Introduction

Bachelor of Science or Arts curricula in applied universities’ programs require internship (industry placement) after the successful completion of the required course. The semester of the internship is different across different Departments depending upon their respective program or curricula. At the end of their internship period, the student submits a comprehensive report to the mentor assigned by the University, to duly endorse by the student’s host company. The required format and assessment of the report is different as detailed in the guideline of internship. The report is assessed by an assigned internship evaluator. During the internship, daily and monthly work schedule of the student follow the systems practiced in the respective industries, where the students are placed.

Internships in Ethiopian Applied Sciences Universities are highly significant. Since laboratories in most Ethiopian UAS aren’t as such adequate, the only way students can relate their theoretical knowledge to practice is through internship programs. It helps students to convert their academic knowledge into real-world scenarios. Moreover, internships can provide students with the opportunity to develop their professional skills, such as communication, teamwork, and problem-solving. This can help them to become more competitive in the job market. Furthermore, internships can provide students with the opportunity to network with professionals in their field. This can help them to learn about job opportunities, and to build relationships that can be beneficial in their future careers. It also helps students to gain confidence in their abilities, exposure to different industries and career paths, and to explore their interests and to make informed decisions about their future careers. In general, arguably, internships are highly relevant for the development of a skilled workforce to support the industry.

Requirements of Internship

 Internship requirements can vary among universities in Ethiopia, especially in the field of applied sciences. However, some general requirements for internships in applied science programs might include:

Program Enrolment: Typically, internships are part of a formal educational program, such as a degree or certification. Students are needed to be enrolled in a related program to participate.

Academic Standing: Typically, students need to be in good academic standing, often with a minimum GPA requirement to be eligible for internships.

Specific Skills: Certain internships might require students to possess particular skills related to the applied sciences.

Academic Prerequisites: Certain courses or specific academic achievements might be necessary before starting an internship.

Application Process: There might be an application procedure that includes submitting a resume or CV, a cover letter, and possibly letters of recommendation.

Program Approval: The internship might need to be approved or endorsed by the university’s department or faculty overseeing the applied science program.

Duration and Hours: The duration and number of hours required for the internship might vary. Some programs might specify a minimum number of hours or a specific duration for the internship. An internship often has a required number of hours or a specified duration that needs to be completed for academic credit or certification.

Language Proficiency: Depending on the nature of the internship and the institution, proficiency in certain languages might be necessary.

Clearances or Background Checks: Especially in fields involving direct work with individuals (e.g., counselling, healthcare), you might need to undergo background checks, fingerprinting, or specific clearances.

Health Requirements: Some internships, particularly in healthcare settings, might require up-to-date vaccinations, health screenings, or immunizations.

Training or Orientation: Before starting an internship, students might need to undergo specific training or orientations related to the field, safety protocols, or the institution’s policies.

Supervision: Internship often involves direct supervision by experienced professionals or mentors within the field to guide and assess the students’ learning.

Documentation: Students are needed to keep records of the internship experience, such as journals, reports, or reflections, as part of your academic requirements. The list of requirements could be used as a checklist for the implementation of an internship system. 

Challenges of Internship

There have been obstacles and challenges in the successful implementation of internship programs in the Ethiopian applied science universities. These challenges emanate at different phases in the implementation process of internship both on the part of universities themselves and industries. Designing internships, there should be an awareness of these challenges. Soma of the challenges include the following:  

· Lack of preparation of the host industries before the start of the internship program.  Even after the companies have had experiences with students who have completed an internship program, these companies often have no system in place to track the students’ progress;

· Lack of available internship opportunities. Industries are few in number; even the capacity of those available to host internship students is low. Nevertheless, this does not apply for universities/colleges of education as their “industries” are the schools.

· After students are placed the industries, there is hardly any exchange between the companies and the university.

· Most of the time, industries lack information about the university student internship schedule, e.g. when it starts and when it ends.

· Students spend their internship period only in one company, which prevents them to know the working culture and system of different companies, at least two.

· There is a low performance of the industry-linkage-office from the university side, such as lack of monitoring the internship progress, the internship content, etc; etc.

· The industry linkage office from a university, which is supposed to arrange oversee internships, do have experience in connecting to different industries. However, they face serious problems in connecting  the university to industries.

· Some companies give interns too much work and take advantage of students by giving them many hours of boring and repetitive work. This leads to student exhaustion, which in turn has a negative impact on the student’s internship experience.

· There have been difficulties matching students with appropriate and relevant internships practice. It can be difficult to match students with internships that are aligned with required skills and interest.

· Most internship students’ work goes unnoticed or unappreciated and the company (organization) does not give any feedback. This gives students the feeling that their work is worthless.

· The lack of funding is a serious challenge. The internship payment doesn’t cover basic human needs This leads students to find a company in their hometown which might not be relevant to the objectives the internship.

· Internships require qualified supervisors on the part of the industries who can provide students with guidance. However, there is a lack of such qualified supervisors.

· The assigned mentor by the universities, in most cases, does not travel to the company to check the student’s progress in the company.

· These days, there are security concerns to travel to the companies which are far from the university, but which are highly relevant.   

Do and Don’t” list for successful implementation

Do List

· Intern student must prepare a cover letter to justify the decision for a specific company and describe their expectation for a successful completion of their internship period.

· Internships should be within a given period of time.

