There is a growing phenomenom among African students abroad which involves obtaining multiple degrees.May be it is an old problem which has existed for a long time...but actually I cannot tell. However, I can say with a high degree of certainty that the this phenomenom has increased drastically.
I remember when I was still in secondary school back then in my home country. I used to see people coming back from abroad with about three different masters degree in their pockets...and I will think these are real intellectuals. I believed in that fallacy until I moved to study in Belgium in 2008. Only then did I realize that many people where obliged to stay in school just to have their residence cards renewed. The other way round is to get a European wife...but this is no longer very popular as it used to be. European ladies have become to skeptical...whether out of experience or stories...or changing times.
Of course, I did not understand why people will prefer to keep doing one master programme after the other...instead of getting a jjob until I graduated from the university of Hasselt with a masters degree. The system in some European countries like the Netherlands has some minor advantages as recent graduates are issued a working permit of one year validity upon graduation. This is not the case in Belgium. As such when you graduate as a foreign student, you have virtually no time to look for work. Rather to 'put all your eggs in a single basket' by waiting to find a job that many before you have tried to no avail...the other option is to apply for another study programme. A few fortunate ones are directly admitted into the PhD programme...but this is not easy to come buy...as places are very limited and therefore highly competitive.
I met Andrew, a friend from the same country as me who arrived in Belgium in 2006 as a student. Till date, he is still studying at the masters level...taking one master programme after the other. He is just one of the hundreds or more African students in Belgium who are caught in this web of frustration. They have legal papers, but they also have limitations as students..can work for a maximum of 20hours/ week and a maximum of 50 days to benefit from low income tax as students. Of course, it is practically impossible for a 'real' student to work full time all year round. It is even surprising to the Belgians when they see an African of about 30 years...still woking as a student or more still, still studying. They can not understand our plight...as it is said, some people were born with a golden spoon in their mouth.
The issue of multiple masters degree have long term negative repercussions as you moved from one field of study to another, and finally you become jack of all trades and a master of none. And above all, age is also increasing and as we know, age is the only thing that goes up and never comes down...when will u start your life....marry a wife...have children...certainly it is a vicious cycle...and the only way out is returning to your homeland. But that is easy to say than done.
