Evaluation of students' internship programmes in selected technical universities in Ghana

Abstract

There seems to be an annual recurrence of the challenge of placing every university student for practical internship programme in most technical universities in Ghana. In addressing this challenge, this study evaluated students' internship programmes in selected Technical Universities in Ghana. The pragmatism philosophical paradigm specifically concurrent triangulation mixed methods approach was utilised. In the quantitative phase, data was solicited from third-year students, lecturers and administrators of technical universities with the help of pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires. Multistage sampling technique was utilised. Data was analysed using mean and standard deviation. The study found weak technical university-industry linkages, and unclear legal and regulatory framework governing internship. Again, no internship training plan was formulated by technical universities for each intern after the placement had been agreed upon. However, a memorandum of understanding was reached and signed by both the intern and the employer. Internship offered countless benefits to students, including greater sense of responsibility, as well as development of one's career. Among others, the challenges facing the successful implementation of internship programmes were poor integration among relevant stakeholders, competition from other education institutions, lack of stipend for interns, and weak business relationship with employers. To address the challenges, some of the strategies recommended were technical universities must target multi-nationa.1 corporations that can take on multiple interns; site visits by university supervisors should be used to monitor compliance; and interns should be encouraged to bring to the fore their concerns.