Hong Kong – Student interns equip themselves for the future by accumulating experience (with photos)

     Students of the Shine Skills Centre of the Vocational Training Council who participated in a government internship scheme this year have served their internships at various government departments for eight weeks, and today (April 23) is the last day of their internships. The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Patrick Nip, met with students who were assigned to the Civil Service Bureau (CSB) yesterday (April 22) to learn about their internship experience, and encouraged them to continue to equip themselves for the future.

     A total of 35 students from the Shine Skills Centre participating in the scheme were assigned to 23 government bureaux and departments for around eight weeks of internships. Among them, upon completion of their internships, Mr Yan Yuk-wang and Mr Wong Ka-chun started missing the days of their internships. They said they appreciated the guidance and support from their mentors while being able to meet with many colleagues.

     Mr Yan is taking the course of Programme Assistant Practice at the Shine Skills Centre. He was attached to the Training and Development Section of the General Grades Office of the CSB, where he mainly assisted in preparing programmes and course materials. He said that the precious internship enabled him to accumulate practical experience and understand his interests more.

     Mr Wong was deployed to the Official Languages Division, where he mainly assisted in handling clerical work and classification of files. Mr Wong said that the internship had given him an opportunity to experience a real work environment for the first time and provided him with opportunities to learn to communicate and get along with others, helping him to integrate with society in the future.

     “It is a valuable opportunity to have an internship at a government department. I believe the students will appreciate that internship is also a kind of training. I hope they will share their experience with other students taking part in the scheme,” Mr Nip said.

     Mr Nip was pleased to know that other than the students deployed to the CSB, students deployed to other bureaux and departments also made efforts in gaining new knowledge and worked actively throughout their internships. Their good conduct and work performance have been highly commended by their colleagues of participating departments and mentors.

     The CSB launched the internship scheme in 2016 to enable students with special education needs to have internship opportunities in the Government and gain practical work experience, as well as to allow civil service colleagues to better appreciate their talents and potential. 

     Mr Nip said that the internship scheme assigned students to take up diverse jobs having regard to their aptitudes and interests, such as graphic design, editing and processing databases, arranging course materials, and event co-ordination and support, to enable students to develop their strengths. He expressed the belief that the two-month work experience would help students orient their future development as well as cultivate their personal growth.