The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has launched the Industrial Placement Programme for journalism students in Kenya.
MCK made the announcement in an event held at the Serena Hotel in Nairobi on Thursday, September 16, 2021.
The move was informed by the plight of many young people in Kenya who are unable to access internships to enable them gain industry experience.
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"We have a major internship crisis in this country and this calls for concerted efforts by all stakeholders," MCK CEO David Omwoyo stated.
He further stated that industrial placement of journalism graduates will expose them to experience and enabling them to perform better in the real media work while some can even start their own media enterprises.
Omwoyo welcomed media houses to take up the journalism students, adding that the Council will facilitate their placements.
"It is not fair for a student to pay school fees and then being asked to pay for an internship to gain industry experience," he said.
Council member Roselyne Obala affirmed the Council's commitment to promote and enhance ethical and professional standards amongst journalists and media enterprises in Kenya through development of training standards to build their capacity.
While giving a background of the Industrial Placement Programme, MCK Director for Media Training and Development Victor Bwire called for measures to address the rife internship crisis in Kenya.
"We must unclog this capacity development challenge where students complete their course work but are unable to graduate due to lack of internship. We will create linkages between industry and academy to allow industries and academy to adapt competency-based training," he stated.
