The Ugandan Parliament ordered the for-profit corporation Bridge International Academies to close its schools for failing to meet the nation’s standards. The linked report comes from Education International, which represents teachers’ unions around the world. Teachers’ unions think that children should be instructed by qualified teachers. Most children in Uganda cannot afford to enroll in a fee-paying school.
The Ugandan teachers’ union elected a member to Parliament, who championed their case against the for-profit schools.
In the latest turn in the saga between the Ugandan government and Bridge International Academies the country’s parliament has instructed management to close the schools until further notice. Bridge currently has 80 pre-primary and primary schools in Uganda run by American founders Jay Kimmelman and Shannon May.
According to Uganda’s Minister of Education, Janet Museveni, Bridge has the opportunity to reopen should they meet necessary standards. However, despite the order to cease operations, Bridge says it is business as usual.
Bridge, operating what are known as ‘low-fee,’ for profit schools in Uganda, Kenya, and most recently Liberia, is financially supported by the likes of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and education conglomerate Pearson Ltd. It is also receives funding from the World Bank and DfID-UK. Bridge’s business model, which depends on public money to operate fee charging schools run by unqualified teachers, faces a continuous barrage of criticism.
Although the company promotes ‘affordable’ education to some of the world’s poorest children, Bridge forces families to pay for inadequate scripted lessons read from tablets. Many children are left to learn in questionable environments, such as classrooms lacking proper materials, including desks, chairs and in some cases, toilets.
This is the response from Bridge:
http://www.bridgeinternationalacademies.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bridge International Academies statement on comments in Ugandan Parliament
Kampala, 9 August 2016: Bridge International Academies has expressed sincere concern over statements made in the Ugandan parliament this afternoon threatening to force 12,000 Bridge children out of school and 800 Ugandans out of work, by seeking the closure of Bridge International Academies. Bridge has been working in partnership with the Government of Uganda to ensure that all Ugandan children have access to a high quality education.
“We are waiting to receive the report referred to in Parliament and a copy of the Parliamentary Hansard to review the Ministry’s concerns”, says Michael Kaddu, Head of Corporate and Public Affairs for Bridge International Academies in Uganda. “We have been working closely with the Ministry to put the needs of the children first and come to a speedy resolution of any issues made known to us.”
“In the meantime, our academies are running as usual as we continue to work with the relevant educational authorities to uphold our commitment to our parents and communities to provide a world-class education to their children.”
“Bridge has been a great blessing to our community,” says Mrs Gertrude Kizza from the Nsumbi area of Nansana, the grandmother of two Bridge children and the LC1 of the Nsumbi community. “Prior to Bridge opening in Nsumbi, our children either had to travel a long distance to get to school or pay high fees for the local private schools. As a result, many children did not go to school. Since Bridge opened in February of this year, I have seen great changes in my grandchildren, who are now leaders in English and confidence.”
“As a Ugandan citizen I should have the right to give my grand-children a better future, which is why I sent them to Bridge”, says Mrs Kizza. “Now the government is taking away that right.”
Bridge now operates 63 nursery and primary schools across Uganda. Bridge teaches the Ugandan curriculum, using technology to prepare and support teachers, streamline administrative processes and monitor attendance and academic progress.
“I joined Bridge after teacher training college because I was excited by the idea of a school system were I would be prepared and supported to ensure children are learning”, says Patrick Mutegeki a teacher at Bridge International Academy in Nsumbi. “Working at Bridge has made me a better educator and has made me excited for the future of Ugandan children. Bridge pupils in Kenya had a 40% higher chance of passing the national primary exit exams than the national average, and have gone on to the best secondary schools in Kenya and the United States. I want those same opportunities for Ugandan children.”
Bridge International Academies is the 21st largest employer in Uganda, with close to 800 Ugandan employees and has already invested over UGX10bn in the Ugandan economy, with plans to invest another UGX25bn in the coming years.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Here is the link to the press release: http://www.bridgeinternationalacademies.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Bridge-Response-to-Global-Initiative-for-Economic-Social-and-Cultural-Rights.pdf.
The link above takes you to Bridge Academies website.
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“The link above …” refers to the link in Diane’s post.
