The students of the IUT of Montreuil have not had a U restaurant since the start of the school year. It was managed by an external service provider, but the latter did not renew its contract due to lack of profitability.
On the menu this afternoon, sandwich, sandwich and donuts, “their guilty pleasure“, say students from this University Institute of Technology of Montreuil met during their lunch break.
Since the start of the school year, they no longer benefit from a U restaurant for lunch. The external service provider, who had managed it since 2016, did not renew his contract after years disrupted by the Covid-19.
To eat, the students of this establishment far from the city center have little choice in the neighborhood, a bakery, a supermarket, or kebab restaurants.
Expensive and unbalanced meals
“I would like to eat a balanced diet personally, salads for example, because it’s starting to be a lot to eat like that“, explains a young woman.
We are not going to eat industrial every day
Student at the IUT of Montreuil
For some of them, buying lunch outside is too expensive. In particular for the scholarship students who benefited from meals at 1 euro at the U restaurant. For others, the budget devoted to lunch has jumped by 200 euros per month.
A single microwave is available to them within the IUT. Insufficient for the 600 students who very often have little time for the lunch break. “There I have an hour break and I will have to wait 20 minutes in front of the microwave then resume my lessons at 1 p.m.s”, testifies a student.
A student association asks for the installation of other microwaves but also the opening of rooms so as not to eat outside.
A restaurant not profitable enough
Management recognizes an abnormal situation. “The end of the contract with the former provider took place in June”, explains Rachida Kamal, the administrative and financial manager at the microphone of France Bleu Paris. According to her, a call for tenders was launched but no company came forward or offered prices that were too high for the establishment, reports our colleague.
vending machines
“S‘there was a U restaurant, that would be better, just a canteen”claim the students who feel abandoned by the management.
The students appeal to the Crous, the Regional Center for University and School Works, an establishment which notably manages the question of university restaurants. But for the latter, there is no question of opening another U restaurant, highlighting questions of insufficient attendance and profitability. Instead, he proposes to install vending machines.
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