Be it to work at the grass-root level, to spend free time in a more meaningful manner or to get a certificate from a registered NGO, the concept of social internship among students has taken off in the city. The number of students applying for regular or summer internships in the social organisations has more than doubled in the past one year, according to the city-based NGOs. “Last year we gave away 90 certificates for internships in our organisation. We are expecting close to 200 students this year. The level of social awareness is high among the youth today ,” said Santosh Pulletykurty, Founder of NGO, Ken Foundation.
The foundation recently finished the 30-day summer internship programme which saw around 30 students register for volunteer work in three orphanages in the city. Voluntary certificates are given to the volunteers who complete 80 hours of social work while internship certificates are given for 160 hours of social work. Gowri Parmeswari, student of Vignan Institute of Information Technology, got drawn into social work due to her interest in environmental issues. “The experience has given me the exposure towards various social issues. I started with a pulse polio campaign and then worked towards an extensive beach clean-up drive and environmental campaigns to protect various critically important sites like the red sand hills (Erra Matti Dibbalu),” says Ms. Gowri, who recently got placed with TCS.
Interestingly, these social internship and volunteer work experiences help students get through the campus placements and also in getting admission for higher studies abroad. “During my 20 minutes HR round, most of the questions were about my social work and the difference between corporate and social sector,” she says.
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Ram Vikas, who will be heading to the US for MS in Computer Science, corroborates her views. “Experience in the social sector is definitely an added advantage,” he adds. However, his reason for getting into volunteer work was different. “My grandfather had been a teacher and I was inspired by him. So after completion of my engineering course, I spent a year doing volunteer work in teaching the basics of computers and English in orphanages,” he says.