Uganda Will Close For-Profit Schools Pushed by Gates, Zuckerberg, US, UK, and World Bank
In a statement to the Ugandan parliament last week, Hon. Janet Museveni, Ugandan Minister for Education and Sports, explained that the ministry will close 63 private primary and nursery schools at the end of the term due to problems with licensing, safety and sanitation. The schools are operated by one of the world’s largest private, for-profit education companies.
As this blog reported in April, Bridge International Academies is funded by the World Bank; American venture capitalists, New Enterprise Associates and Lean Capital; and philanthropists including the Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Pierre Omidyar. Bridge is associated with the publishing and testing giant, Pearson. It has also been supported by the United Kingdom Department for International Development. Justine Greening, a Conservative Party member of the British Parliament who headed up the Department for International Development before being appointed earlier this year as British Secretary of State for Education, has been influential in promoting Bridge Academies.
According to its website, Bridge International Academies has expanded rapidly in Africa. It opened its first school in Nairobi, Kenya in 2010 and operated 130 schools in Kenya by 2013. In 2014 it prepared to expand into Uganda and Nigeria—operating seven academies in Uganda by February, 2015. Bridge currently operates 63 schools in Uganda. Now it is expanding into Liberia and India.
The Global Campaign for Education and a number of international education and human rights organizations released a statement at the end of last week supporting Ms. Museveni’s decision to close all Bridge International Academies in Uganda. Respecting Ms. Museveni’s decision to close the schools based on immediate problems with licensing and hygiene, these international advocates for public education as a human right examine much deeper problems in the schools: “Bridge International Academies is a for-profit commercial chain of low-cost private schools backed by investors such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) and Pierre Omidyar (eBay), as well as the World Bank, and the U.S. and British Governments. It aims at providing education to 10 million pupils by 2025 and already runs over 450 schools in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, and soon Liberia and India. The company has been particularly Uganda Will Close For-Profit Schools Pushed by Gates, Zuckerberg, US, UK, and World Bank | janresseger:
Saying kids were endangered, Uganda is closing schools backed by U.S., World Bank, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg - The Washington Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/08/17/saying-kids-were-endangered-uganda-is-closing-schools-backed-by-u-s-world-bank-bill-gates-and-mark-zuckerberg/
