will be in the provision of middle-level personnel and semi-skilled labor. At the higher and subprofes- sional manpower levels the annual supply and demand would be approximately in quantitative balance (in the order of 5,000 individuals), although some occupational imbalances can be expected in such areas as management and services. 2.08 By 1977, average annual demand for new middle-level personnel and semi-skilled workers is estimated to be in the order of 25,000 - 30,000. For general reference and manpower planning purposes it would seem reasonable to assume that at least this order of magnitude of demand will prevail in the immediate period beyond the Plan's duration. The projected annual supply from the secondary technical streams would be about 10,300 graduates by 1977, of whom some 70% or 7,200 are expected to join the labor force in middle-level positions. Of these about 1,400 will go to industry, 400 to agriculture, and 5,400 to commerce and administration. While this would satisfy quanti- tatively most of the demand for middle-level personnel the remainder of the demand -- almost exclusively skilled and semi-skilled workers, mostly in industrial trades -- will have to be trained on the job or through nonformal training programs of varying duration and intensity. Furthermore, although the government is redressing some of the deficiencies in the quality of train- ing with the establishment of diversified secondary institutions through the first Bank Group project, a significant proportion of the graduates will still require additional specific job orientation through on-the-job training or special short courses.  -5- III. EDUCATION AND TRAINING An Overview of the Formal System 3.01 Ecuador's formal education system is not presently geared to meet the specific requirements of the economy, especially those for middle-level manpower. The government's general objective is primarily to provide uni- versal nine-year basic education by 1985. Emphasis is presently laid on providing 100% and 50% of primary and junior secondary age groups with pre- vocationally oriented basic education by the end of the decade. The ongoing development of rural nuclei aims particularly at providing practical educational opportunities in rural areas. The preparation and appraisal missions (para. 1.03) provided substantial technical assistance in school mapping, costing, and analysis of organizational issues related to the rural neclei. With regard to other levels of the education system, the government intends to reduce the expansion rate cf senior secondary and higher education, despite strong social pressures, and to gear both subsectors more directly to economic development and manpower requirements. While various attempts have been made over the past ten years to introduce a reform curriculum with diversified practical subjects into general education particularly at the secondary level reform has proceeded slowly. The effects of the first Bank project which introduced diversified education into the system have not been felt as only some of the schools are fully operational in their new premises. The formal education system therefore remains predominantly academic and the possibility of essential changes for a substantially practical orientation of studies is still uncertain. 3.02 The relative strengthening of academic secondary education in the past is also illustrated by the government's resource commitments to the education sub-sectors. In 1969-73 the share of middle-level academic educa- tion in the recurrent public expenditures increased from 18% to 25%, while that of technical education increased only from 8% to 10% and the share of higher education decreased from 18% to 12%. These relative changes took place at a time when, the government attached a higher priority to education, raising that sector's share of recurrent expenditures from 15.2, to 23.9 X and of GDP from 3.1% to 3.4%. 3.03 To remedy the deficiency of the formal system in responding to the needs of the economy, nonformal training programs have been developed on an ad hoc basis by governmental agencies and employers. Although still limited in scope, these programs provide valid models as they have become the most effective means of training needed manpower at various levels. The government attaches a very high priority to the development of this type of training and the proposed project would assist in the expansion and strengthening of the main national non-formal training agency.  -6- Technical Education and Vocational Training 3.04 This section presents a brief review of formal technical education and nonformal training in Ecuador. 3.05 Secondary technical education consists almost exclusively of the senior secondary diversified cycle, beginning after nine years of general education and lasting three years (Chart I). Courses are available in the industrial, commercial, agricultural, art and home economics fields. A total of 28,446 students, more than one-third of senior secondary enrollment, attended technical courses in 1971/72. Eighty percent of these students were enrolled in the commercial course, which is considered an easier route to attaining entrance to the faculties of law and economics in the university. As a result there was a lopsided distribution of graduates: of the 5,800 graduates in 1971, 4,700 were from commercial, 700 from industrial and 400 from agricultural streams. Although this is a substantial output, it failed to meet labor market shortages because a large proportion (30%) went on to higher education. Many others did not take available jobs because they con- sidered the wages too low or they lacked sufficient practical training. 3.06 Because of lack of interaction with the labor market technical education has not been fully responsive to needs. Furthermore, the fragmen- tation of resources among a large number of schools (to be partially corrected by the first Bank Group education project), the lack of a clear policy with regard to the level of qualification of the graduates, and deficiencies in teaching and physical facilities have all contributed to the low quality of technical education, which results in most of the graduates being in need of further extensive on-the-job instruction. 3.07 The Ministry, recognizing the deficiencies in technical education is negotiating a contract with the Inter-American Development Bank for about US$300,000 for technical assistance to aid in studying the problem and recom- mending solutions. This may result in a construction program to be financed by IDB. Nonformal Education and Training 3.08 Nonformal education and training are mainly under the responsibility of the government. Program implementation is shared in most cases with the private sector. The principal nonformal programs are related to literacy and adult basic education, enterprise management, health, agricultural and rural development, and artisan and industrial training. Of all nonformal vocational training agencies, the Servicio Ecuatoriano de Capacitacion Profesional (SECAP), provides the widest range of ad hoc, job-oriented training and upgrading. 