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Internships for school students in India come in two kinds. One is a short programme of real work beside someone who does it for a living. The other is a fee, some videos and a certificate. Online they look the same.
Are summer internships useful for high school students in India?
The real kind can be. A half-century retrospective study by Lesley Roberts and Richard Wassersug, published in Research in Science Education, followed up a high school summer research programme that ran from 1958 to 1972. Science-minded students who did original research in high school were significantly more likely to enter and stay in a science career than those whose first research came at university.
A newer study in the Journal of Experiential Education surveyed 189 young people from groups underrepresented in STEM, before and up to three years after a seven-week summer programme built around field research. Authentic research was linked to more interest in science and to choosing STEM majors, even after the move to college. Mentoring's effect was more indirect, through students feeling socially connected.
Both studies are from the United States and neither was a randomised trial, so they show a link, not proof of cause. Both describe real research with a mentor, not a certificate course.
What does a good school-level programme look like?
At 15 or 16, a realistic programme means a few weeks of watching, asking and doing one small, real piece of work, such as logging data or writing a short report. Be wary of any programme that promises a published paper.
ISRO's YUVIKA is a useful reference point. ISRO describes it as a two-week, ISRO-sponsored residential programme for high school students, with lectures, model rocketry, CANSAT experiments, facility visits and time with scientists. Around 337 students from all 28 states and 8 union territories took part in 2023, the page says.
Abroad, MIT Admissions writes that most summer programmes admit all or most students who can pay the often high tuition, while competitive-admission programmes select on merit and are often free or comparatively affordable.
How do you spot a paid certificate scheme?
Warning signs:
Everyone who pays is selected, often within a day.
A registration, kit or certificate fee is due before anyone tells you what the work is.
No named mentor, lab or organisation you can check independently.
The pitch is about the certificate or a college-admission edge, not the work.
Countdown timers, only-a-few-seats-left messages, and payment to a personal UPI ID.
Claims of government or university approval that you cannot find on that body's own website.
The last one is not hypothetical. In July 2026 PIB Fact Check said neither the Ministry of MSME nor the Ministry of Corporate Affairs had issued any application form for a viral internship, and urged people to rely only on official government websites, All India Radio News reported.
What should you ask before saying yes?
Score each answer 0 (no answer or vague), 1 (partly) or 2 (clear and checkable):
Who will my child work with, and what is their own work? You want a name you can look up.
What will my child have made or found by the last day?
How many students does each mentor look after?
How were students chosen last time?
What does it cost, and what exactly does the fee pay for?
Can we speak to one past participant?
Our rule of thumb: 9 or more out of 12 is worth a closer look; under 6, walk away.
A short message you can copy: "My child is in Class 10 and interested in biology. Before applying, could you tell us who the mentor would be and what last year's students produced? We would also like to speak to one past participant." A genuine programme answers this happily; a certificate seller usually replies with a payment link.
For example, a Class 11 student has two offers. Offer A is an online AI research internship with a large upfront fee, same-day selection and no named mentor. It scores 0, 0, 0, 0, 1 and 0: a total of 1. Offer B is free: three weeks in a nearby college's chemistry department with a named assistant professor, running titrations for a water-quality survey. Two students were picked from short essays. It scores 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 and 1: a total of 11. Offer B is the internship; Offer A is a purchase.
What if your child does not get into one?
That is normal. A small self-run project gives much of the same: a real question, some data, a report and a teacher's feedback. See our guide on how to find a mentor for a science student, our list of summer research programmes for school students, and, for online offers, what virtual internship certificates are really worth.
Projects often run into ideas school has not reached yet. The Fermi Concept Library has a lesson for every concept in physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and computing, so your child can fill that gap and get back to the work.
Start with the six questions; a real programme will answer them.
