August 17, 2007
By Millicent Kgowedi
THIS year 100 students are filling internships with the City of Johannesburg – this is up from the 28 given positions when the City first started its Internship and Learnership Scheme in 2003.
The internships and learnerships are open to students from institutions of further and higher learning and give them the opportunity to get workplace experience relevant to their academic programmes.
The scheme is run in compliance with the Skills Development Act, the purpose of which is to develop skills in the South Africans workforce and to improve the employment prospects of people previously disadvantaged by unfair discrimination through training and education.
An internship is a contract between the employer, in this case the City, and the candidate. The employer has control over the intern and pays him or her a monthly allowance, which is slightly higher than that received on a learnership.
A learnership is supported and funded by the local government skills, education and training authority, or Seta, whereby the candidate is sent by the Seta to a third party for a period of training. The Seta pays the candidate's monthly allowance.
Joburg's Internship and Learnership Scheme targets students who have to receive in-service training before they can graduate. It also targets unemployed youngsters and is backed by a strong mentorship component to ensure effective transfer of skills.
"During their internship, students engage in learning activities that enhance their skills and knowledge in their fields of expertise," explains Vusi Gubuza, the assistant director in the City's corporate and shared services department.
One of the learnership categories is 'fire and rescue'
All students can apply, and the City has undertaken to ensure that people with disabilities are given positions. The students are allocated to experienced mentors who support their development.
The aim of the scheme is to equip young people with the knowledge and skills that are needed to boost their value in the labour market. Benefits for the learners and interns include practical exposure and career opportunities in local government.
Benefits for the City are getting additional skills where these are lacking and identifying talent for entry-level positions. The City is also able to make a significant contribution to the national skills base.
Students are canvassed from further education and training colleges, universities of technology, and universities. The numbers of interns have increased markedly over the past five years, rising from 28 when the scheme started in 2003 to 100 this year.
"The interns are given a monthly allowance of R2 811,99, an amount that is equal to the City's minimum wage. The learners are given between R980 and R1 400 a month," Gubuza adds.
Since 2003, the monthly stipend for interns has increased from R2 100.
The human resources unit in the corporate and shared services department is responsible for the administration and monitoring of the internship scheme, according to a department report.
Students on learnerships are involved in categories such as fire and rescue, contact centre support, finance and administration, customer management, contact centre operations and project management. Each category has between 26 and 101 learners a year.
However, there are challenges. Not all City businesses have participated in the scheme. The reasons cited range from not having the funds to the inability to mentor students because of work-related pressures.
In addition, there have only been a few applications from disabled people. "There are only five learners with disabilities who are participating … We know that they are a minority in tertiary institutions but the City is very passionate about this group of people."
To deal with this, the human resources unit aims to forge closer partnerships with organisations and institutions for the disabled.
Another challenge for the learnership aspect of the scheme is the low stipend, which discourages learners from participating in and completing the programme.
The department hopes to engage the City's stakeholders to improve the budgetary allocations for the Internship and Learnership Scheme to meet its funding requirements.
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