Parliamentary Secretary for the Federal Education and Professional Training Division, Rabia Naseem Farooqi, on Thursday told the National Assembly that all 282 universities across Pakistan offer internship opportunities to students, with a mandatory two-month internship during the sixth semester.
Responding to a Calling Attention Notice about the alleged lack of internship opportunities at HEC-recognized universities, she said around two-thirds of the country’s universities are public sector and the remaining one-third are privately operated.
She categorically stated that no university in Pakistan operates without an internship program.
Farooqi said internships are arranged according to students’ academic disciplines, with computer science students placed in software houses, agriculture students at farms, and mechanical engineering students at sites operated by the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL).
She added that internships carry three academic credit hours on transcripts.
MNA Alia Kamran questioned whether available internships were sufficient amid the growing number of universities, and alleged without naming the institution that a university was charging students Rs25,000 for internships.
In response, Farooqi said the federal ministry had issued a letter to all universities through the HEC about a month earlier, directing them to reduce the financial burden on students.
Under the revised arrangement, students completing internships would be charged for only one credit hour instead of three.
She said monitoring of the internship policy had been strengthened to ensure more students received opportunities and were not charged additional fees, and assured lawmakers that details of the monitoring teams would be shared with the House.
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