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Gilbert Calleja
The Gan Frangisk Abela Junior College is banning the publicity of cultural events and the University’s own students’ scheme promoting the payment of events at St James Cavalier with the smartcard, MaltaToday has confirmed.
Last Tuesday, St James Cavalier staff were forbidden from putting up posters promoting the newly launched Brainfood scheme – a joint venture between the university’s Students Maintenance Grants Board and the Valletta centre for creativity aimed at enabling students to use their smartcards to buy tickets for cultural events. The Junior College is part of the University.
Even posters advertising Greek play Agamemnon showing from this weekend at the MITP – another university cultural venue – were banned by the college administration.
The incident led the chairman of the students’ grants board and member of the Arts Council, Mario Schiavone, to protest with the college principal, Godfrey Muscat, about his policy to censor cultural advertising.
“This is absurd,” Schiavone told MaltaToday. “Culture is essential to a student’s formation. The principal’s strange decision not to accept cultural events posters needs reconsidering especially in view of university’s acceptance to promote the scheme.”
Vice-principal Joseph Sciriha confirmed the college’s anti-culture policy and said that the college would be covered up in posters if they accepted posters promoting outlets which accept the smartcard.
“If we were to accept all posters we would be inundated with hairdressers advertising their salons just because they accept the smartcard,” he said.
The St James Cavalier general manager, Chris Gatt, also complained to the college administration in writing and asked for an explanation.
The vice principal again confirmed the blanket ban in his reply to Gatt: “It is the policy of the Junior College not to advertise any activity, cultural or not, where students are requested to pay money for the event.”
Gatt and Schiavone said they will be raising the issue with the university authorities and with the education and culture ministers respectively. “We’ll be following this in the coming days,” Schiavone said.
Ironically, the Junior College principal had no qualms on introducing new charges for students to use the school’s gym this year.
gcalleja@mediatoday.com.mt
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