MUMBAI:In a first, the state government plans to open its departments to undergraduate students to pursue their internships under the New Education Policy (NEP). The state’s higher and technical education department is in talks with other departments to understand the opportunities that can be made available to undergraduate students from different courses.
The new four-year programmes, with exit options at every level, require students to earn credits through mandatory internship programmes before graduating. The department plans to take the proposal to the cabinet and issue guidelines and also plans to make use of the internship portal of the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) which is open to students as well as recruiters.
“We are in talks with various departments in the government and are exploring the opportunities that can be offered to undergraduate students. It is a developing idea and we need to work out a lot of details. Some of the departments have offered a few internships to students primarily from the professional streams, but the numbers were quite small. For the first time it is being considered at policy level,” said a government official.
Another official said they have already identified departments such as law, school education and water conservation where there is room for such experiments. The official added that with the implementation of NEP, internship has become mandatory across courses and not just in engineering, as was the case before, and a large number of students will be looking for internships after the end of two years.
“We will also be making use of the AICTE portal, which is open for all students,” said the official. The AICTE portal is aimed at creating and preparing a skilled workforce for the industry. It also provides details of virtual internship opportunities. One of the vice-chancellors of state universities said the Andhra Pradesh model for internship is one of the robust ones to draw inspiration for public universities in the state, adding it requires one full semester of internship.
In Maharashtraunder NEP, it is already implemented for 88 credits for the four-year honours programme for engineering students, he said. The University Grants Commission (UGC) recommends completion of internship of two to four credits or about 60 to 120 hours duration during or after the fourth semester of the undergraduate degree programme, the requirement is different for students pursuing their four-year (honours with research) programmes. In line with the UGC policy, the state also plans to draw guidelines on how this can be executed.
The new four-year programmes, with exit options at every level, require students to earn credits through mandatory internship programmes before graduating. The department plans to take the proposal to the cabinet and issue guidelines and also plans to make use of the internship portal of the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) which is open to students as well as recruiters.
“We are in talks with various departments in the government and are exploring the opportunities that can be offered to undergraduate students. It is a developing idea and we need to work out a lot of details. Some of the departments have offered a few internships to students primarily from the professional streams, but the numbers were quite small. For the first time it is being considered at policy level,” said a government official.
Another official said they have already identified departments such as law, school education and water conservation where there is room for such experiments. The official added that with the implementation of NEP, internship has become mandatory across courses and not just in engineering, as was the case before, and a large number of students will be looking for internships after the end of two years.
“We will also be making use of the AICTE portal, which is open for all students,” said the official. The AICTE portal is aimed at creating and preparing a skilled workforce for the industry. It also provides details of virtual internship opportunities. One of the vice-chancellors of state universities said the Andhra Pradesh model for internship is one of the robust ones to draw inspiration for public universities in the state, adding it requires one full semester of internship.
In Maharashtraunder NEP, it is already implemented for 88 credits for the four-year honours programme for engineering students, he said. The University Grants Commission (UGC) recommends completion of internship of two to four credits or about 60 to 120 hours duration during or after the fourth semester of the undergraduate degree programme, the requirement is different for students pursuing their four-year (honours with research) programmes. In line with the UGC policy, the state also plans to draw guidelines on how this can be executed.
