THE STUDENT INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME

-CONCEPT AND ROLES

By
Dr. Premanand Shenoy
Member, Institution of Engineers (India)
1. Preamble
In order to improve the employability of the students by imparting required skills and making
them industry ready, it has been decided by AICTE to introduce mandatory internship for students
from the session 2017-18. To facilitate internships to the students, AICTE has been identifying
organisations/institutes both in India & abroad and signing MoUs.

While pressed upon the regulatory need of internship, the students and technical institutions
are lost in finding effective ways of implementation of the concept. This article is to understand the
concept of internship and the role of the concerned in effectively implementing the vision of the
authorities.

2. Student Internship Program – The concept

Internships are carefully planned and monitored work experience with the goal being to gain
additional knowledge from on- the- job- exposure. Internships allow students the opportunity to apply
their knowledge and skills in a professional setting while still in the academic institutes. Participating
interns gain on-the-job training that integrates education, career development and public service.
Internships may also be part of an educational program in which students can earn academic
credits from their college. Internships may be arranged independently from the curriculum in which
students would gain work experience only.
3. Primary Objectives
The main objectives of the Student Internship programme are

a) To gain career related experience

b) To gain practical knowledge
c) To Know the risks involved in practising the profession
d) To explore related career avenues
e) To develop and increase self-confidence
f) To enhance conventional classroom learning methods
g) To know the ethical practice of the business related to the profession
h) To know the unwritten rules and thumb rules derived out of experience
i) To know the mistakes committed by others and learn from them
j) To understand the reality whether they really know the things what they thought they knew-
Self realization evaluation and external appraisal.
k) To know the subject area of interest which can help choose their elective/ post graduate level
subjects in the subsequent years.
l) To know the advanced practices in comparison to some basic but outdated syllabus in the
curriculum.
m) Promote and improve industry-institute interaction for the benefit of both.

4. Secondary Objectives
These secondary objectives should never become the primary objectives of the student. The purpose
of the concept will be lost.

a) Valuable work experience for their resumes

b) Letter of recommendation from departments supervisor
c) Obtain references from co-workers during the internship
d) To satisfy the university regulations and to earn academic credits

5. Role of the Student

a) Students are the centre of attention in the entire concept of internship. It is for the student
and the -role -of –the self need to be understood by every student. The objectives of the
concept need to be understood. Though many may not be able to identify clearly the area of
special interest at the first instant, the student is the one who chooses the place of his
internship.

b) While choosing an organisation for internship, a student needs to study the nature of jobs in
which it is involved, the mission and vision of the organisation, the locale, the people, the
reputation and their regulations for interns. Many organisations have set working hours, dress
codes and other service rules. Students need to see whether they could abide by them. They
may have to search for the availability of accommodation near the place of work too.

c) If you are a student, you need to obtain willingness of the organisation to take you as an
intern before you approach your institution for deputation. Many reputed firms have formats
for application for internship to be filled up and submitted well in advance to your intended
period of internship.

d) Observe the regulations of the firm during the internship. Your conduct can directly affect the
reputation of the institution that you represent. Standard organisations do not allow the use
any pirated software in their premises.

e) Do not attempt to access documents which are not given to you by them willingly. Similarly,
do not get involved in gossiping nor should you intrude into the matters concerned with
others.

f) Observe the work environment. many non-technical aspects can contribute a lot to your
future career.

g) The fellow interns you meet may also become great contacts in the future.

h) Keep a diary of events on a daily basis. It would be a great help while preparing a progress
report or the final one at the end.

i) While you finish the internship, make it a point to thank all the involved through a formal
letter.

j) Many students think that the internship period is for learning value added courses. There is no
benefit of learning a value added course unless a student knows the practice of the basic
courses already learned in classrooms.

