Don't close the door to college students' internships in the name of epidemic prevention
Under the epidemic, college students are facing difficulties in internship, experts believe
□ Our reporter Zhao Li
□ Gu Xiaoyan, an intern of our newspaper
As the teaching work of colleges and universities in various places is back on track, students' study and life have basically returned to normal.
However, for the 2021 graduates, the "stamina" of the epidemic is greater than people think, and one of the biggest effects is internship.
Practice training on the virtual simulation platform, long-awaited experts start online guidance, live technical live observations...The internship activities out of campus are an important part of university education.
However, the epidemic disrupted the inherent internship arrangements of universities in previous years, and some simply temporarily cancelled the internship arrangements, while some departments provided online internship platforms or internship channels.
In Beijing, Hubei, Guangdong and other places, many colleges and universities have successively provided students with internship platforms through the "air double election" method to help students start a new model of being in the cloud.
For the college students in it, completing the “cloud internship” at home reduces health risks and also ushered in new experiences and challenges.
However, a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily found in an investigation that many college students were in an embarrassing situation where they were unable to practice internships or could only "internships under name".
Epidemic disrupts internship program
The students at school have miserable words
For many college students, the second half of last year and winter vacation should be internship time.
However, in the past period of time, many employers were unable to carry out internships due to the requirements of epidemic prevention and control work, and only a small number of employers provided online internships.
A junior student from a university in Beijing from Fujian told a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily that he had been applying for an internship since the Spring Festival last year, and did not find an online internship opportunity for an Internet company until April.
However, online internships are far less robust than offline internships, and the work skills that can be learned are also very limited.
Later, this classmate discussed with his roommate that when the epidemic stabilized, even if the school refused to enter the school, he still had to do an offline internship in Beijing renting a house, so as not to delay his half-year time.
However, with a new round of outbreaks in Beijing, this plan can only be shelved.
Entering the summer vacation of 2020, this student's internship experience still has not achieved the desired effect.
However, for many college students, this classmate is already the lucky one among the "internship army". After all, it is difficult to find online internship opportunities nowadays.
Under the overall difficult employment environment, the internship cannot be carried out smoothly, and it is impossible to produce a beautiful resume when graduation, which means that more students will be compromised in job hunting competitiveness, which leads to more students choosing to continue. For further studies, the pressure on the postgraduate entrance examination may be greater.
Gao, a junior student studying physics in a university in Beijing, told the reporter of the Rule of Law Daily that the internship requirement of this school is that the internship must be more than six months, and the internship certificate and relevant official seal can be recorded.
"The school does not stipulate the internship at the university. But because I plan to prepare for the postgraduate entrance examination in my senior year, I will not be able to complete the six-month internship at that time. My internship plan is to start my internship in my sophomore year. Internship, save enough for the internship period in several times."
"During the epidemic, I interviewed 3 schools, one in Beijing, and two in Jiangxi. Jiangxi schools did not recruit intern teachers due to the epidemic, and Beijing did not arrange accommodation due to the epidemic, so I could not complete my semester. Our school did not give any relevant solutions, but only said that the opening of the school will provide accommodation subsidies. I think the school should provide accommodation, because it is not easy to find accommodation outside." Gao said.
The internship was stranded due to housing problems under the epidemic, and Yang, a senior student majoring in mechanical engineering at a university in Shanghai.
Similarly, Yang’s school did not require an internship in a college or university. “Some students around me have completed internships, but most of them have relationships at home. After all, it’s not easy to find an internship under the epidemic.”
Student Yang, who just completed the postgraduate entrance examination, originally planned to practice after the postgraduate entrance examination. "As a freshman and sophomore, I am more committed to professional scientific research, increasing my knowledge in class, and doing some scientific research results."
"I interviewed two companies, both of which are fortune 500 companies. One company said that it does not require interns during the epidemic, and the other is in Beijing and does not provide accommodation. I have not been to Beijing and I am really upset. The school is in Shanghai. Because the epidemic does not provide accommodation here, I did not consider the internship in Shanghai." Yang said that the school has no solution yet, "but I heard that it is thinking of a solution. So I am still waiting for the school’s statement. I am also continuing to look for internships. I hope the school will reduce the time required for internships, because the epidemic really makes it difficult to complete internships.”
Student Yue, a sophomore majoring in TV editing and directing at a university in Beijing, originally planned to complete the graduation internship requirements during his sophomore and junior year and winter and summer vacations. Postgraduate entrance examination. But this winter vacation was affected by the epidemic and missed some good internship opportunities."
"I interviewed CCTV Agricultural Channel, Miwei Media, Huanxi Media, and Education Together. These media or companies usually have a long work cycle and cannot return home during the winter vacation for the New Year. During the epidemic, local epidemic prevention policies are strict and they are not allowed to stay in school. In the case of accommodation, there are also trivial matters such as renting a house. These have become the reasons for missing these internship opportunities." Student Yue said, "The school has not given too many solutions at present, but the school-level league organization is in Zhang Luo. Promote some remote internships with relatively low thresholds for attending classes, but there are too many internships and less demand. I think the school should try to organize and coordinate internship information to help students who are eager to graduate to break the information barrier. At the same time, it is more practical to allow Intern students stay on campus during the holidays. I believe this measure will definitely solve many people's worries."
