Examining the Nature of the Internship Programme on Skills Development: An Empirical Review

Scholars, political leaders, public officials, citizens, and interns will always have varying opinions on how internship programmes affect skill development. Due to their experiences, various aspects, and specific factors, all of these people may be focusing on the same thing at the same time. Scholars may regard the programme as the quickest and least expensive tool for nurturing and preparing university and college graduates for employment across the country. Others may argue that the programme promotes skill development and capacity building in the sense that, depending on the nature of the internship programme within each employment sector, one could acquire or develop specific skills from the programme itself. In light of this, the article conducted an empirical study to investigate the nature of internship programmes and skill development in three Limpopo Province public institutions: the Department of Education, the Provincial Treasury, and the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. A mixed-methods approach was used in this study. Nonetheless, semi-structured questionnaires were distributed to current and previous interns in order to achieve the study's objectives. Furthermore, face-to-face interviews (semi-structured interviews) were conducted with public officials from the aforementioned government departments to collect primary data. As things stand, the internship programme can be said to have had a positive impact on skill development. Since the programme has successfully transferred skills such as communication, writing, and reporting to interns, among others, the study also discovered that internship programmes are one of the best ways to prepare interns for future employment opportunities because some interns were offered employment elsewhere after completing their internship period. In contrast, due to competition on the labour market, not all interns secure jobs after the internship.