The Guyana Volunteer Consultancy (GVC) Inc. has surpassed the number of Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs) targeted for registration with the Micro-enterprise Training Service Market Programme. Reimbursements of vouchers to date total 19,767, valued at $59,301,000 or US$307,259.
The programme, now winding down, was coordinated by GVC Inc. and started in 2001 with the purpose of subsidizing the cost of courses in managerial and practical areas for SME owners. GVC Inc. was incorporated on April 25, 1995 under the Companies Act of Guyana, Chapter 89:01. It is limited by guarantee, is not for profit and does not have share capital.
The objective of this project is to achieve a permanent, self-sustaining system of non-formal, income generating training for the owners and employees of small and micro-enterprises. The project may be described as a pilot project.
Over three-quarters of the GVC Inc. clientele have expressed a desire to pursue continued training. "80% of the applicants have been women," said the Project Coordinator Felix Gerard. "The men are more interested in the course in Computer Science and Electronics," he continued.
Project Chairman, Harry Dyett revealed, "donor agencies involved had required further streamlining of courses to curtail the present imbalance of women to men applying for courses."
A 2002 evaluation of the project revealed that even in the computer and accounting classes the majority of students were women. It was suggested that more courses of interest to men be promoted, such as, appliance and computer repair, electric wiring, electronics, masonry and carpentry.
Voluntary applicants are presented with a voucher that they take to a training institution. Part of the training fee is subsidized at the end of the course. The institution returns the voucher to the GVC for redemption at the end of the applicant's course.
The Micro-enterprise Training Project budgets $560,000 for vouchers. These are worth about US$16 (G$3,000) each. The budget allows for an excess of the targeted voucher distribution that stands at 28,000.
The value of the voucher was fixed through a study of the offer made before the starting of voucher distribution, as a subsidy that covers about 50% of the market value of short-term training services. A course should not cost more than $4,000 inclusive of all the materials, certificates and books or copies needed by students during the period of study.
Courses range from not less than $4,000 to $20,000. However the majority of SMEs who took part in this programme paid an average of $4,000 - $5,000 per course.
Nearly 60% of the vouchers have been distributed in Berbice, where training without the project would be virtually impossible. This is because fewer training opportunities exist in Berbice.
The project also provided for the improvement of the teaching methodology and business practices of participating institutions, through the Training Technology Development Fund. The institution was required to pay an equal amount as the donor agency. The programme made available $150,000 for institutions. The project had a duration of 18 months and should have expired as of February 2003.
GVC Inc. is a non-governmental organization set up in November of 1993. This was done in order to sustain the work of the Canadian Executive Service Organisa-tion (CESO), through the institutional strengthening of NGOs and private sector organizations. The consultancy was designed to satisfy the demands of small businesses and NGOs after CESO would have left.
The company currently organises training and consultancy, for small and micro-enterprises (SME). The project idea was extensively field tested in Uruguay with Inter-American Development Bank/Multilateral Investment Facility support. The project is demand driven which means institutions are influenced to develop courses relevant to potential clients from the SME sector.
There are over 50 training institutions involved in the Micro-enterprise Training Service Market Programme with 28 in Georgetown, 11 in Berbice, 9 in Linden and 6 in Essequibo. Some of these are GB's Unisex Salon & Skills Training Centre, Digitech and the Adult Education Associa-tion in Georgetown; the Adult Education Association and Corriverton Training Institute in Berbice; Blooming Deve-lopers in Linden and Rupna-rine's Training Centre in Essequibo.
These institutions give as much as 400 courses. The Project Coordination Unit of the project approves them all. Some of the courses are offered in the areas of Retail sales, Sewing, Cosmetology, Catering, Floral Decoration, Computers, Accounting, and Hairdressing among others.
As of September 30, 2003, a total of 8,026 SMEs had approval to receive vouchers. Of this total 2,802 SMEs were registered in Georgetown, 2,732 in Berbice, 1,055 in Linden and 1,437 from the Essequibo Coast and Islands. At the current rate of utilization the project will exceed the original target of 28,000 paid vouchers by approximately 28%.
Total voucher distribution now stands at 30,074 assuming a utilization rate of 80%. This utilization rate is calculated by comparing the amount of vouchers paid for with the amount of vouchers expired.
The project has been so successful that the number of new micro entrepreneurs admitted to the programme as beneficiaries has been re-stricted. The balance remaining in the voucher fund is US$252,471, equivalent to 16,259 paid vouchers. Allowing for the average issue of two vouchers per client up to the end of the project. No new business clients have been registered since October 1, 2003.
The number of paid and unpaid vouchers will determine the date when vouchers will stop being issued. Further clients will be limited to a maximum of three vouchers in 2004.
Programme consultants William Ellis and Malcolm Monplaisir have noted that the economy is in doldrums and unemployment and underemployment are high. In this negative labour market, two criticisms might be made: first, that trainees have poor prospects of finding employment or generating income in their areas of study; and second, that there is already an excessive level of informal training. Therefore, suggest Ellis and Monplaisir, courses with higher potential should be encouraged and those in areas where the market is saturated, discouraged. For instance greater emphasis should be given to business topics such as management, marketing and bookkeeping.