In this interview, Dr Sunil Rai, the Chancellor of UPES, discusses the importance of social internships in developing empathetic leaders and building a sustainable society. He emphasizes how social internships offer students practical experience and insights into different perspectives, allowing them to work with diverse groups of people effectively and form a more inclusive and diverse working style. Dr Rai also describes UPES’ Srijan social internship program, which provides students with essential life, human, and social skills and prepares them to become compassionate human beings and effective leaders. Excerpts:
How do social internships contribute to the development of empathetic leaders and the building of a sustainable society?
Enhancing the lives of others and the community at large is the primary goal of education. While universities excel at giving students the ideal learning environment to launch successful careers, it is equally crucial that they shape today’s youth in a way that they learn to concentrate on social challenges and contribute fairly to community development as well. Here, social internships can play a significant role in developing empathetic leaders and building a sustainable society by providing practical experience and insights into different perspectives to connect and work with diverse groups of people effectively. It helps budding professionals in forming a more inclusive and diverse working style. Additionally, by participating in social projects and serving underprivileged communities, individuals can develop a sense of responsibility and commitment to making a positive impact on society, which can inspire them to continue making sustainable choices and decisions throughout their careers.
Can you explain the importance of social internships in the overall education of students?
In general, internships are excellent for learning. However, social internships also hold a lot of relevance in students’ overall education because they give students a chance to look at social concerns regarding social, environmental and economic issues faced by different communities in greater detail while putting them in contact with ground-level reality. They provide a unique opportunity to make a positive impact in the community by allowing students to work towards finding solutions to these problems from a holistic and inclusive perspective. This experience enhances students’ critical thinking skills and helps them develop a sense of purpose and direction in their future careers.
Social internships also offer students the chance to build a network of professional contacts and gain valuable references for their future job searches. They provide students with a better understanding of their own skills, interests, and values, helping them make informed decisions about their future careers. So, in all, it is a win-win situation for both students and society.
Can you describe UPES’ efforts in moulding its students into future leaders through the Srijan social internship program?
As a community of educators, we believe not only in striving for personal and academic success but also sensitise our students to give back to the society in which we live. To instil such values in our students, we have social internship programs like Srijan to impart essential life skills, human skills and social skills among students. The social internship initiative- Srijan is an effort by the university to make students socially conscious and better leaders of tomorrow, creating a positive social impact throughout the nation. It is a two-way road where students give back to society and come out as confident and positive individuals imbibing various life skills which cannot be solely taught in classrooms.
How does UPES’ Srijan program provide students with essential life, human, and social skills?
The social internship initiative, ‘Srijan’ is an effort by UPES School for Life that provides a broad base of curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular learning experiences to students from diverse backgrounds and nurtures their abilities through a problem-solving approach. Srijan is a mandatory six-week-long social internship program that imparts essential life skills, human skills and social skills to the students. It goes beyond typical classroom education and prepares students to become compassionate human beings and effective leaders by instilling skills such as empathy, time management, and leadership. These internships give our students a chance to change people’s lives for the better and go through life-changing experiences themselves.
Can you discuss the partnership between UPES and NGOs in the Srijan program and its impact on the community? How has UPES’ Srijan program impacted the overall volunteer hours dedicated to social development in the country?
UPES has tied up with more than 700 NGOs across India and has close to 450 NGO mentors introducing students to society and its challenges, creating value systems of service, giving, empathy and respect for those who are less fortunate. The social internship program firmly puts the ‘social’ environment at the centre of learning for UPES students. The university has more than 3200 students giving a minimum of 8 hours daily for two months to social service. This leads up to a significant over 7 lac volunteering hours dedicated to the Country’s Social Development.
Can you provide examples of how students participating in the Srijan program have made a difference in others’ lives?
After completing their social internships, many students of UPES continue to be changemakers. Under the guidance of the Social Internship Team of the Career Services department, they volunteer to carry out many social development projects in and around Dehradun. For example, Tushar Sharma, a student from UPES School of Health Sciences helped children learn basic, day to day used skills and made them aware of social problems like child labour, good touch-bad touch, self-hygiene and more during his social internship at a child rescue NGO- Naya Sawera Organisation. Another student from UPES School of Computer Sciences Sanskriti Bhardwaj interned with NGO Come On India in Meerut to support their vision of making people aware of topics like Water and environment conservation, cyberbullying, child education, women’s welfare etc.
(India CSR)
