When Shloka Ashok, a Class 11 student of Greenwood High International School, Bengaluru, was trying to find an internship in the summer of 2020, she realised that many organisations didn’t offer them to 16-year-olds. Unfazed, the teenager launched InternMee, a platform that connects high-school students with start-ups. This won her the Diana Award earlier this year.
“Back in 2020, just when COVID-19 hit, I was keen to pursue a meaningful internship during my summer vacation. My research led me nowhere, and my parents used their contacts to help me. I realised that the only reason I had access to a potential internship was because of my parents’ network. I began thinking about students in India and abroad who might not get beyond the classroom opportunities to gain new skills and understand their true capabilities. This led to the birth of InternMee.”
Shloka Ashok, Diana Award winner for InternMee | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
So, how does the online platform work? Shloka explains that students can sign up on the website and gain access to a range of internship opportunities across fields. They can apply to postings that interest them and the applications would be sent to the concerned organisation, which would evaluate candidates before choosing to offer them the position.
Internships and work experience are more relevant than ever today, she says, adding that globally, high-schoolers “are on a constant hunt for opportunities to upskill themselves, be it in the form of internships at start-ups, volunteering at NGOs, or simply working with like-minded individuals in a student-run organisation. This not only gives them a glimpse into the professional world, but also serves as a great chance to learn new skills, meet new people, build networks, and embellish their resumes.”
Combating inequality
Another awardee is 17-year-old Avni Singh, a member of the Future Leaders programme by the One Million for One Billion (1M1B) Foundation. Her Project Neev aimed to build a strong educational base for underprivileged school children by providing them with connected devices. “Our students could be reached through the devices we provided them, making it easy to execute the classes we took with them,” she explains. Project Neev was also born during the pandemic when Avni realised that the existing gaps in education were fast widening due to COVID-19. “Migrants were rushing home, daily-wage labourers lost their sources of income, and the move to online education was detrimental to underprivileged students who did not have access to technological software or hardware,” she adds.
Avni Singh, Diana Award winner for Project Neev | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
While Project Neev worked mainly with primary school students in a school in Gurugram, it evolved into the Society for Inclusive Education (SIE), which works with students within the K-12 group. “Project Neev combatted educational inequality in one school, but once I finished my work with them, it dawned on me that there were still millions of students who needed help to receive quality education. I realised that leveraging the resources of other privileged students like me, throughout India, would be the best way to move forward. This is how SIE was born. It forms chapters in more privileged schools and helps them create a change within schools/student-groups in their vicinity.”
In the future
Shloka plans to leverage InternMee, to open doors to the less privileged, by building a focussed track for students in government schools. “This is an initial thought. We are in discussion with some NGOs and see this as one of the future paths for our organisation.”
Avni intends to continue working with SIE for as long as possible. “Once I graduate from high school, I will have to pass on the baton to someone else, since SIE’s USP is that it is an initiative for students, by students. In the future, I want to engage more students than I have currently, impact more beneficiaries, and continue to widen the ripple effect that SIE has created so far.”
