Academia, industry link threatened as students pay for internship letters

The decision by some public and private universities to charge students who apply for internship letters is deriding efforts at bridging the existing gap between industry and academia.

Checks by the B&FT have shown that some public universities charge between GH?10 and GH?30 per student before mandatory internship letters are issued.

In the University of Ghana (UG), students are charged GH?30 for internship letters; while the University for Development Studies (UDS) gives out internship letters free for the first time a student requests for it, but charges for subsequent requests for internship letters.

Level 300 students of the University of Professional Studies (UPSA) have to pay GH¢10 for internship letters, even though it is mandatory for students to undertake a month or two internship programme to gain hands-on industrial experience.

In the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science &Technology (KNUST), students pay between GH¢10 and GH¢30 depending on the department which issues the internship letter.

While students have complained about the cost of internship letters, members of the academia have called for a rethink of the policy, as efforts are made to strengthen the relationship between industry and academia.

“For me, I think there is no point in charging us for attachment letters; something that is a requirement at the university before you can graduate. Even though someone may argue that GH?10 is nothing, I don’t see why we should be charged for it,” a final year student of the UPSA who pleaded anonymity said.

A level 200 student of the University of Ghana told the B&FT that: “I just don’t understand why we must pay before internship letters are given to us. It just denies those who wish to do voluntary internship but don’t have money the opportunity.”

Commenting on the issue, Professor Goski Alabi, Dean, Centre for International Education and Collaboration, UPSA, said tertiary institutions must rethink the policy of charging for internship letters as it’s an impediment to bridging the industry-academia gap.

“It’s supposed to be part of the teaching and learning process so students do not need to pay for attachment letters. Why should we burden the students with this cost when it is supposed to be a part of the teaching and learning process,” she argued.

There have been calls by stakeholders in the education sector for academia to link up with industry in order to empower students with skills that will make them suitable for the job market.

This provoked a national stakeholder conference in 2014, organised by the Education Ministry, to brainstorm on how to build and strengthen the academia-industry relationship as the country seeks to address the graduate unemployment.

Graduate unemployment is a major issue facing the country at the moment and according to Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana the country is sitting on a time-bomb with its worsening unemployment situation.