· Interns need to submit a report to the respective company and to their assigned mentor from the university on a weekly basis. These reports must have the following content:

1. Task name

2. Brief description of task

3. List of safety measures procured to perform the task

4. Reason for the case/ problem; a motivation why the task(s) is/are important for the company.

5. Strategy plan to overcome the solution; a plan how to intern will handle the tasks(s)

6. Set specific goals the interns want to achieve within one week for next task.

· Prepare mock presentation for respective adviser who is assigned by the university once in a month.

· Finding friendly supervisor from the company, in addition to the supervisor assigned by the company.

· Intern students need to leave their internship with new skills, accomplishments, and a better understanding of their field.

· Students need to create a network with people who have a major role in the respective company and who may be helpful for their future career.

· The university should train faculty and staff on how to support students in their internship experiences. This training can help to ensure that students have a positive and productive experience.

· The current payment is as high as it was ten years ago. It should be revised.

· The internship project should be harmonised with the university’s research strategies and guidelines.

· Provide opportunities for students to present their work at conferences. This will help students to gain experience in communicating their research to others and to build their professional networks.

· The government could establish a national UAS authority to oversee the development and regulation of the UAS industry. That can share best practices and promote the safe and responsible use of UAS internships.

· Allow different programmes or related departments to work together to prepare realistic works for the community; this can be considered as community service by students.

· Internships should provide for the students a real work experience in their field of study.

· Intern students should network with people in the industry, who are likely their future employers.

· Internships offer opportunities to learn and improve skills, which can be beneficial for career growth.

Don’t do list

· Skipping opportunity to get new experiences which may open job opportunity for future life.

· Afraid to ask any questions if they don’t understand.

· Forget to take all advantages and opportunities that the university and hosting company could offer.

· Never give up accomplishing a successful internship period. Even if the internship experience wasn’t what the intern imagined previously. There is an option to ask peacefully the manager to release the students and he or should find another company.

· Overstep the boundaries with the mentor. The ultimate goal must be to learn and get a successful work experience, if possible.

Suggestions for effective implementation

For successful implementation of internships, the following steps are suggested:

· In general, it is important to do preliminary research, establishing a baseline, integrating findings into planning, as well as monitoring and adjusting strategies.

· An active industry-linkage-office in the university is mandatory, since every process runs through this office. Therefore, it has to receive interest from the companies and convince the program/department, to build partnerships with the industry. Generally, the industry-linkage-office must develop a clear vision and mission for the internship program and the institution has to create a performance evaluation method.

· Universities of Applied Sciences should form partnerships with industries by sharing their latest technological advancements and identifying the skills and knowledge they require. In return, industries can provide valuable feedback to help guide curriculum updates, ensuring that academic programs remain relevant and aligned with current market demands.

· The schedule for internship programs should be carefully planned to consider not only the timelines of the companies and universities but also the availability of students, advisors, mentors, and other stakeholders involved.

· It is better for internship students to work in different companies (organizations). At least in two different companies, as much as possible, by rotation for the development of versatile knowledge and skills instead of solely depending in a single industry.

· Internship students, with the guidance of supervisors, should work on realistic topics and tasks in the company, which helps them to prepare the challenges of the world of work.

· It is good to always track the outcomes of the internship program: This will help the university to assess the effectiveness of the program and to make improvements over time. Hence, the internship report should be submitted periodically. Furthermore, feedback from interns, mentors, and supervisors should be gathered regularly to identify areas for continuous improvement. It also contributes to the program’s success and smooth implementation.  

· UAS should sent letters to industries including detailed contact information and guidelines for the internship partnership and student relationships.

· Instead of relying solely on a final report, a midterm evaluation of the internship should be sent to the university to help monitor and track the program’s progress more effectively.  Internship students should analyse and reflect on social problems to the department and at the end of the internship report their findings or solutions.

· Along with the attendance sheet, the main topics and content of the student’s internship work should be documented and submitted to the university (see annex a.6 and annex a.9).

· Students should select their area of internship, in collaboration with people in the industry and at the university. In this case, the university should allocate enough internship allowance, making sure that the area they are going to be placed is safe and secure.

· Interns should be encouraged to network with employees and other interns to expand their professional connections.

· Every student should have a mentor from their university, who guides the student through the internship phase. To make sure the mentor is visiting the students at their workplace, an “Internship Mentors’ Checklist” letter should be issued by the department. Mentors must present this letter to the company and return it to the department with the company’s official stamp as confirmation (see annex a.8).

· Universities should give assurance to the company about discipline and some other issues for regarding interns from the university. This creates trust and confidence for the company (organization) and provides space for them, with knowing the internship program schedules of the university. Hence, universities and organizations have to have a partnership including a joint discussion on academic curriculum.

· More importantly a welcoming culture has to be developed at the respective company and students should be viewed as assets to the industries rather than liabilities.

· Industries are in high demand for current technology, but much of the university curriculum is outdated. Therefore, curriculum updates should occur at least every two years to ensure alignment with industry needs.

· Facilitate networking by organizing events where industries are invited to the university to introduce themselves to students and establish partnerships with the university.

· Regularly gather feedback from interns, mentors, and supervisors to identify areas for continuous improvement.

Schematic representation

Name: Biniam Hailu

Nationality: Ethiopian

Institution:  Jigjiga University

Email: haylbiniam@gmail.com

Name: Dawit Gezahegn 

Nationality: Ethiopian

Institution:  Jigjiga University

Email:  dawit.gezahegn@jju.edu.et

Name: Mingot Getachew

Nationality: Ethiopian

Institution: Kotebe University

Email: getachew.mignot@kue.edu.et

 Name: Bekele  Workie Ayele (PhD)

Nationality: Ethiopian

Institution: Kotebe University