Internships are a shortcut to escaping the unemployment trap

We all know how severe the unemployment problem in Rwanda is. Almost everyone knows someone who is not employed or they themselves are not employed. The challenge of finding a job has now collided with the challenge of finding someone who is employable. It is a double-pronged crisis. This week Education Times looks into one of the solutions to this crisis and how effective it is. The problem of unemployment has often just been looked at from the demand side – so many graduates but very few opportunities. However there is another side where you have so many graduates but few of them are employable. Yes they have the nice certificates and graduation pictures to brag of but they can barely do much once placed in a work situation. They cannot perform because they only have theoretical knowledge that they can hardly apply to the work situation effectively. It is at this point that internships come in handy. A chance for an internship is a chance to acquire the exact hands-on skills that one needs to perform a job well. Once someone has undergone internship then their chance of escaping the unemployment trap increases. In the first place they have acquired those skills that give them an edge over others who simply have qualifications. And if the internship goes well and if one leaves an impressive record then there is a chance that the organisation or company may offer them a job. So what was mere training could result into a job. All this is only possible if the internship was beneficial and not just a period spent running office errands.