UGC releases guidelines for an internship/apprenticeship embedded degree programme 

On August 7, the Education Minister of India, Ramesh Pokhriyal, ushered in a shift from ‘academic-only’ approach. The UGC guidelines set in motion an internship/apprenticeship embedded degree programme for higher education institutes. The guidelines for the same were issued under National Education Policy 2020, during the terminating session of the Conclave on Transformation Reforms in Higher Education. 

The event was held digitally which saw the presence of various stakeholders. It was attended by Minister of State for HRD, Sanjay Dhotre, Jamia Milia VC Najma Akhtar, UGC Secretary Professor Rajnish Jain, IIT Madras Director Professor Bhaskar Ramamurthy, Higher Education Secretary Amit Khare, and UGC Chairman D.P. Singh.

Ins and outs of internship/apprenticeship embedded degree programme

Colleges have been called upon to dedicate at least one full semester to internships and assess students with respect to their internship experiences. Just like their counterparts in courses like management and engineering, students who pursue regular degree courses (B.A., B.Com, B.Sc) will now be able to give internships a whirl as part of their course. Courses from any discipline can offer internships as a part of their ‘Internship/apprenticeship embedded degree programmes.’

The National Education Policy 2020 stresses on conceptual understanding rather than rote-learning and the guidelines on internship/apprenticeship embedded degree programme are just in tandem with this feature. The guidelines have also asked the colleges/institutions to award 20% of the total credits to the internships if they chose to offer their students internship embedded degree programmes.

The NEP was released earlier this month which envisions a multi-disciplinary degree programme for students who step into the fields of Higher Education in the country. This approach is to make students employment-ready. The guidelines said, “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 ‘academic-only’ approach. The minimal linkage between the general degree curriculum and employer’s requirement calls for an effective remodelling of degree programmes, driven by changing needs of the industry and service sector."

This programme is bound to offer traineeship as a part of a student’s curriculum, which will be undertaken on the premises of the workplace, that could either be a commercial or a non-commercial organization, where the student pursues his/her internship. This shall lead to better learning experiences and an exposure to the outside world.

Process, procedures and instructions

Before the institutions agree to provide for the internship/apprenticeship embedded degree programme, they will have to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with discipline-specific commercial and non-commercial organizations for providing internship/apprenticeship. Depending on the infrastructure and the faculty available, the courses shall be planned accordingly. 

Institutions are asked to produce the final mark sheet of a student after they have evaluated their performance in the internships as well. This shall be carried out with the help of the organization where the student completed his/her internship.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered in his inaugural speech that the New Education Policy (NEP) shall focus on ‘How to think’ rather than ‘What to think.’ The Prime Minister also added that there shall be a radical shift to discovery-based, discussion and analysis-based learning, where the emphasis shall be on retaining the larger talent pool in India.

For more information on the education sector, you can also read

• Centre set to Revamp the Higher Education System in India
• What does the NEP 2020 mean for you?
• UGC Guidelines for internships: Colleges to make arrangements
• All colleges to open from 1st August: UGC issues guidelines for Academic Calendar 2020-21
• What are the positive and negative things in the Modi government's National Education Policy 2020?