Internship Scheme For Students Of Counselling/ Psychology/ Social Work/ Home Science Etc

What is the Goa internship scheme for counselling and social work postgraduates?

Internship Scheme For Students Of Counselling/ Psychology/ Social Work/ Home Science Etc is a scheme of the Directorate of Women and Child Development, Government of Goa. Its stated objective is to offer aspiring postgraduate students an opportunity for internship facilities, to be trained as qualified interns in state-run and private children's and shelter homes, where they can be offered hands-on job training experience.

The problem it addresses is a familiar one in child protection. Goa's children's homes, protective homes, Juvenile Justice Boards and Child Welfare Committees need trained counsellors, social workers and psychologists, but fresh postgraduates rarely arrive with practical experience of institutional care, home study inquiries or probation reporting. The internship builds that experience inside the system, with a stipend attached so that the year is financially viable.

What the internship provides

• An internship allowance of Rs 15,000 lumpsum per month, paid on a pro-rata basis for part of a month.
• One paid leave per month during the training period.
• Placement at a real child protection institution rather than a classroom.

Scale and duration

• The total number of slots for interns per year is fixed at 15, extendable up to 20.
• The period of internship is for a maximum of twelve months.

Over a full twelve-month internship, the allowance therefore comes to Rs 1,80,000.

Where do interns work?

Selected interns undergo training and work at the following places:

1. State-run children's homes
2. Protective homes for women
3. Juvenile Justice Boards
4. Child Welfare Committees
5. Any other children's home, shelter home and similar institution recognised by the Government

Interns work as per directions and under the total supervision of the officers in charge at the respective place of deployment during the period of internship, and also when deployed for field work at any place for the preparation of Probation Officers' reports or for home study report inquiries.

That last point is worth reading closely. Home study reports and probation reports are statutory instruments under the juvenile justice framework, and an intern who works on them gains exposure that is directly relevant to later employment as a Probation Officer, a Child Welfare Officer or a counsellor with a District Child Protection Unit.

Who is eligible and who is not eligible for this internship?

You can apply if:

• You have passed out from a recognised university with a Master's degree.
• Your Master's degree is in Social Service, Social Work, Sociology, Psychology or Home Science, or you hold a Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling or a similar qualification.
• You passed out as a postgraduate within three years prior to applying for the internship.
• You obtained at least 50% marks in aggregate in the final year of the postgraduation.

You are not eligible if:

• You hold only a bachelor's degree, however relevant the subject.
• Your postgraduate qualification is outside the listed disciplines.
• You completed your postgraduation more than three years before applying. The scheme is deliberately aimed at recent graduates.
• Your final-year aggregate is below 50%.

There is no published age limit, domicile requirement or reservation matrix for this scheme, and no application fee is mentioned in the notification.

How to apply for the Goa WCD internship

1. Take a printout of the application form in the format published with the departmental notification of the Directorate of Women and Child Development.
2. Fill in all the mandatory fields of the form, including your academic details, the discipline of your Master's degree, your year of passing and your final-year aggregate.
3. Paste a passport-sized photograph on the form and sign across it.
4. Attach self-attested copies of all mandatory documents — the Master's degree certificate, the final-year mark sheet showing at least 50% aggregate, and proof of the year of passing.
5. Send the completed application to the Director, Directorate of Women and Child Development, 2nd Floor, Old Education Building, 18th June Road, Altinho, Panaji, Goa 403001.
6. Follow up with the Directorate on the current intake. With only 15 slots a year, extendable to 20, the department confirms whether an intake is open before applications are considered.

How do I check the status of my application?

The Directorate of Women and Child Development does not publish an online status tracker for this internship. Status is checked directly with the Directorate at the Altinho, Panaji address, quoting your name and the date on which the application was sent. Keep a photocopy of the completed form and of every enclosure before posting, because the originals of the documents you send are not routinely returned.

What are the common reasons an application is rejected?

• The three-year window has closed. A candidate who finished a Master's degree four or five years ago is outside the scheme, however strong the profile.
• Aggregate below 50% in the final year of the postgraduation.
• A qualification outside the listed disciplines. The list covers social service, social work, sociology, psychology, home science and postgraduate diplomas in counselling.
• Incomplete forms. The instructions specifically require every mandatory field to be filled, the photograph pasted and signed across, and self-attested copies of all mandatory documents attached.
• Slots exhausted. With a hard annual ceiling of 15 slots, extendable to 20, an eligible application can still miss out.

What does an intern actually do during the twelve months?

The scheme does not publish a week-by-week training calendar, and the honest answer is that the content of the internship depends on the institution to which the intern is deployed. What the notification does establish is the framework: deployment is to a state-run children's home, a protective home for women, a Juvenile Justice Board, a Child Welfare Committee or a Government-recognised shelter home; supervision is total and rests with the officer in charge at that place; and the intern can be sent on field work for the preparation of Probation Officers' reports and home study report inquiries.

Prospective applicants should ask the Directorate, before accepting a slot, which institution they will be deployed to and who the supervising officer will be, since the value of the year turns almost entirely on that.

Where do I contact the department?

Write to or visit the Director, Directorate of Women and Child Development, Government of Goa, 2nd Floor, Old Education Building, 18th June Road, Altinho, Panaji, Goa 403001. The same address handles both the application and any grievance about selection or the payment of the monthly allowance. Because the scheme sits inside Goa's child protection system, the District Child Protection Units and the Child Welfare Committees of North Goa and South Goa are also useful points of contact for understanding what deployment at a particular home involves.

Key facts to remember

• 15 internship slots a year, extendable up to 20.
• Maximum duration of the internship is 12 months.
• Rs 15,000 per month lumpsum allowance, pro-rated for part of a month.
• One paid leave per month during the training period.
• Master's degree in social service, social work, sociology, psychology or home science, or a PG Diploma in Counselling, with at least 50% in the final year.
• Must have passed out within the last three years.
• Applications go by post or by hand to the Director, DWCD, Altinho, Panaji.