Determinants of internship challenges for Agricultural S tudents in the Minis try of Agriculture-Jahad from the executives' view

Internship is a unique training program that purpose is to integrate education with experimental programs and activities. It is necessary to examine the weaknesses of the implementation of this course in the pas t years, successful experiences of implementing this program in other countries and receiving and summarizing the opinions of the s takeholders of this program for improving the effectiveness of internships for agricultural s tudents. In order to implementation of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Minis tries of Science, Research and Technology and Agriculture-Jahad and the law on increasing the productivity of agriculture and natural resources, that he purpose of which is to use the capacities of executive and governmental bodies in the implementation of the internship plan for agricultural s tudents, this research was conducted with the aim of inves tigating the obs tacles and challenges of the implementation of the internship program of agricultural science s tudents in the Minis try of Agriculture-Jahad by using a qualitative research method and a deductive approach. The s tatis tical population of this s tudy was all educational deputies and the ins tructors working in the Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Centers of the country in the academic year 2021-2022 (N= 64), of which 38 people were selected by purposive sampling method. As a result of the content analysis, the challenges of implementing the s tudents' internship were categorized in; the course curriculum, implementation of the course, internship ins tructors, s tudents (interns), the organizational unit accepting the intern, and the college and university. The mos t important challenges from the respondents` point of view included the s tudents' lack of motivation to actively participate in this course due to the uncertainty of their job opportunities, lack of monitoring and detailed visits by the university and the Minis try of Agricultural Jihad on the implementation of the course in the units accepting interns, the lack of motivation of trainers to optimally implement the internship course, and the lack of coordination and cooperation between universities and units conducting internships. Encouraging s tudents to participate in skill training and methods, active cooperation of universities with executive bodies in the implementation of practical trainings and equipping organizational unit accepting the intern with facilities and equipment needed for the implementation of the internship training course were among the sugges tions of this research.