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Fitria Jelyta
editor News & Co
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Fitria Jelyta
editor News & Co
One student has a lot of fun, while another learns mostly to make cups of coffee for the boss. Every year hundreds of thousands of students undertake internships with the aim of gaining relevant work experience, but in reality interns are regularly used primarily as cheap labour. This sometimes leads to distressing situations. Little is known about how often this so-called internship abuse occurs.
This was done by the CNV Gioventù union after questions from News and Co an inventory among members on this topic. There has been so much reaction to this that he is now opening a reporting point for internship abuse. “As an intern you are in a vulnerable position. We receive reports showing that training companies regularly abuse this vulnerability,” says CNV president Jongeren Justine Feitsma.
Vulnerable position
Completing an internship is mandatory for most students. In secondary vocational education, these are often young people who do not yet have work experience. Davey de Widt (19), for example, did an internship at a catering company for his professional training as a self-employed chef. He was 17 when he interned there. “I had just started when the owner asked me if I wanted to mow the lawn. My training required me to be in the kitchen, but the owner still told me to mow the lawn,” De Widt says.
“Shortly after, the restaurant started a renovation and I had to help fix the nails. I was also regularly asked to do all kinds of housework. In the end, I learned nothing in the kitchen. And I needed that experience to my training as a chef.”
When De Widt reported this to school, his internship supervisor began negotiations with the company. “But the owner only said that I was fine and that I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, while I was losing most of my education.”
Another example of internship abuse comes from a 22-year-old psychology student, who wishes to remain anonymous (her name is known to the editorial team). She is an intern at a care home for children with developmental disabilities. On the first day she was placed in the most difficult group without warning or guidance.
“At the end of the day I was in the doctor’s office because one of the kids had bitten my neck so bad I needed antibiotics,” she says. “I repeatedly asked for help on how to deal with aggressive situations, but received little response. Only after a few weeks was I placed in a different group.”
Internship abuse by MBO students
The professional association of MBO teachers (BVMBO) recognizes the examples cited by students. “Internship abuse is a sensitive topic. Students want to graduate as quickly as possible and the school wants this too,” says Gézina Trouw, teacher at MBO Healthcare and member of the BVMBO board of directors. She regularly sees internship companies using students as low-cost, interchangeable workers. However, this does not always lead to a report to the educational institution.
“If a student makes a complaint, 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,” explains Trouw. “But in most cases, that person is also responsible for creating internship positions. In practice, we see that sometimes things go wrong.”
The fact that there is no central point where internship abuse can be reported is also seen as a problem by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW). MBO students in particular are vulnerable because they are often less aware of their rights.
After signing the MBO Internship Pact in 2023, several education institutions and training companies are therefore working with the Ministry to address this issue. The idea is that schools collect reports and that all this data is collected by one organization, the Collaboration Organization for Vocational Education and Business. This organization may possibly revoke the recognition of a training company.
This approach also carries risks, says Gezina Trouw: “Every school is different in how seriously it takes the problem. Even within a school, there are differences in how abuse in placements is dealt with.” According to Trouw, it is therefore important to provide more information. “Often, both the student and the internship supervisor are not even sure if there is internship abuse. Furthermore, MBO teachers are not educated or trained to recognize internship abuse and what they can do about it.”
And what will happen to the reports that CNV Jongeren will soon receive? “If we see that it is a broad problem, we raise it with politicians and companies. But we also want to help people individually. For example, seeing if we can mediate,” says Justine Feitsma.
2024-01-22 15:00:01
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