6. Role of the Institution

a) Institution plays an important part in the internship programme. It is the responsibility of the
institution to see that the student undergoes internship in an organisation relevant to his/ her
field.
b) In the name of internship, students are likely to be at their place of residence on vacation
doing no fruitful work. Similarly, there are many private organisations which woo the
students in the name of paid internship and use them for data entry / typing/ or call centre
operations irrelevant to their field. It is likely that the students get attracted to such small time
financial benefits in addition to getting an internship certificate to satisfy university
regulations.
c) There are many private intermediaries who offer free registrations for paid internship too.
Care should be taken to see that the students do not fall victims to such free registrations
which ultimately depute the students to be used for irrelevant works. As far as possible, such
private intermediaries should be avoided and direct links need to be established between the
institution and industries.
d) Every institution should have a clear policy laid out student internships. That could be
accessed by the students. Provision should also be there to revise the policy as the need arises.
e) There should be a pre internship talk given to the students proceeding to internship. The
objectives, requirements, submissions and the structure of the final reports should be spelt out
so that the students record and maintain information.
f) The students should be continuously monitored for their attendance and regularity at the place
of internship. There should be periodical evaluation of progress of work undertaken by the
students and feedback from the in charge at the place of internship.
g) Students should be encouraged to give presentations on their work when they are back from
the internship programme and submission of an internship report need to be insisted upon.
h) The feedback from industry should also be viewed very seriously as it can contribute to the
modification of curriculum / syllabus or can reveal many shortfalls of on the part of
institution.
7. Role of the Industry
a) As the interns are basically students, they do not financially earn and it is unethical make
them pay for the internship provided to them. Giving internship is a social responsibility. It
is not a business. At the same time, there are many organisations which pay the students
during their internship. But if the students want to study value added courses, they may have
to pay. It may be termed as ‘value addition ’. But it is definitely not ‘Internship’.
b) The organisation , where internship is sought, should seek the purpose and area of interest of
the intern before they are admitted. If they do not match what the organisation can offer, the
organisation may suggest alternate places of internship.
c) The knowledge that is transferred, or at least most of it, during internship should be as mush
practical as possible, which the students do not get in academic environment. If they can
connect theory to practice, the purpose is served.
d) Many of the organisations propagate that ‘Practice is different from Theory’ ,which is wrong
and may make students lose confidence in academics. It should be understood that ‘Practice is
the Intelligent Application of Theory’. It is not different. Theory is learned because it has a
practical application somewhere, probably the organisation does not know. Theory is also
 required to analyse what went wrong or why something worked. Knowledge of theory while
practising can lead us to perfection.
e) The organisation should be selfless in providing data and information, if they are not
confidential or intellectual property. The classified information should be properly secured,
as students , without the knowledge of the consequences, may distribute such data as they are
exposed to an era when pirated software is profusely distributed.
f) Organisation should put effort to teach them professional ethics and responsibility to the
society. A good engineer is also a good human being.
g) The concerned co-ordinator in the organisation should pay attention to the interns through
periodic technical meetings and one to one talks. If interns are left alone, the purpose of
internship may be lost. On the contrary, being students, they may interfere with the
professional office atmosphere or would take it leisurely being absent.
h) Organisation should involve them in live projects, under supervision. Creative minds can
contribute to the projects immensely. They should be sent to project sites only after proper
training on construction safety. Organisation should not ‘use’ them without any benefit to
them, even if they are paid.
i) The organisation may guide them in the areas where they are confident and have proven
abilities. Preferably, the personnel need to have academic qualifications in the area of
practice.
j) An evaluation should be done the end of internship. It would give them, and the organisation,
how much both have been successful in knowledge transfer.
k) A feedback should be obtained from the interns at the end of the internship. Probably, the
organisation can offer better internship next time. There could also be invaluable suggestions
to improve the organisation’s performance. Young minds with latest knowledge on gadgets
and research can improve the organisation’s efficiency too!
8. Conclusion
AICTE has realized the need and importance of internship in moulding a complete
engineer. Though the modus operandi of the requirement has not been spelt out, it has made
internship compulsory for the students. Without understanding the concept, objectives, roles
and responsibilities, the system may not be implemented to achieve its intended goals and
sincere involvement of all concerned is warranted. The article is an attempt to frame a
skeleton to the implementation of the student internship programme.
About the Author
Dr. Premanand Shenoy has 20 years
of experience in design and construction
industry and 12 years of teaching
experience. He is involved in many
Industry Institute Interaction
Programmes through strategic
development of policies for
implementation of training programmes,
continuing education courses,
placements , student internship programs and skill development
courses. Currently he is a professor in the department of Civil
Engineering in Sahyadri College of Engineering, Mangalore and is
involved actively in consultancy services. He is an active member of
Mangalore centre of IE (I)

Membership No. M118785 – 0