Flexible handling according to local conditions
Effectively safeguard the rights of students
It is understood that some colleges and universities have also given corresponding solutions to the problems encountered by some college students in the internship process.
In response, Yao Jinju, director of the Chinese and Foreign Educational Law Research Center of Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the reporter of the Rule of Law Daily that many employers have adopted some special measures, such as cloud internships to recruit interns; some schools are also constantly adjusting their policies, "Winter vacation Before, our school also allowed students to go for internships, but must go through the approval process. However, we must also understand that if the entire epidemic prevention and control form is not completely clear, if the school allows students to go for internships, it will The resulting infection costs are enormous."
Since the outbreak of the epidemic, many colleges and universities have sought online "breakthrough", and "cloud internship" has become a new choice.
But there are divergent opinions on this.
Some teachers at school believe that students need to complete the check-in and check-in tasks on the platform during the internship period of the company. Teachers can check the student's check-in status and the completion of the internship training homework.
In addition, the platform will also score based on the comprehensive situation of students' internships.
But some college teachers have different opinions.
Some people think that instructing students online is difficult to achieve practical results, just like "driving a car on a blackboard" and "learning practical exercises through a screen."
New methods of online teaching can be explored, are worthy of encouragement, and can be used as auxiliary means, but the real skill acquisition requires offline practice, exploration, trial and error, and hand-in-hand inheritance.
"I think adopting the'cloud internship' work method may actually be more challenging for students. This not only exercises students' professional ability, but also involves how to coordinate work with different people in temporary activities. I think this is actually rewarding." Yao Jinju said, but "cloud internship" is a staged issue after all, and a necessary measure to be taken under the conditions of epidemic prevention and control. "It may not be the best, but it must be Not the worst practice".
On February 23, the Ministry of Education held a press conference to introduce the situation of school epidemic prevention and control and education and teaching in the spring semester of 2021.
The Ministry of Education requires that after students return to school in the spring, colleges and universities will further strengthen campus management and, in principle, will not organize large-scale and concentrated off-campus internships, social practices, and business visits.
Internships and practical courses that must be carried out outside the school should be conducted in accordance with the school’s epidemic prevention and control requirements and the requirements of the internship practice area and unit, and under the premise of ensuring the safety of students.
"From the perspective of epidemic prevention and control, first, schools must do a good job in the closed management of student epidemic prevention, but this is a phased measure that will change in the future. Because it is difficult to say how the epidemic will develop now. Second, from the perspective of the company itself, whether it is from the usual prevention and control measures or some new prevention and control measures that must be added after accepting interns, the management costs of some companies may increase." Yao Jinju said.
However, Yao Jinju also believes that it is necessary to face up to the extent to which internships have affected the employment of students. “I think this ratio needs to be considered again. After all, some companies do not accept interns for reasons of epidemic prevention and control, or do not themselves. Accept interns? Put this board on the cost of epidemic prevention and control and business management. I think this is not the main reason for some situations that I know. I also had a meeting with my students just now. Many of them are doing internships, and many of them have adopted online internships. Therefore, I think that many jobs can also be done online."
"We must pay attention to preventing excessive criticism of companies for not recruiting interns because of the cost of epidemic prevention and control, because our normal faculty protection is also to be done, and companies doing this will not bring too much burden to themselves." In Yao Jinju It seems that the requirements for internships in the student training program are very diverse and flexible. Regarding the issue of the internship period, the school will definitely take it into account when arranging the educational work. During the epidemic, you must be required to go for an internship, otherwise you may not get a graduation certificate, or you may not have completed the training program.' This extreme situation, I think there should be no such regulations in schools at present. At present, our training The plans are being changed according to the form of epidemic prevention and control, and the purpose is to better help students solve the internship problem."
In response to the above-mentioned regulations of the Ministry of Education, Yao Jinju believes that “there is a lot of flexibility. The prohibition of large-scale internships does not say that internships are not allowed. In addition, this regulation of the Ministry of Education is actually more of a requirement for schools. I hope The school does not hold large-scale social practice activities for the time being. But if we students go by themselves, there is no restriction. Because the school’s mission is to protect the life and health of students first. If the life and health problems are not resolved and guaranteed, then the internship is temporary It needs to be stranded."
In this regard, Xiong Bingqi, Dean of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, believes that when implementing the above-mentioned Ministry of Education regulations, schools should pay attention not to prohibit students from going out for internships across the board. For students in need of internships, as long as the students take personal protection and comply with the employer According to the epidemic prevention regulations, students should be allowed to practice internship.
The teaching practice organized by the school can be carried out in the province according to local conditions, control the scale, and meet the local epidemic prevention and control regulations.