Bridge Academies and Schools are open for the new term with 60 percent of the pupils reporting on the first day, the Country Director Morrison Rwakakamba said Monday, adding that management is yet to receive operating licences from Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES).
In an interview with the media in Kampala, Mr. Rwakamba said all the 63 schools spread across the country are open for the new term as per the recent statement by the education ministry Permanent Secretary Alex Kakooza who said that all schools which had submitted in registration documents would be allowed to open for the new term as the ministry processes their operating licences.
Rwakakamba said that even though there were concerns that the Academies would not be allowed to open for the new term, the fact remained that management had tendered in documents for registration, with some applications sent over a year ago.
On January 29, 2018 Mr. Daniel Nkaada, the Commissioner of Basic Education in the Ministry of Education, wrote a letter to Bridge Schools, expressing uncertainty whether the schools would be allowed to open for the new term, while accusing management of not complying with registration requirements that he failed to specify.
But Rwakamba told journalists that management tendered in files containing registration documents for 45 schools to ministry as well as sending files for registration of 21 schools in local governments. He added that management is awaiting the approval of the files as they teach 14,000 pupils, many of them from poor families who cannot afford an expensive education.
Rwakakamba said Bridge Academies have fulfilled all the requirements-including; recruiting qualified teachers (certified by MoES), but also presenting tenancy agreements, approvals from LC1s, health inspection reports, NEMA approvals, among others and sees no reason why the ministry cannot give them licences.
Rwakamba says has followed the due process of registration and has brushed off rumours that they might have skipped some procedures needed by the MoES.
According to Rwakakamba, Bridge Schools have a good working relationship with government and particularly the MoES, and as such cannot afford to disregard the ministry’s guidelines for registration.
Bridge academies, out of its own initiative, are promoting affordable/low cost education to under privileged communities. About 14,000 pupils are benefiting from this social enterprise model in underprivileged areas where Government has not been able to set up schools. Over 30,000 parents and communities in Uganda send their children to these schools.
In last year’s primary leaving examinations, Bridge Academies had all its candidates pass to join secondary education.
