Uganda High Court bans Gates-backed schools

Uganda’s High Court on Friday ordered the closure of a chain of low-cost private schools backed by Microsoft and Facebook founders Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.

Judge Patricia Basaza Wasswa ruled the 63 Bridge International Academies provided unsanitary learning conditions, used unqualified teachers and were not properly licensed.

The ruling is a blow to Bridge International which has expanded rapidly since its inception in 2008 offering cheap, standardised, technology-driven education in developing countries in Africa and Asia.

Under the Bridge International model teachers read scripted lessons word-for-word from a tablet computer that also records student attendance and assessments. Gates’ and Zuckerberg’s foundations are among the company’s high-profile backers.

But Bridge International has courted controversy with Liberian teachers threatening to strike earlier this year over government plans to outsource all primary education to the private US-owned company.

In Uganda, government inspectors said children were being taught in sub-standard facilities and unsanitary conditions.

But James Black, a parent who chose Bridge International for his six children, said he appreciated the low fees of around $28 per term, or a third of what he used to pay, and disagreed with the decision.

“The government says that the facilities are not clean but when I visit the school I look at the kitchen and latrines and they are fine,” he said.

“Bridge schools are mushrooming and many of the officials in the Ministry own private schools and I think that they are scared that they will lose pupils and their fees.”

Bridge International, which claims to have 12,000 students in Uganda, said it would challenge the High Court ruling. “We are extremely disappointed for our pupils and disagree with this ruling,” said liaison officer Godwin Matsiko.

“We plan to appeal, on behalf of the more than 20,000 Ugandans who have decided to send their children to our schools.”

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |