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Kenya teachers call for closure of BIAs

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The Kenya National Teachers Union (KNUT) has once again called for the closure of the over 400 Bridge International Academies (BIAs) in the country.

In January this year  KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion said the schools, numbering about 405, flout education standards in the country and should be closed, a demand that has now been revived. According to KNUT, among other irregularities, the teachers in BIA schools reportedly undergo only three months of training before they start teaching.

However, in May this year, the Managing Director of BIAs in East Africa Mr Andrew Okwara reiterated the BIAs cooperation with Kenya’s Ministry of Education, dismissing plans of any impending closure of the schools that reportedly provide low-cost education to children from less privileged backgrounds.

“For the last eight years Bridge has worked in close partnership with the Ministry of Education in Kenya to see that every child, regardless of the location of their birth or income of their parents, has access to a high-quality education,” says Mr Okwara, said.

BIA BACKER: Billionaire philanthropist Henry Bill Gates III
BIA BACKER: Billionaire philanthropist Henry Bill Gates III
Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg also support the BIAs.
Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg also support the BIAs.

Founded in 2008, the BIAs, backed by billionaires Bill Gates of Microsoft and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, have come under fire in the East African region for allegedly operating in contravention of the educational standards of the respective countries.

In Uganda, last week, Justice Patricia Wasswa Basaza of the High Court ordered for the closure of 63 BIAs in the country.

ORDERED BIAs CLOSURE: Education Minister Janet Museveni
ORDERED BIAs CLOSURE: Education Minister Janet Museveni

The order was in respect to an appeal filed by the BIA following a directive by the education minister Janet Museveni, to have the schools closed for ‘poor sanitation’, having unqualified teachers and improper licensing.

The BIAs provide subsidized education, with pupils paying about US$28 (UgShs 65,000) per term.

According to Bridge International Academies, it is the 21st largest employer in Uganda, ‘with close to 800 Ugandan individuals employed and has already invested UgShs10 billion in the Ugandan economy, with plans to invest another UgShs25 billion in the coming years’.

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