New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Friday announced that the students pursuing regular undergraduate courses like B Com, BA, etc. can undergo internship. This will help students get job-ready, just like the ones pursuing professional courses.
The Commission on Friday released apprenticeship/internship guidelines for degree programmes, under which courses from various disciplines have been allowed to offer internship. These courses will be called ‘Internship/apprenticeship embedded degree programmes’, reported The Print.
The UGC guidelines have also asked colleges and universities to dedicate at least one full semester to internships and evaluate students on the basis of their internship experience. Twenty 20 per cent of the total credits will be marked from the internship, if they choose to do the internship embedded degree programmes.
“With a large number of students enrolled in general degree programmes in India every year, there is a consensus among stakeholders for a shift from ‘academics only’ approach. The minimal linkage between the general degree curriculum and employers’ requirement calls for an effective remodelling of degree programmes, driven by changing needs of the industry and service sector,” the guidelines read.
According to the guidelines, any degree course will be eligible for an embedded internship/apprenticeship programme. However, the higher education institutes will have to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with discipline-specific commercial and non-commercial organisations for providing apprenticeship/internship, before introducing the embedded degree programmes.
The courses will be planned depending on the facility and infrastructure available.
Currently, only students pursuing professional courses like journalism, engineering, management and others are asked to undergo mandatory internships.