Public service internship will soon be advertised as part of reforms aimed at improving youth employability and stimulating entrepreneurship, breaking from the current situation where government departments and agencies take up interns independently. This freedom has been abused by many government officers who staff their offices with friends and relatives.
The icing on the cake is that the interns will be paid a stipend for their upkeep, a major break from the trend where interns work free of charge, according to a report in the Business Daily. Many organisations, including the private sector, have taken advantage of the high demand for internship to exploit this as a source of cheap labour.
“All internship opportunities in the public service shall be declared to the Public Service Commission (PSC),” states the newly published Internship Policy for the Public Service. “The commission shall put in the public domain and its website information on the opportunities and this will act as a one-stop-shop for the public to access information.”
The PSC said stipends will be provided through regular budgetary allocations to ministries and state departments. “Internship, therefore, shall be non-remunerative. However, the government will set aside funds for supporting the interns with a stipend. These funds will be made available through the regular budgetary allocations so as to ensure ministries, departments and agencies engage interns every financial year,” the PSC said.
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Supporting the interns with a stipend will encourage youth from poor backgrounds and disadvantaged areas who may otherwise miss to take up such opportunities.
The programme will be open to unemployed Kenyan graduates from training institutions who have completed their degree courses and have not been exposed to work experience related to their area of study. It will also be open to graduates of degree and diploma programmes, for whom internship is a requirement for registration by their respective professional bodies.
The PSC said the selection shall be done competitively with government ministries, departments and agencies required to advertise vacancies in daily newspapers, their websites and through notices and provide details such as areas of specialisation, number of interns required, duration of internship and deadline for application.
The internship period shall be between three and 12 months, or the duration prescribed by the institution or professional body which regulates the profession in which the intern seeks registration.
All interns in the public service shall be required to have a personal accident insurance to cover for risks during the internship period. They will also need to have medical insurance cover by the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) or any other reputable medical insurance firm.
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