Expert asks colleges to widen scope of internships to non-industrial sectors

An expert in the education sector has underscored the need to widen the scope of internship for undergraduate students to non-industrial sectors also.

Interacting with the academic community at a workshop on National Education Policy (NEP) organised by Mangalore University in Mangaluru on Monday, Gopalakrishna Joshi, Executive Director of Karnataka State Higher Education Council said internships in non-industrial establishments will help students better understand the problems of society.

Stating that internship does not mean sending students to industry alone, he said students can be sent to a village panchayat for an internship with a specific purpose, or to a self-help group (SHG) or government establishments.

Students can learn the domain, and understand the kinds of problems the society is facing. When they come back, they will start appreciating what the teachers are teaching, he said.

Noting that industries are located in only a few locations in the State, he pointed out that all districts do not have industries in their region. There is no proper distribution of industries around all the universities in the State.

Urging the colleges not to restrict themselves by sending students to industries for internships, he said, “We need to really interpret it (internship) suiting the Indian context.”

AI and Cyber Security

To another query on tackling the problems while introducing Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security as compulsory papers even as many colleges lack the infrastructure, he said the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Nasscom have made these courses available online.

Stating that these courses cost zero money for teachers and students, he said they can go to FutureSkills Prime portal, register themselves, and learn these courses.

Joshi said these courses have been designed for students from undergraduate streams such as BBA, BA, BSc and BCom. If any student can learn these courses, any teacher can also learn them, he said.

“These courses are not introduced to sell any technology or to favour any company. These are historic opportunity for us to do certain corrections,” he said, adding that many from rural areas were deprived of these courses on the basis of money, access, and several other things.

He said the Council has requested Nasscom to conduct training programmes for teachers, if universities ask for it.