Public Finance International.png Ugandan high court confirms closure of Bridge International schools Emma Rumney, Public Finance International, London, 4 November 2016 Bridge International Academies, which plans to sell basic education services to 10 million students in low-income countries in Africa and Asia by 2025, has come under heavy fire for its methods - but also enjoys the support of some prominent backers. Today's decision confirms an order from Uganda's education ministry, which directed all <http://www.publicfinanceinternational.org/news/2016/08/ugandan-government-c lose-controversial-bridge-academy-schools> Bridge International schools in the country to close in August due to licensing and safety issues. At the time, Janet Museveni, Uganda's minister of education and sports, said the schools "could not promote teacher-pupil interaction" and that poor hygiene standards were putting the "life and safety" of children in danger. Bridge Refusing To Go Godwin Matsiko, the liaison officer for Bridge International Academies in Uganda, said the school disagreed with the ruling, which will affect 12,000 children. "We plan to appeal on behalf of the more than 20,000 Ugandans who have decided to send their children to our schools. They do this because they want an affordable, quality education. They want the best for their children, and this ruling throws that into doubt," he said. "The ruling threatens to undo the critical work Bridge has done to broaden education opportunities that provide many thousands of Ugandan children with the best chance they have to escape generational poverty and achieve success." The school argues it offers a key service to families whose children would otherwise have few good opportunities to learn. Some Bridge schools are in rural areas where there are no other providers. In areas where there are state-run schools, Bridge International points to issues such as a high rate of teacher absenteeism or lack of teaching materials, which it says deprive many more Ugandan children of a high-quality education. The school company's influential backers include the World Bank, the UK's Department for International Development and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which have donated millions of dollars to Bridge International to increase access to basic schooling in the countries where it works. Unqualified "Teachers" However, critics - which include teachers' unions in Uganda and <http://www.publicfinanceinternational.org/news/2016/10/uk-teachers-union-sl ams-bridge-international> the UK, the <http://www.publicfinanceinternational.org/news/2016/03/un-education-chief-s lams-liberia-over-schools-ppp-plan> United Nations special rapporteur for education and a catalogue of African civil society organisations - have slammed the school's modus operandi. The most controversial aspects of Bridge International's methods include a teaching model based on unqualified teachers delivering scripted lessons from tablets and the costs charged to parents, which some argue are too high for many low-income families. From: <http://www.publicfinanceinternational.org/news/2016/11/ugandan-high-court-c onfirms-closure-bridge-international-schools> http://www.publicfinanceinternational.org/news/2016/11/ugandan-high-court-co nfirms-closure-bridge-international-schools __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 14391 (20161104) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/yclsa-eom-forum/001801d236d8%2490d46480%24b27d2d80%24%40com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
