Proposal to Establish a Skills Training and Vocational Program in a Community - Case Study Example

Proposal to establish a skills training and vocational program in a community Background The local district school is experiencing problems of rising high school drop outs and a reduction of budget support from the government. These two problems are inter-related because high school drop outs will contribute to the growing number of unemployed that will eventually affect economy and government resources. A viable solution to curb the number of unemployed is by providing skills training and vocational program to high school drop outs is being proposed by the local high school district. Benefits, advantages and resources of the proposed program are discussed in detail in the succeeding paragraphs. 1. Statement of opportunity The economic progress of a community depends a lot on the capability of its population to earn a living thru employment. At present, this development has been slow due to the economic crisis that led to unemployment and the growing number of high school dropouts. The proposal to start a skills training and a vocational program will enhance the opportunity for the dropout students to learn skills that they could use to become entrepreneurs or to enter a new vocation and employment 2. Impact on organizational structure The challenges of turning the economic crisis, high growth of unemployment and rising number of high school dropouts into opportunity is a tall order to accomplish. However, it is believed that with the introduction of skills training and vocation program, dropout students will be given a chance to learn new skills that they could use in becoming a productive member of the society. An investment of $1,600 per student per year could yield unquantifiable returns of benefits that could move the community’s economy into growth. In order to implement this proposal, hiring of highly skilled and experienced trainers is needed. To be able to attract teachers to be involved in this program, we propose to pay them competitive scale of salaries and reward them through an appropriate appraisal and reward system. 3. Community environmental factors: the impact of the proposal a. Competition. Rivalry along this area is low because the local district school is nonprofit whose advocacy is to serve the community. Competition comes from private schools that collect high tuition fees from students that could not afford now. b. Economic impact. The local district school is experiencing difficulty in its operations as financial support from the government went down. This is due to the decline of payment of property taxes owing to migrant’s relocation to other cities. The aim of the proposal is to stop employees in migrating to other cities that offer better economic alternatives. In the long run projections, income and employment will be created by the program and will cause support to taxation, and eventually the continuity of the vocational program and skills training to students. c. Impact to hiring of trainers. Donation support will also allow the school to hire competent and experienced teachers to go into the project. A part of the budget is also allocated to welfare benefits of the teaching and administrative staff to motivate them to stay in the program. d. Impact to employment generation. For every $1,600 invested in educational training to 1,000 high school drop outs, equivalent employment is expected. The national minimum wage in UK is £5.93 per hour (BBC News) Simple calculation on this gives us an assumption that if every dropout would work at least 5 hours a day at £ 5.93, would mean £29.65 a day. Therefore, benefits to 1,000 high school dropouts is £29,650.00 a day income; extrapolating further to 240 working days a year this would mean a total of £7,116,000 income. A spiral effect to taxes and consumer spending will drive the economy into a new growth that will support other economic areas. 4. Human resource plans and initiatives Hiring. A total of 15 new hires will be needed by the program. Pay scale is based on prevailing wage rates of trainers. A package of employee related benefits will be designed and an appraisal and rewards system is incorporated to assure employees of fair treatment. A separate study will be presented for this matter. 