Feb- Mac - The covid 19 pandemic has caused a halt in student exchange programs. Clearance from the government to enable crossing of borders may take some time with the increase in daily Covid cases. PMK decided to think out of the box , hence becoming the first  Malaysian polytechnic to venture into the Virtual Internship. The close relationship between PMK and Politeknik Negeri Sriwijaya(POLSRI) enabled us to coordinate and collaborate to allow 6 students from 3 programs ( Diploma in Civil Engineering, Diploma in Accountancy and Diploma in International Business) to participate in this program. The outbound students from PMK were involved from 22-26 February while the POLSRI inbound students were involved from 1-5 March.

 The above are companies from Malaysia and Indonesia that were involved. Students were required to do daily reports and feedback forms were distributed to companies and  students for continuous improvement. In general, the program was carried out successfully , however there was room for improvement. Majority suggested a longer period of internship to enable more task to be carried out and to allow international students to learn new and different skills and apps used in the different countries. Internet was also identified as an issue for students and communication skills was slightly affected. It was felt that students needed to be more mature and communicate better with the companies. It is hoped that the  2nd virtual Internship will run more smoothly, having seen the potential problems.