It is good news to finishing media students as Final-year journalism students in Kenya are permitted to apply for a three-month paid internship at a Kenyan media house.
The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has announced an industrial placement programme with various media houses, aimed at providing communication students with work experience and preparing them for the job market.
Media and communication students will be paid up to Sh15,000 per month.
“The programme will offer internship opportunities to journalism students across the country from December 2021,” MCK said in a statement Wednesday.
Interested students are expected to submit a letter of application, a recommendation letter from a recognised university in Kenya, academic transcripts, and a valid student identification card (ID) to internship@mediacouncil.or.ke.
They must also be a final year student from a recognised university or college, MCK noted.
The deadline for submissions is November 12.
The successful candidates will be placed in either television, radio, online, or print platforms at their respective newsrooms.
Applicants can also state their preferred media houses and regions they would like to be placed at, but the media regulator will ultimately decide.
The internship programme was launched by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru in September this year, to bridge the gap of securing internships for journalism students.
“Our young people face numerous challenges in accessing jobs after graduation from college. Most are not skilled enough to undertake competent media work making most media houses not keen to uptake,” the CS said.
The announcement comes in the backdrop of a high turnover of graduates into the Kenyan job market annually with no jobs.
At least 39 per cent of young Kenyans are unemployed, according to data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).