Bridge International schools: Will pupils cross river of illiteracy

Confusion reigns high over the operational status of the Bridge International Academies (BIA) which have been on a collision course with the government. The Ministry of Education secured a court order allowing the government to close the schools.

The schools leadership counter-applied to court and secured an interim injunction staying the closure of the schools until next month. This means that government would not go ahead to close the schools until the lapse of the period of the injunction.

“This is to bring to your attention that all our schools in Uganda remain open. This follows a successful petition filed at the High court in Uganda granting us a stay of execution order on the 14th of November. The order holds until the 8th of December, allowing our schools to be legally open until the end of the term,” a press statement from Bridge Academies reads in part.

“The ruling means that the interests of the 12,000 pupils and thousands of households that rely and depend on Bridge are taken care of until the said date. Normal operations at the 63 academies will remain open with those set to sit for their final examinations assured of doing so…” the statement further reads.

When this reporter visited Nabaziza Campus in Kyengera, Wakiso district, baby voices in the nursery section could be heard in a chorus reciting words after their teacher.

The children are learning how to draw a sheep. The teacher reads from her i-Pad, and then draws on the blackboard.

She moves around the packed classroom checking the children’s writing slates. In the building next door, the Primary 5 class is in the middle of a mathematics lesson – taught from an iPad.

As part of the BIA philosophy, a team of 100 resource material developers in the U.S draws lessons taught by Direct Instruction. They formulate word-for-word, minute-by-minute scripted lesson plans to be taught in the classrooms.

In her statement to Parliament on August 9, 2016, the Minister of Education and Sports Ms Janet Museveni indicated that these materials (iPad lesson plans) cannot promote teacher-pupil interaction.

A ministry report showed the schools had poor hygiene and sanitation which put life and safety of the children in danger.

However, Daily Monitor’s visit to Nabaziza Campus a witness a different scenario. The campus has a seven- stance latrine (seven-door latrine) for both girls and boys, which is more than can the two-stance latrine for both male and female pupils in most government-aided Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools.

The woes of BIA began when Workers MP Margaret Rwabushaija raised a red flag over the Academies’ lack of operating licences, inappropriate structures and curriculum.

This prompted the ministry to investigate the schools, a process which culminated in the November 4, 2016 High Court decision to close them.

Nabaziza campus has 240 pupils. Jane Balyama, the manager and headmistress, says classes are ongoing because parents love the school.

“They do not care about those rumours (court ruling). We have parents who have paid school fees and we cannot stop teaching even if court makes a decision. We were recommended for licensing by the district officials.”

Before managing the campus, Balyama, a child counsellor, taught nursery school for 20 years. Her sentiments are echoed by Lydia Nantume, a parent of two pupils at the school.

“This school helps low-income parents. Closing it will be an injustice because our children have access to a first-class education,” she says.

BIA prides itself in offering quality education at a subsidized cost. At Nabaziza, nursery pupils pay Shs83,500 per term, Primary One to Primary 3 children pay Shs95,400, and Upper Primary pupils are charged Shs105,300 per term. Parents are also allowed to pay the fees in instalments.

Philosophy and legal regime
According to Andrew White, BIA country director, the schools opened in Uganda in February 2015 with seven schools in the eastern region. In 2016 alone, they have built 56 operational schools with over 12,000 pupils.

“BIA was started in Kenya by a married couple who felt that for any country to develop, it needs a strong education foundation for children who can read and write. They created a model which uses technology, data, and economies of scale to provide high quality affordable education to people who cannot afford it,” he said.

In January 2016, teachers unions in Kenya joined civil society groups to demand the closure of BIA in Kenya for alleged breach of quality standards of basic education.

The schools are still operating though. In Uganda, according to the ministry, only the school in Kumi Municipal Council is licensed to operate; the other 62 are operating illegally.

Despite Uganda’s government education system being largely in shambles, the ministry insists BIA are not offering the quality of education the pupils are receiving in government-run schools.

Patrick Muyinda, assistant commissioner for Communications and Information Management, says the ministry is tasking the Academies on compliance issues.

“We do not know what curriculum they are using. They have chosen not to bring it to the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) for approval, so we cannot license the schools. They have not given us lists of their teachers. How can unqualified teachers teach an unapproved curriculum?” he asked.

However, John Aluba, an academics representative of BIA, showed Daily Monitor letters inviting NCDC to review their curriculum. “When we submit applications for licensing for our schools – which are approved by district authorities – the ministry sends them back.”

However Muyinda insists that when BIA first submitted documents for licensing in 2015, a Basic Education Working Group guided them.

“They agreed to comply but within a short time, we were shocked to learn they had built 53 additional schools. We appreciate they are fronting quality education, but they must comply with the law and reveal their curriculum.”

Curriculum and learning aids
Aluba says at the beginning of 2015, Bridge schools purchased copies of the Primary School Curriculum from NCDC and these have guided their teaching since their pupils will sit Primary Leaving Examinations. He insists that the resource team in the U.S works with a Ugandan team to ensure the curriculum is followed.

