V-TEN Nigeria Feasibility Assessment

Drafted: April 30, 2001

For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever. Psalm 9:18

Mission:

Provide adults in Nigeria with the opportunity to gain marketable job skills through vocational and technological education, which is appropriate, accessible, and affordable through the networking and sharing of available education and related resources globally. (Need to review this carefully and thoroughly)

Feasibility of Services for the States of Imo, Abia, and Anambara:

We shall limit ourselves to Imo State for the pilot projects on V-TEN alone. Water well development and other relief efforts will go on in Abia and Anambara states as planned over the next 3 -5 years.

Assessment of Needs:

Estimate number of people of 15 – 40 years age unemployed or under-employed. Based on statistics from the Web link Dr. Okorie furnished the approximate population for this age group will be about 40-45%. The populations for Imo, Abia, and Anambara are 7.5 million, 5.5 million, and 4.5 million respectively.

(For Imo State it comes to 3 million, and of that number 1 million are unemployed)

List of specific jobs unfilled. Jobs are hard to come by. Unemployment figure is over 35% because of limited industry or businesses. Government is the highest employer and lowest paying. In the Oil Industry, required job skills include welding, electrical, plumbing, drafting, and related.

(We may need to include small business development as a priority course)

List of trades needed.

· Automotive repairs – mechanics, auto electricians,

· Panel beaters – auto body,

· Tire patching / re-threading and vulcanization of tire tubes,

· Air Conditioning & Refrigeration repairs,

· Machining & milling,

· Furniture making & wood work,

· Electrical coil rewinding & transformer repairs,

· Solar systems construction & maintenance,

· Drilling & rig operations,

· Computer support,

· Desktop publishing,

· Printing & graphic artists,

· Computer secretaries / administrative assistants,

· Accounting analysts & data entry clerks,

· Veterinary assistants / animal husbandry,

· Water treatment specialists / inspectors,

· Health hygienists / nurses aides,

· Water pump repair technicians – manual or electric,

· Fish farmers

· Horticulturists / florists.

· Small business development

Assessment of Resources:

List locally available training resources, both formal and non-formal. As far as known, there is no reasonable vocational training facility for Adults. There are a few state owned trade schools – under 4 in the 3 three states we are looking at.

State available support from in-country local, State and Federal government agencies. Support is very limited for the few vocational schools in existence – their target audience is mainly teenagers – ages 14-21. These schools have many broken or no equipment to teach technical courses. Also, there is a serious lack of instructors or teachers.

Lists in-country churches and mission agencies. There are many in-country churches & missions agencies that will be willing to affiliate with us to have co-ownership of V-TEN schools for the good of their communities and members.

State available in-country Internet communication services. Internet communication is very poor even in the big cities because of poor telephone infrastructure & erratic electricity supply. The Government is working on redressing this situation in the 2-3 years. The best we can get for now is a few email capability from cities that already have IDD (International Direct Distance dialing phone exchanges like Enugu, Port Harcourt, Awka or Ekwulobia, Nnewi, Lagos, Abuja, Warri, etc.)

Scenarios of Service Delivery:

Describe potential non-formal service delivery systems. Short-term training seminars or aid to targeted groups in urban / semi-rural areas. The groups can be put together by local ministries / churches with our trainers / volunteers coming in for short term impartation of skills. This hit & run approach may not solve the more deeply rooted problem – the society’s inability so see adult education & personal development as a life-long process of change.

Short-term continuing education workshops if supported by a good follow-up service can be effective. Develop something similar to the agricultural extension service. It also provides field practice experience for teachers and students of the institute of technology.

Describe potential formal service delivery systems.

A. Two year associate degree from V-TEN institute of technology

B. One year V-TEN institute of technology certificate

C. One year high school completion certificate

Acceptance by accredited colleges of credits earned through A and B d B can be worked on. CUME /NW has assisted in establishing such arrangement between North Portland Bible College and Warner Pacific College in Portland, Oregon.

Select three delivery systems, and prioritize them.

Suggest the following three delivery systems.

A. Two year associate degree from institute of technology

B. One year high school completion certificate

C. Short-term continuing education workshops

Instructors of the junior college can serve on the C.E. workshops during the 2 months time-off from teaching junior college.

Cost Estimate:

For each of the three system estimate:

1. Cost of facilities and other capital equipment.

Building, 10 classrooms, and 10 other rooms

for offices, labs, workshops, etc. $ 50,000

Equipment depends on the level and curriculum. $ 25,000

Land, 5 acres $ 10,000

Total physical facilities $ 85,000

Estimate equipment $ 30,000

(This a rough estimate)

Total capital expenses $ 115,000

2. Cost of staffing

Instructors, 10 $ 150/month $ 18,000

Inflation rate estimated at 5%

Projected annual salary increase 10%.

3. Cost of administration

Principal $ 200

Administrative support $ 120

Maintenance staff $ 120

Security staff $ 100

Total staff $ 540/month $ 6,480

Benefits: 20% $ 1,296.

Total staff expenses: $ 7,776, rounded to $ 8,000.

4. Cost of educational and administrative supplies

Estimate at $ 2,000.

5. Total annual operating expenses: $ 28,000

6. Projected revenue from students – typically plan on charging 60% of cost to students and having sponsoring community groups, churches / ministries bringing in the difference, or some mix of funding arrangements for continuity and re-cycling of initial investment funds.

(We need to consider the affordability of the student fees.)

7. Potential subsidies from government agencies – none

8. Projected revenue from churches and missions – 20 – 40% of cost per student.

(We need to consider “adoption” of students by churches, which provide the student fee.)

9. (Added: Projected revenue from income generating projects. For example: A key component of the education needs to be on the job practical training, for which the partner business agencies can provide the school a service fee.)

10. Draft projected operating statement.

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