A better internship programme must lead somewhere

The government’s decision to increase internship allowances and extend the duration of placements from three to six months is a welcome intervention at a time when Namibia’s young graduates face an increasingly difficult transition from education into employment.

The announcement by Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare at the International University of Management’s summer graduation ceremony recognises an uncomfortable reality: for many young Namibians, obtaining a qualification is no longer a reliable pathway into the labour market. The internship, therefore, has become an important bridge between formal education and the workplace.

Under the revised arrangement, student interns will receive N$2 692.50 a month, up from N$2 244.85, while graduate interns will receive N$3 769.50. More importantly, placements will run for six months instead of three.

The Windhoek Observer welcomes both changes.

Three months is often too short for a meaningful workplace experience. By the time an intern becomes familiar with an organisation, its systems and expectations, the placement may already be approaching its end. Six months provides a more realistic period in which students and graduates can acquire practical skills, assume responsibilities and demonstrate their capabilities.

The increase in allowances is equally important. Interns are not merely beneficiaries of government generosity. They contribute their time, skills and labour to public institutions, and the state has a responsibility to ensure that they are treated with dignity.

But government should be careful not to present the adjustment as a solution to graduate unemployment. It is an improvement to an internship system, not a jobs programme.

That distinction matters.

The graduate tracer survey cited at the graduation ceremony found that 33% of respondents from the 2019, 2020 and 2021 graduating cohorts were unemployed. Although the survey had limitations, including a relatively low participation rate, the figure is sufficiently concerning to demand a broader response.

The central question should therefore not only be how much interns are paid, or how long they remain in government offices. It should be: where do they go afterwards?

An internship that ends with a certificate of participation but no realistic pathway into employment risks becoming a revolving door. Young people move from one temporary placement to another, acquiring experience but remaining permanently outside the formal labour market.

This is particularly concerning in the context of government’s restrictions on recruitment into non-critical public service positions. If the state is simultaneously encouraging young people to gain experience through government internships while limiting permanent recruitment, it must be honest about what those internships can and cannot provide.

There is also an important issue of fairness.

The concerns raised by IUM graduate Selima Tulohole Shipanga about favouritism in recruitment cannot simply be dismissed. Whether or not every allegation can be substantiated, the perception that connections matter more than competence is damaging to public confidence.

Internship programmes funded by taxpayers must therefore be administered transparently. Vacancies should be publicly advertised, selection criteria clearly communicated, and successful candidates selected through demonstrably fair processes.

The same principle should apply to the transition from internship to employment. An intern who performs exceptionally should not automatically be entitled to a permanent government position. But neither should an intern be disadvantaged because he or she lacks influential connections.

Government institutions must also be held accountable for the quality of the internship experience. The Prime Minister is correct to call for mentorship and practical training. An intern should not simply be another pair of hands doing routine administrative work.

Each placement should have defined learning objectives, a supervisor, measurable responsibilities and an assessment at the end. Interns should leave with skills that have value beyond the particular ministry, agency or state-owned enterprise in which they were placed.

There is also a need for clarity around the various internship policies already announced.

The government’s April 2025 directive reportedly provided for six-month student internships and two-year graduate placements, including an allowance of N$3 500 for graduate interns. The latest announcement appears to change some of those arrangements.

Government must therefore explain precisely what has changed, when the new rates take effect, which categories of interns qualify, and how existing placements will be treated.

Policy uncertainty is particularly unfair to young people who have little bargaining power and are already navigating an uncertain labour market.

The government deserves credit for responding to concerns about inadequate allowances. But the measure must be accompanied by a larger strategy for youth employment, skills development and enterprise creation.

The encouragement by Ngurare for graduates to consider entrepreneurship is sensible. So too is the offer of potential seed funding by the David Namwandi Trust. Namibia cannot create enough public-sector jobs to absorb every graduate, and the private sector cannot be expected to solve the problem alone.

Entrepreneurship must therefore form part of the solution.

But entrepreneurship should not become a convenient slogan used whenever formal employment is unavailable. Starting a business requires capital, markets, mentorship, infrastructure and an enabling regulatory environment. Telling an unemployed graduate to become an entrepreneur without providing those conditions is not a strategy.

The Youth Development Fund and other initiatives must consequently be judged by outcomes rather than announcements: how many young people are funded, how many businesses survive, how many jobs are created and how many beneficiaries move into sustainable economic activity.

The government has taken a useful step. It should now take the next one.

A six-month internship can provide a young Namibian with valuable experience. A better allowance can provide some financial relief. But the real measure of success will be whether these interventions help young people move from the classroom into productive, dignified and sustainable economic participation.

Namibia does not merely need better internships. It needs internships that lead somewhere.

That should be the standard against which this new policy is ultimately judged.