Learning for Life, Work and the Future Initial ... - Unesco-Unevoc

Learning for Life, Work and the Future Participants’ Papers Page 73
to meet part of the cost of training, yet it is pointed out
that many of them are too poor to do so. While it is
true that the operators are poor, surveys 3 have indicated
that they are willing and able to pay part of the
training costs if they are convinced that the training
will improve the performance of their business and be
translated into higher returns. The most attractive
training programmes for entrepreneurs are those
dealing with skills upgrading and business management
with a link to credit.
Credit has been used in some programmes as an additional
incentive to attract entrepreneurs for training.
This leads to a larger number of participants in training
with credit facilities, but who do not concentrate on the
training and are thus unable to utilise the skills given.
4. Donors Active in this Area in the Country
Apart from the UNDP/NIGP support, OICT has been
able to subsidize the cost of training of entrepreneurs
through support from other donors. The United States
Agency for International Development funded a technical
upgrading skills programme which served 442
clients in three administrative regions of Tanzania
(Mwanza, Arusha and Dar es Salaam). By linking its
training programmes with credit, the African Development
Foundation supported OICT in a training programme
for 34 senior managers and 14 Board
members of 17 micro-finance institutions on Planning
and Management of Sustainable Micro-Enterprise
Credit in 1999.
Through its Commission for Civil Servant Reform
(TCSRC), the Government of Tanzania supported
training conducted by OICT for 44 retrenched workers
in Dar es Salaam. The African Development Fund
supports a government credit project, Self-Entrepreneurs
Loan Facility (SELF), for five regions
through the Vice-President’s office. Training to build
capacity of the micro-finance institutions involved is
one of the components of the project.
5. Benefits of a Southern African Regional
Approach to Training
A subregional approach would allow room for
improvement in the effort to promote the informal
sector through exchange of experiences within
countries. The use of materials and curricula based on
regional cultures would attract more participants due to
their familiarity. This would also build a stronger
regional integration not only between nations, but also
between individuals, who would learn from each other.
6. Current Need for Improvement
Time, duration and place for the training programmes
must take into consideration the types of business of
the beneficiaries. Conducting training programmes
during afternoon hours leaves operators free to continue
with business activities in the morning, allowing
for the two activities to run side by side. A preference
for afternoon training was also revealed in other
informal sector studies conducted by the ILO. 4 The
survey also showed that the preferred duration of the
training programme was two to five days a week.
The identification of training needs and the design of
training programmes must likewise take into consideration
the age and level of formal education of the
beneficiaries. The baseline survey of the Income-
Generating Skills Development Programme of OICT
indicated that the average age of owner-operators was
about 30 years, of employees a little over 20 years, and
of employers in the informal sector over 40 years.
Hence the training programme considered adults with
family responsibilities.
The majority of OICT clients have primary school
education. Out of a total of 136 people covered 5 in the
nine groups, only five, representing about 3.6%, had
secondary education. It is generally known that the
informal sector is a refuge for those who do not find
employment in the formal sector, and that these are
mostly youths who have finished primary education.
The education profile of the operators in this survey is
consistent with this phenomenon.
7. Risks of a Southern Africa Regional Approach
The medium of instruction in the training of the informal
sector is crucial to the target group. Most of the
training manuals are prepared in English and have to
be translated to benefit the target groups. About 23%
of the clients do not understand any English, 44%
understand simple English but cannot speak any, and
the remaining 33% can both understand and speak
simple English. The implication of this is that most of
the operators would be at a loss if the medium of
instruction in the training programmes were English.
Translation of the manuals by a regional committee is
crucial in order to avoid giving different concepts to
people in different countries and regions.
4 Monji R.G. “Skills Acquisition in the Training in the Informal Sector”
ILO Interdepartmental Project on the Urban Informal Sector,
Discussion Paper No. 3, May 1995.
5 OICT Baseline Survey, 1996
3 NIGP, Programme Evaluation Report (1999); OICT, Impact Evaluation
of Enterprise Development Training for Civil Service Reform
Programme (1997); OICT, Baseline Survey of Informal Sector
Operators in Dar es Salaam (1996).