To Work or not to Work: A Student’s Perspective

AMID A GLOBAL RECESSION, the right to free and quality education has become a challenge for those living in the Global South. Exchange programs provide a gateway to break cultural barriers and enable students to pursue their academic interests; however, these programs lack the opportunity for international students seeking formal education. For students in developing countries, quality education does not come cheap. One must either be able to spend a huge sum of money on private education or move to a country where education is free. To top it off, one must submit proof of sufficient funds for an entire year if granted admission in any of the reputable institutes within Europe.

Each year thousands of students move from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America to Iceland in search of higher education because of the lack of quality infrastructure at home. This is just one of the many reasons behind the tedious decision of completely abandoning one life and starting a new one from scratch. At the University of Iceland, there is a marked increase in 2023, with a total of 2,019 foreign students. This is the highest difference between two successive years in the past 2 decades. Unless someone is eccentrically rich or wants to spend all their life savings in a year, one must resort to part-time jobs to survive in Iceland, or any other country that allows students to work part-time while being enrolled at the university level.

To be able to make that transition, one must leave behind a lot! Family, friends, relationships – you name it. For me, I let go of my job, gathered enough funds for paperwork, took out loans, got attestations and paperwork done for every single document attached to my existence, and the list goes on… I am Ahmad Rana – one of the many students who went through this process last year and is now on exchange as a double degree student at the University of Iceland. I spent the first year of my master’s in Norway, and I then decided to move to Iceland for my second year because of my interest in the subjects offered here.

Just like many others, I started off with part-time jobs in Norway at various restaurants, until I finally thought I understood the system and could make my transition to Iceland. To my surprise, where the University welcomes diversity with open arms, the system and part-time work policies only add more to the misery of employment if a student is from outside the EEA/EFTA region. For students who are foreign nationals, the job contract along with application for work permit and all the relevant documents must be submitted to the directorate of immigration. From there, the application is forwarded to the directorate of Labour, the union is assigned, and when it is approved, the immigration office issues a new resident permit stating the student is now allowed to work. Not to mention that this is in addition to the initial visits to the directorate of immigration for having your photo taken and picking up your temporary residence card. The entire process for an approval to work part-time used to take no more than 15 days last year. As of this year, the representatives say it could take months before a work permit is approved and you can pick up the new card. Only then can you start to work. However, if you want to switch to another job, you have to go through the same procedure all over again.

Now imagine you are at an interview and your employer asks, “so when can you start working?” What would your answer be? “I’m afraid I cannot say, because as much as I would like to start right now given the financial crisis I see myself in the next few months, I must submit the contract that you give me to the immigration’s office and wait for their response. Judging from what I have heard, it could take anywhere from 15 days to a few months”. This is the best answer I can think of, and most restaurant owners or part-time work opportunities do not think that far ahead. By the time you get all this done, there is a fair chance that someone else got hired for the position, and your contract (if they give you one at all) is no longer valid. This means that you will not get a new temporary residence card (that allows you to work the designated hours per week) and you are back to square one.

I know several foreign nationals who have had their contracts canceled because it took too long and someone else was hired, who are still waiting for their cards, and those who are rejected solely on the basis that they cannot start working immediately. Having previously stayed in Europe, I have the experience and exposure required to fill in the positions that are advertised daily, yet I am at a competitive disadvantage because of the process involved. No, more than half of them do not require proficiency in Icelandic (neither spoken nor written), if you were thinking I am just writing this to rant because I couldn’t get a job. I am confident I will get one. However, it is heartbreaking to hear when an employer rejects your application solely on the grounds that you cannot start working immediately. I am not the only one, there are countless others that face the same statement everyday either directly or indirectly. This is for all those students who dreamt big, and now cannot find the right words or platform to express their dreams.

So, whose side are you on? Do you think it's fair? Or maybe we could use a few examples from fellow countries and implement policies that encourage students to be self-sufficient, irrespective of which part of the world they are from?