11/05/2021
GOVT SHOULD REVIEW INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME- DUMELANG
Following a thorough research of the struggle that young graduates in Botswana experience concerning their internship/indenture to learn I am of the view that the government should undertake a review of their internship programme of support.
There exist three main developments that could see the interns of Botswana be taught and accommodated in the workplace in a more productive and skill development encouraging way.
1. INTERNSHIP ALLOWANCE INCREMENT
The first is the allowance paid to interns being increased. Such an allowance is what keeps the interns nurtured and able to work, subsidize their daily needs such as rent, transport, food etc. It has always been a problem for interns to receive internship allowances that do not stretch far enough to accommodate the needs of interns during their tenure and indenture. The cost of living in Gaborone rises each day and as such, the P1 300 provided to interns has proven not to be up to par in consideration of such rising living costs.
2. REDUCTION OF WORKING HOURS
The second is the need to review the working hours of interns. As much as an internship is meant to train an individual to become accustomed to working conditions, the hours are unreasonable especially considering that these are graduates who are currently underpaid. Long working hours have proven to bring more challenges as they raise the cost of living too. An individual is then unable to lay focus on their performance outside of their internship concerning looking for permanent employment and opportunities that may be available to them. Most times an intern is compelled to work from 7am till 4pm in the evening thus stealing from them the time to develop themselves elsewhere in other faculties of life. I’m of the view that the internship program hours should be limited from morning till half past 12 so as to match the limited allowance and also to accord the graduates the time and opportunity to perform other acts such as registering for Masters Degree, employment etc.
3. STRATEGIC PLACEMENT
The third would be the strategic placement of interns in areas of their respective residences. It would be of much assistance if interns could be placed in places close to their home villages or places of residence. This would prove helpful as the cost of living would drop drastically considering that the transport costs would go down and the cost of food and rent would be wiped off completely. It also is of assistance for one to be in a place close to home in order for them to apply focus to their work as they will be in a familiar environment.
BOKANG DUMELANG
UBSRC PRESIDENT
[email protected]
