Nearly 5,000 vocational students still lack internships as shortage doubles in 2 years

The number of MBO vocational students unable to find internships has doubled in two years, leaving 4,695 without a placement this school year, according to new figures from the Foundation for Cooperation on Vocational Education, Training, and the Labor Market (SBB).

In the current academic year, 467,329 students are enrolled in mbo programs. While most have secured internships, the shortage is most acute in the health care and welfare sector, where placements are critical for future staffing.

Hannie Vlug, executive director of the SBB, highlighted the problem in the care fields. "Then you have to think, for example, of students who are being trained for elderly care or care for the disabled. But also, for example, to become a social worker or a doctor's assistant," she said.

The shortfall creates a vicious circle, Vlug said, because the sector already faces severe staff shortages and will need these students as employees in the coming years. "This situation is exactly the vicious circle that has often been pointed out," she said.

A key cause is the lack of available supervisors. "There is simply no staff on the work floor to supervise interns," Vlug said. "And that is a major problem, because we need these people badly."

Other factors include companies preferring students from higher levels or later years and automation eliminating tasks that interns previously performed. Shortages also affect software developer and education assistant programs.

Without an internship, students cannot graduate. "Because if you don't have an internship place, you also don't get a diploma," Vlug said. "But then we also don't get the skilled workers we need so badly."

The SBB is actively recruiting more training companies. Education providers and businesses are exploring creative solutions, such as spreading internships so that not all students need placements at the same time, or splitting them so that students complete shorter periods at two different companies. The SBB is also calling for government financial support for the care sector.

Some mbo programs have already limited new admissions because of the placement shortage. For example, social worker training has been affected by earlier cuts to the municipal fund, which led local governments to reduce social work services and, in turn, internship opportunities.

Education Minister Letschert previously described the situation as worrying because it hits sectors "where you actually wouldn't want it." She plans to discuss the issue with the House of Representatives before the summer.