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New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued draft guidelines recommending mandatory internships for undergraduate (UG) students with an aim to improve their employability and help them understand the importance of research while, simultaneously, earning credits from them.
The draft “guidelines for internship/research internship for undergraduate students” were issued last week in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasises the inclusion of research and internships in undergraduate curricula to provide opportunities to students for active engagement in on-site experiential learning.
HT explains the recommendations made by the higher education regulator in this draft.
The idea behind the proposed norms
According to the India Skill Report (ISR), youth employability in the country has improved to 46.2 % in 2021 from 45.97% in 2020. The report highlighted that 88.42% of respondents in the report have given preference to an internship for gaining experience, and also observed that in India employers like to hire employees having at least a year of work experience.
Keeping the findings of the report in mind, and recommendations of the NEP 2020, the UGC has framed these guidelines.
“Graduates face many difficulties after graduation to enrol in the workforce. Recent graduates lack knowledge, practical skills, and experience which are mandatory requirements demanded by employers for recruitment…The internship is one of the important apparatuses that help in improving these employability skills and can help in generating competency, capability, professional working skills, expertise, and confidence among the students for employability and developing interest/passion for research,” the guidelines stated.
The draft norms mentioned 10 objectives to be achieved through introducing internships including integration of workshops with the workplace, understanding of the world of work, exposure to emerging technologies, enhancing entrepreneurial capabilities, enhancing professional competency, and cultivating a sense of social imagery and citizenship responsibility, among others.
UGC Chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said that the hands-on experience will help reduce the gap between academic learning and work, enhancing their understanding of concepts.
“I believe that it is essential for students to gain a wide range of skills, including communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and time management. Internships proposed in UGC guidelines help students obtain soft and technical skills highly valued in the workplace. Through these internships, higher educational institutions should aim at enabling students to build a professional network, connecting with professionals and potential mentors,” he said.
What types of internships are recommended by UGC?
The draft norms classified undergraduate internships into two types: Internship for enhancing employability and internship for developing research aptitude.
Internships aimed at enhancing employability can be done with government or private organisations, non-government organisations, enterprises, innovativeness and entrepreneurship, business organisations, local industry, artists, craftspeople, and similar other entities.
Similarly, research internship experience can be gained by working with faculty, scientists, mentors in higher education institutions (HEIs), research institutions, universities, industrial research labs, nationally and internationally reputed organisations, farmers, and entrepreneurs, the guidelines stated.
What will be the duration of these internships?
According to the draft norms, for students pursuing a three-year UG degree an internship of 60 to 120 hours duration after the fourth semester will be mandatory, and for those who opt for a four-year degree, a research programme internship of 360 hours during the eighth semester will be a mandatory component.
How many credits will be earned through internships?
For internships meant to enhance employability, a minimum of 2-4 credits, out of the required minimum of 120/160 credits for an undergraduate programme will be assigned, according to the guidelines.
In the case of research internships, students’ engagement in the dissertations/research project during the entire 8th semester will earn them 12 credits. The students need to submit the research work report to the allotted mentor. The submission of the report with an oral exam component or viva will also be a component for successful evaluation.
How will universities facilitate internships?
The internship programme will be fully organised, executed and monitored by the research and development (R&D) cell of each higher education institution (HEI) through a Nodal Officer to be appointed by the Vice Chancellor/Director/Principal/Head of the Department. The nodal officers will be responsible for connecting organisations with higher education institutions and making MoUs to facilitate internships for students during the course. They will ensure the registration of students, internship supervisors, mentors and internship-providing organisations in the online portal.
Students will apply for research internships on their own or through the mentor of their parent HEI by registering on the internship portal. The HEI should ensure that such a student has an appropriate orientation for research through research ability enhancement courses as a part of the curriculum.
Interns will be selected by host organisations based on their selection criteria. The host organisation will arrange to inform the potential intern through the portal itself or through the mail and will ask for confirmation or acceptance.
On receipt of an offer of internship, the student will arrange to consult the internship supervisor, obtain due permission from the parent institution and join the concerned host organisation for an internship as per the suggested schedule.
The nodal officers will also monitor students during their internship programme and address their problems, if any.
Areas in which internship can be done?
The UGC has suggested various verticals in which students can do internships. It included trade and agriculture, economy and banking financial, logistics, information technology, humanitarian, public policy and legal service, tourism and hospitality, digitisation and emerging technologies, handcraft, art, design and music, healthcare and life science, sports, wellness and physical education, and environment, among others.
How will students be evaluated?
The HEI will examine and evaluate the student’s performance during the internship. According to the guidelines, the interns can be evaluated by the research internship supervisor based on their efforts and research output, or through seminar presentation or viva voce (or oral exam)
“The research project report shall have an undertaking from the student and a certificate from the research supervisor/mentor/advisor for the originality of the work, stating that there is no plagiarism and that the work has not been submitted for the award of any other degree/diploma in the same Institution or any other Institution,” the guidelines stated.
Besides, for viva-voce examination, the HEIs shall include both internal and external examiners, they added.
