International internships will help fresh graduates

Editor, RE: “Experience: The dilemma of a fresh graduate” (The New Times, July 22). It is true that experience is a key factor in finding a suitable job. Without a doubt, the supply of the available workforce is far in excess of the demand, thus leading to this imbalance. The Indian Merchants’ Chamber (IMC), a premier chamber of commerce and industry in India, has aptly chosen as its theme this year, “Job Creation through Skill Development”. IMC, which has already signed a memorandum of understanding with the Rwanda Private Sector Federation, aims at providing youth with suitable internships and training to give them a head start in their career path. Through its member organisations, MC will on Monday, July 27—during Rwanda Calling 2015—invite two young graduates, one from the Kigali Institute of Management and the other from the University of Rwanda, to undergo an internship programme in Mumbai. The aim of this initiative is to provide these young graduates with the right skills so that when they return they are better equipped to secure a suitable job. With thousands of students graduating, I do agree this is but a drop in the ocean, but it is many drops which make the ocean. This is a pilot project and with the anticipated success, the internships and training will be scaled up to a great extent. Only last month, our hospital partner, SevenHills Hospital, did a pilot programme for three nurses from Butaro Hospital. The “Advanced Training and Familiarisation Programme” was so successful that SevenHills will announce, next week, during Rwanda Calling 2015, their “Skill Development Programme” to train as many as forty eight nurses in Mumbai. Youth are the future leaders and various programmes undertaken by the Ministry of Youth and ICT; like YouthKonnect, youth will definitely go a long way in developing the latent potential that exists and is just waiting to be tapped effectively. Clarence Fernandes, Mumbai, India

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International internships will help fresh graduates