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It didn’t take too long for the Ugandan leaders to see that all the glitters is not gold. It seems to be taking Americans much longer to figure out that “reform” is a fake movement led by billionaires designed to gain them access to public funds while they crush public schools that get in their way. Perhaps Gates didn’t bribe enough officials in order to sell his wares to the poor Ugandans.
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excellent comment!
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From the BI (Bullshit International or Bilking International) response:
“. . . to provide a world-class education to their children.”
Lying and thieving bastards.
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With all the money that Gates, Zuckerberg and Pearson have, why charge anything for these schools. Make them free forever and force the billionaires and corporation to pay the bills and payrolls forever.
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A BIA co-founder said a 20% return on the schools-in-a-box product, would attract investors. Based on BIA’s investor listing, Bill Gates benefits, or potentially, will benefit, as an individual, not his foundation.
Ohio is too corrupt to do what Uganda did. Ugandans won’t suffer like American communities, by losing the local economic multiplier effect of school spending. If Sen. Sherrod Brown cares that the majority of his constituents’ oppose privatized public education, it doesn’t show in his voting record and, letters to the US Dept. of Ed. So, in that regard, Uganda is doing less of the oligarchs’ bidding, than U.S. politicians.
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“The day the closures were announced, Margaret Rwabushaija, the Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU)National Chairperson and member of Parliament [said] ‘If they are not conforming to the educational standards of the country, their licence should be revoked immediately; lest we risk the future of our children’”
Let’s be clear that this is about the Teachers Union and teachers, with little to no regard for the students or parents who choose these schools or the (non unionized) teachers who teach in them. She should have said “lest we risk the future of our union”.
Unions should be expected to fight for their members, but pretending it’s “for the children” to rationalize forcing thousands of kids out of their chosen schools is disingenuous. Seems familiar.
Everyone here disdains “connected” people and institutions overriding the will of the people. Except apparently when it’s the union.
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In the U.S., unions represent millions of people. Those members vote, pay taxes and live in the communities where oligarch-funded education programs are imposed. Unions are integral to the fight against the influence of concentrated wealth e.g. the Aspen Institute education programs, funded by Gates. The Gates Foundation (among the richest men in the world) spent an estimated $1 bil. on Common Core, charter school organizations producing branded products, etc., IMO, to get the dominant position in a $ 1 tril. education “market”. Reportedly, the Walton’s have committed $100 mil. to further privatization. (The 6 heirs to the Walton fortune have wealth equivalent to 40% of Americans combined.) Uganda’s’ effort to create or preserve a democracy is admirable. If they look to the U.S., they see a Republic Lost and, as a product of that, a presidential contest that pits a dangerous man against a woman, with ties to the richest 0.1%. In 4 years, with more privatization and more concentrated wealth, American choices will be worse and, stability will be threatened.
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Linda,
I don’t disagree with what you said, but one has to consider the children in the equation as well. Kicking a bunch of students out of their schools because they are being taught by teachers with less experience and lower pay is only in their interests if they could be provided those more experienced teachers, which it seems they can’t be.
In the absence of that, this seems to serve the interests of the adults and not the children. This values the needs of the one person at the front of the room more than the needs of the many children in the room.
And, although unions represent millions of people, it is a mistake to think that the represent “the public”, especially when it comes to public sector unions.
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Unions represent their members.
Teachers’ working conditions are students’ learning conditions.
Children deserve well-qualified teachers.
Current “reforms” are demoralizing teachers and driving many out of the profession.
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Labor unions are also democratic organizations where the membership votes in its leaders.
Corporations are dictatorial, autocratic organizations.
Labor unions work to improve the safety of working conditions, pay and benefits for workers.
The main goal of corporations is to make a profit and paying more money to the workers and for their benefits cuts into profits.
This makes corporations the arch enemy of labor unions.
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Lloyd,
Agreed, but where’s the “opposition” for public sector unions? Who represents the interests of the students and families?
I guess the answer is publicly elected school boards, but there’s way too much overlap, influence, and lack of power there to feel great about that.
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Democratic labor unions are elected to represent the working members of the labor union.
The elected school board of a community based, democratic, tranpsrent, non-profit, traditional public school answers to the parents/voters in their community.
