LegCo and Edu. chief discussed internship mandate for uni amid AI wave

As AI has reshaped global job markets, some lawmakers today suggest including at least one year of internship requirements in university bachelor's programmes.

Secretary for Education Christine Choi says if university curricula simply cater to the restructuring of job markets, university education could be reduced to mere vocational training.

In recent days, more companies have worked to automate or cut back-office, admin and junior roles, hamstringing entry-level openings -- and ratcheting up competition especially among first-time job seekers and recent graduates.

The latest unemployment rate among young people aged 20 to 24 has surged to over 14%.

According to the latest mid-term manpower projection, last year's full-time job openings suitable for university graduates plummeted by 60% compared with three years ago.

Authorities say admin, IT and coding-related vacancies plunged nearly 90% and 80%.

This student as a literature major said AI can't replace the soul of human writing.

This student chose to specialise in AI film and media after realising how AI can replace human efforts in the bulk of their workflows.

During a Legislative Council meeting, lawmaker Priscilla Leung asked if the Education Bureau can reform the current four-year bachelor's degree programme to include a one-year full-time internship.

Secretary for Education Christine Choi said the internship mandate would compress students' time spent in classes and research -- and weaken institutions' professional autonomy to design curricula.

She said to ensure local universities' international ranking, the institutions need to maintain the calibre and impact of their research. And if universities restructure curricula solely based on manpower shortages at the time, students are trained with mostly the same sets of skills and it could even distort the values of university education turning them into vocational training institutions, she said.

She added universities can still adjust their courses every three years with regular reviews of how university student places are utilised.