The Innovation & Technology Commission today said the STEM Internship Scheme will be regularised due to the enthusiastic response it received last year.

The commission noted that the pilot scheme attracted over 1,600 university students and more than 1,000 companies or organisations.

It pointed out that in view of the enthusiastic response from universities and the business community, the Financial Secretary announced the regularisation of the STEM Internship Scheme in the 2021-22 Budget.

The commission explained that the scheme encourages students to experience I&T-related work and foster their interest in an I&T career by providing them with internship opportunities.

Survey findings showed that 94% of the students upon completion of their internship gained a better understanding of the I&T field and 88% would consider pursuing careers in I&T.

For the participating employers, 99% considered that their interns’ job performance had met or even exceeded their expectations while 96% planned to join the scheme again.

The participating companies were mostly small and medium-sized enterprises or start-ups and about half of them were from the information technology sector.

The internship positions covered programme coding, web design, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and more.

The commission added that it is discussing with universities various enhancement measures to attract more students and employers.

Interested students and employers may contact relevant universities.