If these two democratic organizations do not do the jobs the voters elected them to do, then they can be voted out and replaced by elected representatives who will do the job the majority of voters want.
Corporations do not fit this equation. Corporations are autocratic and dictatorial. They do not have to do anything to please the electorate because they do not answer to voters or parents or children or teachers.
When elected school board are willing to compromise with the leaders of elected labor unions, they often come to an agreement without the need of a labor strike. I was a teacher for thirty years and saw the district and teachers’ unions reach compromised agreements many times. Even though the teachers came close to striking a couple of times, they never did.
The democratic process works if we give it a chance and keep the autocratic corporate influence out of the equation.
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I imagine you would agree that if union members disproportionately elect school boards, that would create the environment in which there is no “other side of the table” when negotiating, true? And if budgets are passed without line items?
I don’t think the system is quite the paragon of virtue you make it out to be.
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No, I would not agree with your suggestion that union members elect school boards and then control them. The numbers defy that. In addition, most teachers in urban areas do not live in the community where they teach and this is especially true in affluent areas where property values are too high and most if not teachers can’t afford to live there.
The opposite explains why many middle class, college educated teachers don’t live in areas of poverty where street crime and violence are prevalent like they were in the district where I taught. Who wants to wake up and find bullet holes in your garage door and take the risk that your children might end up on drugs because drugs are easier to buy in those areas.
For instance, the district where I taught in Southern California had almost 1,000 teachers and most of them lived outside of the boundaries of that school district. In fact, in the thirty years I taught, I only knew ONE teacher who lived in the same district a few blocks from the high school where we taught. And she reported bullet holes in her garage door and flattened tires for her van causing her to walk the few blocks to school until she had time to get the flat tires fixed.
The district where I taught served the children in three towns, and it was the registered voters in those communities inside the district’ boundaries that elected that the school board. The population of those three towns was bout 120k. Even if all the teachers in that district lived inside the district, 1,000 votes would not be enough to control an election, and that doesn’t account for the third of teachers who are registered republicans and conservative.
There are 145 million registered voters in the United States, but there are only about 15 million members of labor unions and about 3.5 million of those members belong to several teachers’ unions spread across a country with about 320 million people.
It would be extremely unlikely that there would be enough teachers that belong to a teachers’ unions in any school district in the United States where those teachers could muster enough of their own votes to make the difference in an election of a community based, democratic elected school board.
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John,
If the unions have too much influence over school boards, it is not reflected in their salaries.
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Linda,
The Waltons have spent about $1 billion on charters and have pledged to spend another $1 billion over the next five years. The Walton Foundation claims they underwrote one of every four charters. I don’t think any of their schools are unionized. Neither is Walmart.
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(1) Gates, Buffett and, the rest of the richest 0.1%, could spend down their fortunes, at the rate that they boast. They could pay the salaries for Ugandan teachers, creating the benefit of money velocity.
(2) Gates, et al. could become the job creators that they claim to be, by creating the products/markets that grow an economy (recognizing that its difficult to sell in economies/markets where politicians have enabled the theft of productivity gains from labor, destroying the middle class).
(3) Gates could fight in his own weight class, and take on Wall Street ,which drags down worldwide economic growth. (4) Gates could influence politicians to reduce patent benefits, which concentrated wealth, to its current unacceptable levels.
The cost cutting implicit in Shannon May’s “scale” wouldn’t be necessary, in a growing economy that served the people.
John’s description is the hackneyed approach, of limiting choices, to those that benefit the rich. It’s the same tactic used against Americans, in the Social Security discussion. (The obvious solution, never introduced- financial transactions tax.) I understand why Gates has been dogged with the criticism of lack of imagination. His investment in ed. reform is a major exemplifier.
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John, from your second post on this thread: “Linda,
I don’t disagree with what you said, but one has to consider the children in the equation as well. Kicking a bunch of students out of their schools because they are being taught by teachers with less experience and lower pay is only in their interests if they could be provided those more experienced teachers, which it seems they can’t be.
In the absence of that, this seems to serve the interests of the adults and not the children. This values the needs of the one person at the front of the room more than the needs of the many children in the room.”
