KUCHING: It is difficult to justify employers having to pay a mandatory allowance to student interns.
In stating this Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) board member Dr Gregory Hii differed with Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh’s proposal to make it compulsory to pay allowances to students who undergo industrial training in the private sector.
“It is wrong because an employer has to spend time to undertake planning and supervision so that the interns gain valuable experience because of the attachment.
“To require the employers who have taken up such responsibility to also pay allowance, fixed by the authority, is hard to justify.
“Instead, the government should consider paying a fee to private enterprises for accepting internships,” he said.
Hii who is also a political analyst, added that payment may perhaps come from the Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF), which is contributed to monthly by employers.
The fund collects millions and it is appropriate to use a portion to benefit the interns in preparation for their working careers on completion of their studies, he argued.
On Feb 16, Yeoh had said the matter of mandatory allowances for interns in the private sector, would be raised at the cabinet.
She stated that the Ministry of Higher Education and Ministry of Human Resources needed to discuss the pros and cons of implementing this in the private sector.
Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman had also agreed with her suggestion.
The former youth and sports minister said interns should not be exploited.
It is reported that private companies taking in interns to undergo industrial training, pay allowances at their discretion with an average allowance in bigger cities being about RM1,200 for an intern.
Some interns are paid less than RM1,000 per month while, some of the bigger companies are paying interns more than RM1,200 per month.
