Internship framework guidelines for Malaysian Public Higher Education Institutes

Abstract

Internship programs are designed to provide university students an opportunity to complement their formal education with career related experience. A study was conducted to establish a clear framework that will guide and give directions, to the management of internship training of all students in at public higher education institutes (PHEI). The guidelines will not only help PHEI develop their best practices in internship programs, but also, provide recommendations for industries on how to design and implement optimum internship programs. The data collected are categorized under five categories of stakeholders so as to gauge five different type of analysis. The analysis revealed considerable interest in internship programs for all the stakeholders, namely the students, general public, university administrators and the industry. The purpose of the study is to establish a clear framework that will guide and give direction, to the management of all internship training within the PHEI and industry. The guideline comprised of the planning, implementation and assessment stages. The framework also put forward advisories that are related to the local labor law and PHEI academic requirements.