Universities push plan to provide relevant student work experience

Australian vice-chancellors have called on the federal government to establish a national scheme to provide foreign and local students with work experience while studying.

Under the plan, presented by the vice-chancellors' organisation Universities Australia, the institutions would collaborate with state and federal governments, business and industry to create internships providing work experience related to students' courses.

The vice-chancellors said the scheme would not only better prepare graduates for the workforce and give them skills so they could be employed immediately but would also mean they could earn an income while studying.

A survey last October of more than 10,000 students found that nearly 40 per cent of overseas students were in part-time or casual paid jobs while studying, but only 25 per cent of those actually had work that was relevant to their studies. Few students believed the jobs would help them when they graduated as the jobs were mostly poorly paid and had no connection to their future careers.

Universities Australia chief executive Glenn Withers said there was strong support for a national scheme that enhanced students' earnings, learning and employability.

Dr Withers said concerns about graduates not being prepared for the workforce were not matters for university action alone.