NEWS ANALYSIS: Bridge Schools saga

But White says the school conducted lessons for three more days because the election cycle earlier in the year had forced schools to open much later for the beginning of the first term, which affected other terms.  He added that the school in Kisekende, Mubende is in the process of applying properly for a license.

“We have paid the Operating Fees levy charged by Mubende Town Council, which I assume is what is being referenced here. We know this is different from a license to operate a primary school, and we are continuing to ensure all of our schools are licensed,” he says

White also told The Independent that the First Lady Janet Museveni, who is the Minister of Education and Sports, visited the Bridge Academy International Ganda in Nansana in Wakiso district and interacted with the parents. White did not say specific on what Janet Museveni said about the fate of the school or its pupils.  But he says the Bridge managers want “open and free dialogue with the ministry”.

“They just never give us audience,” he said.

He says Bridge International Academies have created 800 permanent jobs and says the company may have to cut back on its investments if the friction continues with the ministry. He says Shs10 billion has already been sunk into the schools operations since they started.

Commissioner Lusambu traces the Bridge Schools trouble from the time when, he says, the Ministry of Education first detected irregularities after a presentation by Bridge Academy officials to the Basic Education Working Group, (a ministerial body) in March this year.

“Shortly after, we realised that they had more schools than they had told us about during the presentation.”

It is not clear why this is a crime in a country which is clear needs of as many classrooms as it can get.

In any case, White says, the schools were cleared by the Basic Education Working Group after the presentation.

Mixed reception in Africa

The proprietors of Bridge International Academies take pride in the success they have achieved in Liberia, one of the other countries in Africa where the academies have been set up, with the other two being Kenya and Nigeria. In January this year, the government of Liberia announced that they were outsourcing the entire pre-primary and primary education sector to Bridge International Academies. It is something White speaks of proudly, saying Bridge should be appreciated here. “Remember the capacity of the Liberian government is weak. They had a civil war and most recently they are just recovering from Ebola.”

In Kenya, the schools have recently run into trouble. Teachers unions and civil society groups have ganged up against Bridge International Academies. The complaint is the same as that in Uganda-poor quality of education services rendered and failing to adhere to set guidelines. The other complaint was that teachers at Bridge schools earn Kshs12,000 which is way lower than what teachers in public schools earn (Kshs16000), the other reason was the insufficient training they receive.

A joint statement published in Business Daily Africa issued by Kenya National Union of Teachers (KTNU) Secretary General Wilson Sossion in January read “The expansion of Bridge schools is a manifestation of the growing commercialisation and privatisation of education in Kenya, which are the greatest threat to the achievement of the UN sustainable development goals.”

The other organisations in the coalition included Kenya Union of Post Primary Education, Universities Academic Staff Union, Katiba Institute, International Commission of Jurists-Kenya chapter, Transparency International, Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Education International.

Bridge International Academies has operations in India as well. The chain of schools was founded by American philanthropists Shannon May and Jim Kimmelman in 2008 in Nairobi, Kenya aiming to bring educational opportunities to rural communities. Through their networks, they were able to bring on board investors of global repute like Bill Gates, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Department for International Development (UK’s Development arm) and several others.

It is not clear how an entity was such high profile backers can fail to meet basic ministry of Education standard in a country where pupils sometimes study under trees for lack of classrooms.

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editor@independent.co.ug