Abstract:
This study evaluates the Progress of the university internship program on professional
skill development of undergraduates in the Faculty of Social Sciences of the
University of Kelaniya. The majority of Arts graduates of Sri Lankan universities
have been suffering to finding a first job. On the other hand, the researches show that
the lack of professional experience is one of the major reason for hunting a job.
Consequently, The Arts faculties of Sri Lankan universities have introduced an
institutional internship program to provide professional experience and targeted to
reduce the waiting period for the first job. In the process, it is imperative to find out
how the internships offered by the universities contribute to the development of
students' professional skills. There has also been the realization that imparting the
relevant practical skills is a partnership between the training institution and
prospective employers through student internships. However, despite these positive
intentions, interns on field attachment have faced serious challenges among which
are insufficient time and lack of funding for the programs. The main objective of this
program is to study the problems and challenges they face during the training period
Concurrent studies often identify a gap in the quality of these training, and there are
some problems when it comes to employer or marketplace services. The Faculty of
Social Sciences of the University of Kelaniya was selected as the study area for this
study The reason for the selection of this sample was the fact that the University of
Kelaniya has the lowest graduate employment rate of 41.6% and the unemployment
rate is 25.5%. 80 students were selected from 833 students in the Faculty of Social
Sciences under the simple random sampling method. Secondary data and primary
data are used for data collection The observational method collects data under a
selective, questionnaire Internship training is very important in the development of
students' professional skills in this research. The need for the reorganization of the
training was identified to be beneficial to the student professionally while minimizing
the problems and challenges encountered in the training. Similarly, quarterly training
on vocational skills development is influenced by the changes that need to be made
at the university, institutional and individual levels.
