Paheja Siririka

WINDHOEK – Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) Namibia’s Board Chairperson Elvis Nashilongo reverberated the sentiments of students who are often turned away by employers due to a lack of work experience. 

“We call on employers to drop the mantra of demanding work experience from interns. No one was born with experience and such a practice impedes development and social progress,” said Nashilongo.
He was speaking at the launch of the MTC National Internship Programme in Windhoek this week. 

The programme will accommodate 160 interns per year that will be placed at various public and private institutions. MTC will pay an allowance of N$3 000 per student over a period of three months, and where a student requires six months internship, an amount of N$1 500 will be paid. 

Minister of Higher Education, Training and Innovation Itah Kandjii-Murangi launched the programme, which is a three-year-long initiative, marking a new and promising dawn in the Namibian academic sphere. 
The key focus is to assist students that require internships to graduate and consequently create job-ready and experienced graduates. 

 “This programme is a deliberate effort by MTC to open graduates to access real work-integrated learning. 
Despite graduates’ determination, commitment, honesty and their unstoppable desire to work, more often than not doors are shut in their faces for lack of requisite exposure, experience and internship,” said Kandjii-Murangi. She added that students will be equipped with the practical skills to be job ready.