21-Aug-2018

Makerere university interns reported back from their internship placement where they have been training during the months of June and July.

Officially, their internship has to run for 8 weeks, although according to these students, some of them have done it within a month on grounds that  their hosts where very fixed and they have been attending to many interns from various institutions across the country. Therefore as means of serving all these interns equally, their hosts decided to reduce on the internship period for each student.

Due to this, interns’ hosts have complained about the act that has proved to be a habit of the academic institutions to send to them interns in the same period which complicates the way of handling and attending to these interns at once in the limited time. This is because some of them have few structures. Therefore, they have suggested that institutions should send interns in different periods, as it will ease their service delivery to them.

Basing on the internship coordinator at the department of journalism and communication in Makerere University, Mr. Davis Rwabu, 94 students have been released to go for internship from his department this year.

Furthermore, the school practice coordinator at the college of Education and External Studies (CEES), S. Sekiziyivu, says about 2000 students have also been sent to go for internship from his college this year. Sekiziyivu elaborates that these includes the 2^nd and 3^rd year students plus the post graduate students of Education.

In relation to this, the department of journalism and communication, requires its students as part of their degree program to undertake and complete industrial training in the areas of Print, Broadcasting, Photo Journalism or Public Relations and Advertising. This exercise is intended to help them become familiar with the rigors of communication related work and to help prospective employers frame students into suitable professionals for the job market.

As part of their experiences during the June to July internship, students have pointed out some of the challenges they have come across. Jolly Kyokunda, and Farida Nakalanzi the 3^rd year students, both pursuing a bachelor’s degree of Education (EDA), say they have faced a lot of unwanted sexual advances relating to conmen. Jolly added that, financial challenges in terms of accommodation, feeding and the teaching Aids are other challenges she has faced.

Since internship is part of students’ academic program, they are evaluated during their internship through academic and host supervisors. Therefore, students have written and presented files, journals and reports to their supervisors for assessment.