Before parliament in August, Latif Ssebagala (MP Kawempe North) said, “It is these international schools that end up teaching bad habits to children like homosexuality.”

But White dismisses the claims. “We have heard people saying we teach homosexuality but they should produce evidence. We employ 800 teachers; do you think they would remain silent if we were teaching something against Ugandan culture and religion?”

Recently, at a graduation ceremony, the Minister of Finance, Mr Matia Kasaija said government closed the schools because they suspected they were teaching pornography and content related to lesbianism and homosexuality.

Detractors are also uncomfortable with BIA’s teaching methods using Tablets. “Our lessons plans come on the iPads but the teachers review them before the actual lesson,” Balyama says, adding, “This technology also helps us evaluate the teacher.”

This reporter was given access to teacher’s hardcopy lesson plans and pupils’ textbooks. “We are addressing knowledge gaps and annually, we offer each school 4,500 textbooks,” Aluba says, adding, “Teacher absenteeism is addressed by them clocking in every morning. From headquarters, we establish how much they have taught on a given day.”

Teacher recruitment
BIA is accused of hiring unqualified teachers. However, the same can be said of UPE schools, which are government-run. At the beginning of the year, 4,406 teachers who sat the 2015 Primary Teachers’ College (PTC) exams failed mathematics and English language. UNEB admitted, after a nationwide assessment, that 80 per cent of primary school teachers can neither read nor solve basic primary-level mathematics questions.

“Last year we moved around PTCs recruiting graduating teachers, and when we put them through a simple exam, they failed,” White continues: “PTCs are not producing teachers who can excel at teaching. We are not the only ones hiring untrained teachers. However, a good number of our teachers are qualified, and we have a training site in Mukono where they take a mandatory three-week residential training programme. Our field inspectors also retrain them.”

What next for the students
In her statement, Ms Janet Museveni advised the chief administrative officers and town clerks of districts hosting BIAs to support parents to transfer their children to neighbouring government UPE schools.

On November 7, 2016, BIA pupils went to Parliament protesting the High Court ruling for closure of the schools– a move many condemned. “We have raised compliance concerns, why are they retaliating with emotional issues?” Muyinda continued, “Children are innocent parties. What example are they setting for the children when they defy court rulings?”

BIA denies organizing the children protest, saying it was a parents’ initiative. The BIA administration has appealed the court ruling for closure of the schools and applied for stay of the execution of the court order until their appeal is disposed of in the appellate court. But Muyinda insists: “The court ruling was clear. We have closed them, but if some are operating, the law will take its course.”

According to White, Bridge has invested over Shs10bn in the economy and remits close to Shs50m in taxes to government monthly.

“We are a for-profit social enterprise. Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerburg are not throwing money at us; they are investing in a sustainable company. This current situation is making our investors skeptical about investing in Uganda. Some are investing in Africa for the first time.”

Uganda Investment Authority also weighed in, advising the ministry against closing the schools. White says Bridge plans to invest Shs87bn in the next two years.

Its investors include DFID, IFC, CDC Group, OPIC, Omidyar Network, Learn Capital, Khosla Ventures, NOVASTAR Ventures, NEA, and Pershing Square Foundation, among others.

The Uganda government has taken issue with the BIA structures, which are made of brick, chain-link wire and iron sheets.

White says if they invest in posh buildings, it will increase the costs and therefore the school fees. Instead, they are investing in high quality teachers to accomplish their mission.

In Africa, BIA is operational in Liberia, Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda. In Liberia, they partnered with the government – after it studied the Ugandan model – to run Partnership Schools, although they have had problems with teachers unions there as well.

Court ruling
Inadequacies. On November 4, High Court judge Patricia Basaza Wasswa, dismissed the BIA application blocking the ministry directive that they be closed. She noted that Bridge schools were operating in contravention of the law.

She ruled that the ministry permanent secretary “made all the necessary efforts to engage the applicant to remedy the inadequacies in its operation but the applicant did not take action.”

Mandate: She also ruled that the permanent secretary has “both the mandate to promote quality control of education and training and the power to close institutions that do not comply with the set basic requirements and minimum standard and the law.”

Arguments: BIA lawyer, Matsiko Godwin Muhwezi, argued that the closure directive was based on allegations that the schools were in a poor state even when the ministry officials and district inspectors had found that the academies meet minimum licensing requirements.

He also submitted that the ministry ordered closure of all schools including those which had not been inspected.

However, permanent secretary, Dr Rose Nassali Lukwago, in an affidavit told court BIA representatives attended a January 29, 2016 meeting convened by Basic Education Working Group which agreed that expansion be halted until assessment of licensing is done.

Bridge officials disregarded the advice and expanded to 63 schools.

Concerns: She said the ministry had interacted with BIA officials and raised concerns over legality, quality of infrastructure and teachers, and curriculum but the latter did not respond.
Compiled by BLANSHE MUSINGUZI

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