EVALUATION OF THE ONE YEAR INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME OF THE UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA

ABSTRACT The views of mentees, mentors, and University supervisors about the one year internship programme of the University of Education, Winneba were examined. The views of a total of 333 respondents made up of 177 mentees, 91 mentors and 65 University supervisors in the Ashanti region were gathered by means of a self- designed questionnaire consisting largely of the likert-type items. The data was then subjected to frequency, percentage and chi-square analysis to address the 6 research questions formulated to guide the study. The result of the chi-square test indicated that mentees, mentors and the university supervisors were adequately prepared for the internship, although the preparation did not equip them with all the skills they needed for the internship. The study also revealed that respondents preferred one semester duration of the internship instead of the one full academic year. Although, both mentees and mentors have some apprehension about the university supervisors, they feel that the supervisors should continue to supervise the mentees. The study revealed that the absence of link coordinators, difficulty in getting schools to undertake the internship, low allowances paid to mentors, difficulty in writing the project while outside campus were some of the problems hindering the internship. Respondents were also of the view that the internship programme has a better potential of training competent teachers than the four weeks off-campus teaching practice.