Paras Arora, a student of Hindu College, had his own views about the Indian education system, its limitations, and the kind of reforms that should be made. One day, he came across a notification about a volunteering internship which entailed teaching kids of government-run or low-income private schools. He realised that this was his moment to finally do something in order to bring a change in the Indian education system. So, without any second thoughts, he immediately applied to the programme and was finally selected for the internship after an extensive hiring procedure. Before starting the internship, he was given an orientation regarding his work responsibilities and how to fulfil them. It was a month-long internship and the work was challenging as he had to single-handedly manage a class of 90 students.

 

On his very first day at school, he observed that the students there were excited and curious to learn and explore. Paras taught them daily lessons with interactive activities and during one such activity only, the students had to create a flag of their own imaginary countries and one of them created his flag in the shape of a loudspeaker emphasising on the freedom of expression of the citizens. It was then that Paras realised how much he himself was learning while he was imparting education to those kids. By the end of the internship, he learned about the various challenges faced by our education system and the urgency to bring reforms to it. Apart from the enriching experience, Paras ended up with a feeling of accomplishment as he had made a small contribution for the improvement of the education system and therefore, indirectly for the betterment of the society as a whole.

 

Over the last few years, internships have become extremely popular amongst students as they have learnt about the importance of hands-on learning and the invaluable work experience internships bring on their resume. Recently, with increased awareness among students, a new trend has been observed in the types of internships students are pursuing. A huge number of students are opting for volunteering and NGO internships owing to the opportunity they get to contribute for the betterment of the society and skill-building opportunities in NGOs.

 

Here are the 3 major reasons why a student should pursue an internship with an NGO –

 

1. Character development: Volunteering internships allow you to work closely on important societal issues and let you contribute to the society. During volunteering, you get to work and interact with people coming from different backgrounds working for various social causes. An NGO internship could be your chance to make new friends and get inspired by your fellow volunteers. You could even discover yourself while working with an NGO for the betterment of the society and this could play a significant role in building your character as you inculcate in yourself, eminent qualities like empathy, humility, patience, and optimism.

 

2. A valuable addition to your resume: You can kill two birds with one stone by doing an internship with an NGO. You’ll ask, how? Well, NGO internships not only add the value of work experience to your resume but also speak volumes about your ability to work in a real-time environment as well as about your character. Additionally, having a volunteering work experience on your resume can make your application stand out during your higher education admission processes as well as while you are applying for your next internship endeavour or your dream job in future.

 

3. Upgrades your skill-set: Apart from learning the importance of teamwork and leadership while working on a variety of works ranging from teaching to event management and conducting surveys, volunteering offers you with abundant opportunities to learn and develop both soft and technical skills. There’s another trend in NGO internships called skill-based volunteering which allows you to use your existing skills to give your contribution to the society. This way, even your programming, designing, writing or management skills could help you make a meaningful contribution for the society.

 

Courtesy: Sarvesh Agrawal is the founder and CEO of Internshala, an internship and training platform (internshala.com)