Bridge International Schools faces closure over poor education standards
Mr Andrew White (Left), the expansion director of Bridge International Academies, addresses journalists in Kampala recently. He is flanked by Mr Michael Kaddu, the corporate affairs manager of the academies. PHOTO BY ALEX ESAGALA
KAMPALA- The future of Bridge International Schools-Uganda is at stake after government said it will close its academies over non-adherence to education standards.
According to the Ministry of Education findings, most of the campuses are not registered, have poor sanitation and lack trained teachers.
“We found out that most of the allegations against the school were true and deserved attention. The school started in 2014 and was located at 53 sites, but with only one licensed. Its legal status was not established and it never went through the procedure of registering international schools,” Education minister Janet Museveni told Parliament on Tuesday.
She added that the institution’s closure will take effect at the next school term.
The schools head of corporate affairs, Mr Michael Kaddu, at a press conference at their offices in Kamwokya, Kampala, yesterday said the registration process of the campuses was ongoing.
“We have been working with the districts and the basic education department of the ministry. The ministry is assisting us to align this to their current set up of departments of the registration of private schools,” he said.
On the issue of untrained teachers, Mr Kaddu said they had started addressing the problem, adding that the percentage of certified and trained teachers had increased.
Commenting on sanitation he said: “We are consulting our architects to improve the models as per the recommendations from the inspection reports we have received.”
Mr Kaddu also said the school started operations in Uganda in 2015 and has 63 academies in the country, contrary to what Ms Museveni had said.
He also clarified that the curriculum taught at the academies was Ugandan, but international on the basis that they have academies in other countries.
He said they had applied to the National Curriculum Development Centre to review their curriculum.
Mr Andrew White, the academies’ director of expansion, said they would expedite the process of having their campuses licensed.
“We hope to have submitted all our documents to the licensing office by the end of this term. We are excited to work with the ministry to find a resolution and continue with operations,” Mr White said.