So is this the equivalent of the state closing a traditional public school and forcing students nothing but charter schools in its place? Seems kind of unfair to remove kids from a school that the community has an association with because it has low test scores. (And we know the exact type of community this exclusively happens to.) Instead putting a bunch of temp edu-tourists in front of kids rather than experienced people with a connection to the community. And also, displacing union teachers in favor of low-paying teaching jobs for carpetbaggers.
And when it happens here, the charteristas pound their chests and say “for the kids!”
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For profit schooling imported into these countries is a version of colonialism, and if there are unions that can resist that now, so much the better.
Unions should not be the only social organizations engaged in resisting corporate colonization.
I also think this is not just a matter of the cost of education but also the curriculum–all ready made, delivered from afar, with non-stop data-gathering…a version of early 20th century time-and-motion efficiency studies built into the delivery system…not and ounce of room for teacher or parental or community engagement in what is taught and how or toward what ends.
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Thanks for sharing this important news, Diane. I’ve not seen it covered elsewhere in the U.S.
BIA and the rest of the low-fee private school (LFPS) surge are an expression of the same trend toward the privatization of public education that is represented by the charter school sector in the U.S. In fact, people from the charter school movement were instrumental in the development of the LFPS model. If they could have implemented the charter model in Kenya and Uganda, they would have, but the model just wouldn’t work there.
LFPS are touted as educational miracles, when, in truth, the record is very mixed. They work well for some students, but work very badly for others. The mechanism is different, but like charters, LFPS drain financing away from public school systems that make the Philadelphia Public Schools look like they are floating in dough. Public education advocates consider support for the schools to be undermining the right to education of children left in the public schools. Sound familiar?
From September 8-11, such activists from all over the world will gather in Nairobi for a global consultation on the privatization of public education.
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Readers should also be aware that this outfit is currently being promoted on the website of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI).
Now, anyone who’s done the least research into the Clinton Foundation/CGI knows that they don’t actually “do” anything: they essentially sell their brand name for favored projects of the Uber wealthy, functioning as a kind of Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for the Global Ruling Class.
This instance is typical of their practice: expertly place lipstick on the pig of for-profit-ventures-masquerading-as-social-uplift. Their term for it is “Commitment to Action,” in which the “action” is “committed” by others (never the Foundation/CGI, and often by corporate ventures) and yet another McEducation for Dark-Skinned People scheme is covered in philanthropic pixie dust.
Anyway, flame me all you like, and accuse me of being personally responsible for electing Donnie, but there it is: Gates, Zuckerberg, the World Bank… Clinton… It just never stops, and is almost cartoonish (obviously, Donnie is beyond cartoonish) at this point, something only a Twain or a Carlin could adequately satirize.
Diane has wisely told educators to keep their expectations low regarding a Hillary administration. Truer words were never spoken.
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I would like to send my sincere thanks to Bridge Academy leaders & the staff st large for great work done.however there are up & downs (challenges) but it is a good school for those who know it. Ipray to God to be the last judge coz wat was said about the school wasn’t true.God help us through this & we shall praise yo Name.Amen
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hahaha this is funny, what about UPE schools in kabalega, ntugamo, sembabule, serere karamoja etc??? do they meet standards?? oh should we say bridge academies are not linked to the first family…… total madness… USE graduates can’t even define them selves in two sentences… uganda Law makers and implementers are all running mad
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Just by way of follow up, in early November a Ugandan court ruled against a lawsuit brought against the government by BIA. The ruling said that the government was within its rights to close these unregistered schools.
As in the case of charter schools, Bridge Academies do work better for some children, but at what cost? The question is whether or not public funds should be used to expand these private entities that are not accountable to local government. The schools should have to register like all other schools, and public funds (including the funds of bilateral and multilateral public donors) should support the public schools that must educate all children.
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Hi, bridge system of education is the best according to reaserch I had done. Fee is affordable and eduction standard is good. Bridge should only improve on construction of classroom and also check on transport especially school bus for long distance learner. Otherwise I take mu ch gratitude to bridge schools on what they are doing.Keep it up.
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Maurice, when you work for Bridge, as you do, your endorsement is meaningless
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