Internship programme for tertiary students

A pilot project to formalise internship programmes for tertiary students in business and industrial organisations would soon be introduced in the country, Mrs Rose Karikari-Annan, Executive Secretary, Ghana Employers Association announced on Friday.

She said the programme would cover between 10 to 12 weeks during long vacations for tertiary students, and would serve as a link between academic institutions and the business and industrial communities. Mrs Karikari-Annan was speaking in Accra at the fourth Annual Colloquium of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ghana. It was on the theme: "Humanities and the Job Market."

She said stakeholders in education, business and industry, were currently discussing modalities for the programme to ensure that its smooth implementation.

She said the project had the immediate objective of curbing rising graduate unemployment by exposing tertiary students to the realities on the job market before they graduated from school.

"After spending several months immersed in a business, students will definitely know whether they like it or not" she said, adding, "the right match can get them on a path to landing a job that has about everything they are looking for."

Mrs Karikari-Annan said the project would also equip tertiary students with the practical knowledge and skills required at the workplace.

She said employment agencies would become operational as a platform for job seekers and employers to meet, as soon as the regulation, which gives operational effect to the Labour law, was promulgated. She noted that training to meet industry needs involved diverse jobs for graduates in the humanities and social sciences, and that currently, there were more jobs available to humanities graduates in the business world, than to graduates in applied and vocational courses. Mrs Karikari-Annan said students pursuing courses in the humanities could also make themselves more marketable by acquiring work experience through volunteer positions.