IWBLabs

Policy Makers

This guideline provides the policy makers with specific suggestion on how to assess the impact of international and virtual internships. The guideline covers topic such as: creation of an observatory to trace the quality of work based learning approaches; promoting of international and virtual internships.

Table of Contents

4.4 Collection of Best Practices, Experiences, Success Stories

4.4.6 Other Motivating Tools and Policy Recommendations

Non-financial support measures can help to prepare the company for responsibility of hosting an internship. This support can help with various administrative tasks and formalities of implementing an internship. Many companies, especially those with no internship experience, may need external help for the following basic tasks: identifying the company's skill need, recruitment procedures, training and instruction of company trainers including the preparation of training guidelines and administrative procedures. These activities could be used as inspiration for collecting of supportive measures that assist companies in implementing good-quality internships. In addition, policy makers can organize some skills competitions, campaigns and awards.

Internships in many countries are not regulated and consist only of an agreement between the participant and the employer. Internships can be unpaid with the intern having different rights and obligations that relate to employees. Overall, at level of European Union 40 per cent of interns received financial compensation, ranging from 20 per cent of all interns in Belgium to 80 per cent of trainees in Slovenia. The learning part in internships that were part of an education programme is better assured in comparison with open market internships.

The Council adopted a Quality Framework for Traineeships in March 2014 having slightly adjusted the proposal prepared by the Commission. The developed framework touches upon the identified challenges for work-based learning. It emphasises the need for a shared responsibility, involving employers and SMEs, alignment to the labour market needs and quality of the learning.

Policy recommendations:

Stimulate a more structured approach towards internships, especially to the open market internships
Establish better governance arrangements by spelling out the contractual status, remuneration (open-market interns should be paid), guidance, and the envisaged learning outcomes.
In addition, more can be done to guarantee the quality of mentors guiding the interns.

Online Resource

Guidance Framework: Support for companies, in particular SMEs, offering apprenticeships
This paper presents the Guidance Framework ‘Support for companies, in particular SMEs, offering apprenticeships’.

Skills Development and Employment: Apprenticeships, Internships, Volunteering
The European Parliament calls for strengthening work-based learning serving as a stepping stone to a job; for enhancing and monitoring quality and effectiveness and for validation and recognition of skills and qualifications.

Operative Tools

Official guidelines on traineeships and apprenticeships
Sweden has, in line with the European employment strategy Youth Guarantee, worked on facilitating the transition from school to work. This includes widening the use of apprenticeships and work-based learning. Since 2014, the government has, for example:

Allocated extra funds to strengthen cooperation between authorities and industry associations in order to develop the quality of work-based learning
Made it possible for apprentices to seek apprenticeship allowance for meals and traveling costs in order to ensure that no student has to opt out apprenticeship education for economic reasons.