Internships, Learnerships and Bursaries in South Africa: Internships, Learnerships and Bursaries - 3 November 2013

Definitions:

Internship:

There are basically two types of internships:

The Undergraduate Internship: Usually with bigger organisations that pick undergraduates to attend the internship. It often takes places during the holidays and the average durations is a few weeks. In most cases the intern will receive some sort of stipend or salary and this type of internship may lead to a job offer to the intern once he / she is finished with their studies.
The Graduate Internship: This type of internship could be paid or unpaid and it is to gain practical work experience after the qualification has been completed and in a job related to the qualification. It could be from a few weeks or even one or two years long. This type of internship could also lead to permanent employment.

Learnerships:

A learnership is an occupational qualification and it consists of theory and work-based experience and practical skills, with formal assessment and a qualification. At the end of the learnership the candidate may be offered permanent employment.

In-service training:

In-service training is to gain practical work experience during studies. It usually takes place after a few years of theory has been successfully completed. It is essential work experience that is part of the qualification and the in-service training is necessary to achieve the qualification. It could be paid or unpaid.