It is a dispute over cafeteria food which got ugly today when students at Corozal Junior College blocked the entrance to the campus. The students are claiming that the school's management wants to force them to buy costly food from the campus cafeteria. The students however say they prefer cheaper and tastier food from a diner across the street. Seems like a petty matter and just a question of free will but today it blew up into a really big deal that almost caused a campus closure. That's after the school administration ordered the front gates of the school locked this morning. The students interpreted it as an attempt to lock them in, and basically hold them hostage to the food at the school cafeteria.
It may seem dramatic, and it was as the Junior College's Student Government Association urged the school's 360 students to form a protest blocking the rear
gate which had been left open. These pictures show the students blocking that rear gate, forcing lecturers to park outside.
In this photograph, the lecturer is seen trying to reason with the intransigent students who
"would not be be moved" from the gates. When our affiliate from the Northern Cable Company got to the scene, the mood was subdued, but the rhetoric from the students wasn't.
Endu Popper, Student Government President
"The reason why students go across the street to buy is because the quality of the food being sold at the cafeteria is very low and the prices in the cafeteria of things being sold is very high. We want the gates and that is why we decide we should make a stand by protesting in front of the gates. Today we protested in fronts of the gates and tomorrow morning we will be doing the same."
Daniel Pascual, Student Government Member
"The cafeteria sells food for $3.50 and the students complain about the quantity and quality of the food while across the street the lady sells the food for only $3 and she gives salad and a nice piece of chicken. The natural juice is 50 cents, the soft drink is $, and in the cafeteria its $1.25 and the natural is $1. So more students are complaining and they want the gates open because then they lock the three gates and students have to go all the way around."
Silvero Marin, CJC Student
"Its very mean for them to close the gates on us and force us to have to buy their food and that's what we've tried to bring across but still have not responded so tomorrow we're going to come and we're going to assemble here outside the gate and continue our riot."
Daniel Pascual,
"The whole student body, the whole 360 students, came and they assembled in front of this gate and they wanted this gate to be opened because the one on that side was closed and this is the exit gate; they are using the exit gate for both entrance and exit. That is the problems students are having because they don't want to open the gate, they only want to use one gate but this morning when we came three gates were locked so we had to go all the way around."
The students plan to return to the protest line tomorrow as they tell us that the school officials will once again lock the gates at 8 am. The students today tried to meet with Board Chairman Yasin Shoman but they tell us he was too busy.
But we did speak with Shoman who this evening told 7NEWS that the front gates are closed during school hours for security reasons. He adds that the back gate is still opened. He says only a handful decided not to attend class, which he call a shame given the high cost of education. He says contrary to what the student government says, there were classes today and 90 percent or more of students showed up. Shoman made a commitment that the board will meet to decide on a compromise.