5. The budget. A budget of $1,600,000 to take care of 1,000 high school dropouts is proposed for the first year of operation. The training is for a one year period. The budget will increase by 50% on the next year as high school drop outs are expected to be doubled in number. With the exception of the salaries of the Executive Director and the Training Supervisor, all budget items have been prepared as a line item budget. The function of a line item as explained by Webb (n.d.) helps one analyze where the donation are going each year by pointing to the total revenue and drawing specific expenses allotted to it (See budget below). In the functional budget, the donations have been categorized into two types: 60% for basic skills education and 40% for vocational skill. Here, the budget items are described as percentage of donations. Thirty-seven percent of donations will be allocated to administrative spending, thirty-eight percent goes to salaries of personnel and twelve percent goes to employee incentives. A different allocation of spending for the Executive Director and for the Training Executive has been done that is a percentage of specific donations, and prepared according to functions of the position. Total cost per student. Total cost per student is total budget divided by the number of drop outs; that is $1,600,000 divided by 1,000 students = $1,600.00 each. The functional function gives out a percentage of how much will be spent for each basic requirement. The funding requirements of the program are listed under the expense portion of the budget proposal. The budget items show the priorities on personnel and administration as basic part of the training program. Budget figures represent the true cost of implementing the program, and increases in the following years are across the board estimates. Conclusion. The proposal has clearly stated the viability of the program in terms of benefits to high school dropouts, the income and employment opportunity. The budget created for the training program of the high school drop outs is stringent to revenue and expenses. It does not allow expenses for other non- related items to the training program. The items expressed in figures are financial plan of the program for the specific years of 2011 to 2014 expressed in dollars. The budget of the school serves as a tool for communication, coordination, planning, control and evaluation. LINE ITEM BUDGET BUDGET ITEM 2011 2012 2013 2014 AVAILABLE FUNDING 1,600,000 2,400,000 3,600,000 5,400,000 OPERATING EXPENSES Rent 125,000 187,500 281,250 422,125 Utilities 100,000 150,000 225,000 337,500 Office supplies 25,000. 37,500 56,250 84,375 Equipment/lease 50,000 75,000 112,500 168,750 Transportation & travel 100,000 150,000 225,000 337,500 Outside consultants 100,000 150,000 225,000 337,500 Overhead costs 100,000. 150,000 225,000. 337,500 Total Operating expenses 600,000 900,000 1,350,000 2,025,000 PERSONNEL EXPENSES Executive Director 100,000 150,000 225,000. 337,500. Training Supervisor 80,000 120,000 180,000 270,000 10 Trainers @ 50,000 500,000 750,000 1,125,000 1,687,500 1 Adm. Coordinator 45,000.00 67,500.00 101,250 151,875 3 Adm. Staff 25,000 ea 75,000 112,500 168,750 253,125 Employee related benefits 200,000 300,000 450,000 675,000 Total Personnel expenses 1,000,000 1,500,000 2,250,000 3,375,000 TOTAL EXPENSES 1,600,000 2,400,000 3,600,000 5,400,000 FUNCTIONAL BUDGET REVENUE 2011 2012 2013 2014 AMOUNT PERCENT AMOUNT PERCENT AMOUNT PERCENT AMOUNT PERCENT BASIC SKILLS DONATION 960,000 1,440,000 2,160,000 3,240,000 Vocational program 640,000 960,000 1,440,000 2,160,000 TOTAL DONATION 1,600,000 2,400,000 3,600,000 5,400,000 EXPENSE Administration 600,000 37.5 900,000 37.5 1,350,000 38 2,025,000 37.50 Personnel 620,000 38.7 930,000 38.75 1,395,000 39 2,092,500 38.75 Executive salary 100,000 150,000 225,000 337,500 60% allocation from basic skills 6.25 6.25 6.25 6.25. 40% allocation from vocational 62.5 6.25 6.25 6.25 Training exec. Salary 80,000 120,000 180,000 270,000 60% allocation from basic skills 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 40% allocation from vocational 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 Employee benefit 200,0000 12.5 300,000 12.5 450,000 12.5 675,000 12.5 TOTAL COST FOR H.S. DROP OUT 1,600,000 2,400,000 3,600,000 540,000 NO. OF DROPOUTS 1000 2000 2000 2000 Cost per student drop out 1600 1,200 1800 2700. List of References Webb, Candace (n.d.) How do you create a line item budget?. Budgeting Money by Demand Media. Retrieved 26 September 2011 http://budgeting.thenest.com/create-line-item- budget-3414.html BBC News. 30 September 2010. Minimum wage up to £5.393 per hour. Retrieved 26 September 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11446282 Read More