3.09 A number of other training schemes in rural and urban areas comple- ment SECAP's activities. They include literacy programs with a skill train- ing component, evening courses in artisan trades, and farmer and agricultural staff training organized throughout the country by the Ministries of Education  - 7 - and Agriculture a,nd other government agencies. However, these programs have only a limited impact on the target populations because of lack of organi- zation, monitoring and follow-up, in turn due to insufficient and inefficient staffing. Artisan training and the establishment of handicraft cooperatives are the responsibility of several agencies, the most important being the Institute for Handicrafts. Courses in management skills are organized by various associations, such as the National Association of Employers and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Specific skill-oriented training is pro- vided in one-year courses for skilled mechanics by the Ministry of Defense to meet military needs and train soldiers who are about to be discharged. Enroll- ment is about 12C per year. Course standards are high and the graduates in great demand. Also, to provide skilled personnel at all levels for the elec- tricity supply industry, the National Franco-Ecuadorian Center (CENAFE) was established in 1966 as an in-plant scheme under the auspices of the Ecuadorian Electricity Institute and the private electricity supply company. French technical assistance has been provided for this program, which has an output of about 80 graduates per year. Servicio Ecuatoriano de Capacitacion Profesional (SECAP) 3.10 Since 1966, training courses for skilled and semi-skilled workers, supervisors and technicians have been mainly organized by the Servicio Ecua- toriano de Capacitacion Profesional (SECAP), a semi-autonomous body governed by a board of directors representing the government, private enterprise and the trade unions. The Minister of Labor is the chairman of SECAP's board. In addition to training activities, SECAP assisted by the Organization of American States (OAS) has carried out comprehensive manpower surveys of the manufacturing and mining sectors to identify priority training requirements. It has also provided advisory services to enterprises to develop their in- plant training programs. Due to limited financial resources, only about 7,000 workers were trained in the period 1968-72. To eliminate the financial con- straints, a levy of 0.5% was imposed on wages for use in expanding SECAP's training programs. This resulted in a rapid growth of training activities, increasing the number of persons trained from 971 in 1971 to 6,332 in 1973 (Annex 3). About two-thirds of the trainees were workers and the rest were supervisors, instructors and managers. 3.11 Training is organized by SECAP on a regional basis from offices in Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca (Chart II), but has been limited to upgrading and in-plant training because of a lack of facilities. In order to overcome this constraint, some use has been made of secondary technical schools, work- shops of enterprises and, more extensively, the Instituto Tecnico Ecuatoriano Aleman (ITEA) in Quito. This institute, established in 1965 with the assis- tance of the Federal Republic of Germany, trains apprentices in three-year full-time courses in the mechanical trades. Quality of training is excellent, but output is limited to about 60 per year for lack of adequate physical facilities in other than the mechanical trades. Because of the small enroll- ment, costs per trainee are very high (about US$650 per year). In January 1974, SECAP assumed administrative responsibility for ITEA, which is still benefiting from foreign specialists' assistance in course organization and teaching.  - 8 - 3.12 SECAP's growth in recent years and the priority the government attaches to its operation can be seen in the changing budgetary allocations to the agency (Annex 4). Its capital budget, supported fully by the govern- ment, has grown from US$180,000 in 1970 to US$3.4 million in 1974. The re- current budget increased in the same period from US$120,000 to US$780,000, mainly through the collection of the levy on wages (para 3.10). 3.13 The government attaches a very high priority to the expansion of nonformal training programs as an efficient and rapid means of meeting urgent manpower requirements. Most of these would be implemented by SECAP which has been recognized as being the most important and effective institution operating in the field. The government's plans for the expansion and improve- ment of non formal training to be implemented by SECAP include the following: (a) carrying out of surveys of human resources and manpower needs of the target population to be served; (b) providing training opportunities to unemployed youths and adults living in the marginal subsistence level dis- tricts of Quito and Guayaquil and through mobile action in the rural areas and smaller towns; (c) increasing labor productivity by improving the skill profile of employed workers through upgrading and the establishment of train- ing standards and testing; (d) expanding apprentice training schemes; (e) expanding training advisory services to industry; and (f) providing training opportunities for graduates of the secondary technical schools. IV. THE PROJECT Objectives 4.01 The proposed project is intended to increase the capacity of SECAP by about six fold and to help diversify the training programs. It would provide SECAP with the physical facilities at Quito and Guayaquil to enable it to implement the government's plans for the expansion of non formal train- ing. These facilities would permit the organization of accelerated training for the unemployed and the expansion of apprenticeship and upgrading training for employed workers as well as specific job oriented training for graduates of the secondary technical schools. Training opportunities in rural areas and smaller towns would be provided by two mobile units which would complement three other units provided under bilateral and multilateral assistance programs. Project Description 4.02 The project consists of: (a) construction, furnishing and equipping of two vocational training centers:  _ 9 _