Meeting with entrepreneurs and business partners to analyse the relevance and implementation of internships

Labour market insertion
23.11.2022
On 16 November 2022, Swisscontact held a meeting with the aim of fostering relationships between companies, training institutions and young people through internships to improve professional skills and business productivity.

Directors and representatives of fifteen public and private companies were present, as well as those responsible for labour insertion from eight Vocational Education institutions, in addition to speakers, representatives of Business Associations and some former trainees and interns who are beneficiaries of the Skills to Build project.

On this occasion, several essential points for the promotion and improvement of the implementation of internships for young trainees were discussed, since the internship issue has been a great challenge for many young people. The demand exceeds the availability of vacancies, a fact that leads many young people to be waiting for internship opportunities for a long period, while it should be done in conjunction with the training as it is a relevant mechanism for the development of technical skills that enable the insertion of young people in the labour market.

Régula Chavez-Malgiaritta, Director of Swisscontact in Mozambique

Speaking on the occasion, the National Director of Swisscontact, Régula Chavez-Malgiaritta, said that the introduction of the support programme for young people in vocational and technical training, has also increased the need to look for ways to help them have better opportunities to develop their skills, as the pre-vocational internship shows its relevance in allowing the alliance between the academic content learned and concrete professional practices, allowing the incorporation of knowledge and behaviours related to the chosen profession.
It also highlighted that the training programmes must be in line with the expectations and interests of the companies so that the Vocational Education institutions redirect their courses to areas of demand in the companies.

Based on the situational diagnosis made at the end of the meeting, it was possible to collect information from the participants that demonstrates that the objectives of the event were achieved. All of the participants agreed that the topics discussed will allow having a new approach on the internship process and professional insertion of young people. 100% of the participants agreed that the event was important to understand the possibility of the connection between Training Centres and Companies for the insertion of young people in professional life.

For more information (in Portuguese): 

This project is financed by the Medicor Foundation, Happel Foundation, and U.W. Linsi-Stiftung, among other donors. It is part of the Swisscontact Development Programme, which is co-financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA. 

Sheila, a former intern in painting within the Skills to Build project
Mozambique
Upskilling and Reskilling, Labour market insertion
Skills to Build
In close collaboration with the private sector, the project promotes improved competitiveness in the construction sector through specific training measures. In this way, the employment conditions and incomes of 470 already employed construction workers are to be improved or increased. In addition, 1 150 unskilled unemployed youth interested in...