1706000709
NOS Nieuws•gisteren, 4:00 p.m
-
Fitria Jelyta
Publisher News & Co
-
Fitria Jelyta
Publisher News & Co
One student is having the time of his life while another is mostly learning to make coffee for the boss. Every year, hundreds of thousands of students complete internships with the aim of gaining relevant work experience, but in reality, interns are regularly used primarily as cheap labor. This sometimes leads to stressful situations. There is little information about how often this so-called internship abuse occurs.
The CNV Youth union did this following questions from News and Co an inventory of members on this topic. There were so many reactions to this that a reporting center for internship abuse has now been opened. “As an intern you are in a vulnerable position. We receive reports that show that training companies regularly exploit this vulnerability,” says Justine Feitsma, Chairwoman of CNV Jongeren.
Vulnerable position
For most students, completing an internship is mandatory. In secondary vocational education these are often young people who do not yet have any professional experience. Davey de Widt (19) completed an internship at a catering company as part of his vocational training to become an independent chef. He was 17 years old when he did an internship there. “I had just started when the owner asked me if I wanted to mow the lawn. Because of my training, I had to be in the kitchen, but the owner still told me to mow the lawn,” says De Widt.
“Soon after, the restaurant began renovations and I had to help sort out the nails. I was also regularly asked to do all sorts of household chores. Ultimately, I learned nothing in the kitchen. And I needed this experience for my culinary training.”
When De Widt reported this to school, his internship supervisor started discussions with the company. “But the owner just said I was doing well and spending a lot of time in the kitchen while I was missing a very big part of my training.”
Another example of internship abuse comes from a 22-year-old psychology student who wishes to remain anonymous (her name is known to the editors). She is an intern at a care facility for children with developmental disabilities. On her first day, she was placed in the most difficult group without any warning or guidance.
“At the end of the day I went to the doctor because one of the kids had bitten me on the neck so badly that I needed antibiotics,” she says. “I repeatedly asked for help in dealing with aggressive situations, but received little response. It was only after a few weeks that I was put into another group.”
Internship abuse by MBO students
The professional association of MBO teachers (BVMBO) recognizes the examples mentioned by the students. “Internship abuse is a sensitive issue. Students want to graduate as quickly as possible, and the school wants that too,” says Gézina Trouw, MBO health teacher and BVMBO board member. She regularly sees that internship companies use students as replaceable cheap workers. However, this does not always result in a report to the educational institution.
“When a student files a report, the teacher goes to the internship company for a meeting. If no solution is found, an internship coordinator is sent to the company to mediate,” says Trouw. “But in most cases this person is also responsible for creating internships. In practice we see that sometimes things go wrong.”
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) also sees the fact that there is no central contact point for reporting internship abuse as a problem. MBO students in particular are at risk because they are often less aware of their rights.
After the MBO internship pact is signed in 2023, various educational institutions and training companies are working together with the ministry to solve this problem. The idea is that schools collect reports and that all of this data is collected by one organization, the Collaboration Organization for Vocational Education and Business. This organization may be able to withdraw recognition from a training company.
This approach also carries a risk, says Gezina Trouw: “Every school takes the problem differently seriously. Even within a school, there are differences in the way internship abuse is dealt with.” According to Trouw, it is therefore important that more information is provided. “Often both the student and the internship supervisor are not even sure whether internship abuse has occurred. MBO teachers are also not educated or trained to recognize internship abuse and know what to do about it.”
And what will happen to the reports that CNV Jongeren will soon receive? “When we see that it is a widespread problem, we raise it with politicians and companies. But we also want to help people individually. For example, by checking whether we can mediate,” says Justine Feitsma.
#reporting #office #aims #abuses #internships #visible