The Challenge of Change in Africa's Higher Education in the 21st Century By Kenneth Kaoma Mwenda and Gerry Nkombo Muuka

The Challenge of Change in Africa's Higher Education in the 21st ...

Chapter 1:

Africa's 21st-Century Renaissance in Higher Education: The Need for Strategic Planning

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reported some important internship-related statistics, the most significant ones being the following:

Some 300 American employers surveyed reported plans for 2007 to bring 9.8% more students into their organizations for internships.

Employers in the Western and Midwestern states of the United States projected the biggest overall increases in intern hiring (12.7% and 11.2%, respectively).

More than three quarters of responding employers (75.9%) said the primary focus of their internship program is to feed their university recruitment program.

Rates of conversion from interns to full-time hires, management satisfaction, student satisfaction, and retention rates are the most common measures employers utilize to gauge the success of their programs.

In 2005 U.S. employers reported that they converted an average of 35.6% of their interns from the class of 2004 to full-time hires.

We provide the previous statistics because comparative numbers for countries in Africa are not available, yet the potential benefits for universities and public and private employers in Africa are quite obvious. In the next section we expand on internship experiences, processes, and benefits.

The Internship Experience and Process: Further Insights

By participating in internships, students have the opportunity to apply skills and knowledge learned in the classroom to actual industry, on-the-job situations. In addition, they may earn class credit toward graduation. Having a university career services office is helpful, as work experiences are made available through businesses, industries, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, governmental agencies, and research organizations located throughout an African country and abroad. Every effort ought to be made to place students at their best