Bridge International Academies

Bridge International Academies claims to be the world’s largest chain of primary and pre-primary schools delivering low-cost private schooling across Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda.

'School-in-a-box'

The key to BIA’s rapid growth is the standardisation of its operating model; the company has developed an 'academy-in-a-box' model, which is reliant on the use of technology in both the running of the school and teaching: a single manager runs the school with all back office processes automated via a smartphone application; teaching is delivered via a scripted curriculum with everything from the delivery of lessons, to testing and pupil attendance tracked by headquarters via the use of teacher tablets.Teachers (all high school graduates) are provided with five weeks training before entering classrooms.

Consequently, as many have noted: 'Bridge Academies work with teachers who are not subject to the same standards of training as government school teachers.'

Funders

BIA was founded in 2009 with a $1.8 million investment from the Omidyar Network (founded by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar). It receives further funding and support from:

• the UK's Department for International Development (DFID)
• International Finance Corporation of the World Bank
• Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC; US government investment)
• Bill Gates
• Mark Zuckerberg
• Novastar Ventures
• Khosla ventures; and
• Pearson, which invested in Bridge via the Learn Capital fund.

Expansion

Bridge Academies aims to educate 10 million children across a dozen countries by 2025.

It currently operates schools in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda, and plans to expand into Andhra Pradesh in India in 2016.

Expanding into Liberia?

In January 2016, Liberia's new education minister, George Werner, announced that the country's pre-primary and primary schools will move over to be run by ‘public-private’ partnerships in a $65 million five year deal.

It is not yet certain who those private partners will be. However, a report in early 2016 suggests that Bridge Academies is involved. It was reported that the minister 'has started negotiations for Bridge to come to Liberia and manage the primary education sector on a private-public partnership program'. Bridge officials were reportedly in Liberia to arrange for a pilot project of the first 50 schools.

Criticism

Privatisation of schooling

Many in education and international development have criticised the model of low-cost private schooling of the type offered by Bridge. They argue that while it is understandable that parents want to send their children to private schools, often for lack of alternatives, it is poor public policy to promote them. Education privatisation increases inequality, provides no learning gains, and de-professionalises teachers. As Kishore Singh, the UN special rapporteur on the right to education writes:

'The cost of privatising education lies not just with school fees but also with the damage done to the public good. Fees, however small, hit the poorest and most vulnerable hardest. Sometimes, this means the oldest son receives an education while daughters stay at home. Inequalities in society grow when the poorest are excluded... The international development agenda must aim to eliminate private schools, not champion them.'

Teaching unions and a number of civil society organisations, such as Transparency International and Action Aid, have asked the government to crack down on schools commercialising education rather than bringing in quality to the sector.

Technology over teachers

Bridge has been criticised for its teaching methods, which favour technology over qualified teachers.

According to a report in January 2016: 'Bridge continues to get criticisms from the Governments of Kenya and Uganda, for its method of using Android mobile phones to teach students where most of the teachers used only use what is placed on the phone... The method is seen in the two countries as discouraging the employment of qualified teachers who will interact with the students while teaching instead of using fixed materials downloaded on a mobile phone'.

Misleading claims

President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, praised Bridge in a recent speech for using new technology to help transform educational outcomes: 'Bridge International Academies uses software and tablets in schools that teach over 100,000 students in Kenya and Uganda. After about two years, students’ average scores for reading and math have risen high above their public school peers. The cost per student at Bridge Academies is just $6 dollars a month.'

However, as a group of 100 civil society organisations pointed out in protest: Bridge provides technology only for teachers (as a way of reducing the need for qualified teachers and costs); the test scores cited were from a study financed by the company itself; and finally fees vary by grade, and the $6 mentioned in the speech is the lowest fee charged (Bridge also charges for exams, uniforms, and other expenses). In reality, costs per child range from $9 to $13 a month (plus an additional $7 per month per child for food).

Contacts

Website: www.bridgeinternationalacademies.com