Bridge International Academies

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Bridge International Academies
TypeFor-profit education[1][2]
GenreLow cost private schools
Founded2009[3]
FounderShannon May, Jay Kimmelman, Phil Frei
HeadquartersNairobi,
Kenya
Area served
India, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda
Websitehttp://www.bridgeinternationalacademies.com/

Bridge International Academies is a Kenyan company which provides for-profit education to children in India, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda.[1][2] It was started in 2008, and calls itself a "social enterprise".[4][5][6]

History[]

Bridge opened a London, UK office.[7]

In 2016, Bridge opened six schools in Andhra Pradesh, India in a partnership with the Government of Andhra Pradesh to use disused school buildings to create Bridge schools.[8]

Bridge won the 2016 Global Shared Value award in Kenya.[9]

Costs for bridge schools net losses and revenues are estimated and are not released by the firm, with losses in 2016 estimated $12m a year and with a total revenue of $16m / year.[10]

In 2017, the number of Bridge academies in Lagos, Nigeria increased. Bridge removed pupils after taking control of schools with large class sizes, and removed 74% of incumbent teachers from their schools.[11]

Structure[]

Bridge is managed through a centralised system in each country, lowering the administrative costs for operating individual schools. Each Bridge school has only one administrative staff member, known as an Academy Manager, headteacher or Principal, who manages the school through a smartphone loaded with a custom-developed application that connects managers to a central cloud-based server.[12]

The rate of teacher absenteeism for Bridge schools is documented at less than 1%, whereas in Kenyan public schools according to World Bank research, absenteeism in the classroom is 47.3%.[13]

Awards[]

Criticism[]

Bridge has received criticism from different sources, including teaching unions and education rights groups. Education groups have pushed back on Bridge as using a model that stifles creativity, innovation, and goes against educational research in developed countries.[22][23] Critics have been accused of putting 'ideology before education'.[24]

After the president of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim praised Bridge Schools in 2015, there was a large push-back from organisations in Kenya and Uganda, disagreeing with his statement. They expressed deep concern over the global financial institution's investment in a chain of private primary schools targeting poor families in Kenya and Uganda and called on the institution to support free universal education instead.[25]

Others have argued that their model, focused on guided instruction, actually enhances creativity similar to the way musicians use sheet music or actors have scripts.[26]

The company has come under criticism from aid agencies and civil rights groups, including ActionAid and Education for All, for being detrimental to the plan of offering a “universal, free and compulsory basic education” to all children.[27] Education International (EI), a global group of teachers’ unions, has criticised Bridge for its for-profit model being “morally wrong.” [28]

Global Justice Now has criticised Bridge by suggesting that “the cost per student at just $6 dollars a month” is misleading. It states that 'the suggestion that $6 is an acceptable amount of money for poor households to pay reveals a profound lack of understanding of the reality of the lives of the poorest”. Global Justice Now calculated that for half their populations, the $6 per month per child it would cost to send [29] three primary school age children to a Bridge Academy, is equal to at least a quarter of their monthly income. Many families already struggle to provide three meals a day to their children. It has also claimed that the real total cost of sending one child to a Bridge school is between $9 and $13 a month, and up to $20 when including school meals.[30]

Funding and investors[]

Bridge has received funding from a number of investors,[31] including:

References[]

  1. ^ a b https://www.right-to-education.org/resource/bridge-vs-reality-study-bridge-international-academies-profit-schooling-kenya
  2. ^ a b https://www.right-to-education.org/sites/right-to-education.org/files/resource-attachments/GI_KNUT_Bridge_V_Reality_Dec_2016_EN.pdf
  3. ^ "History". Archived from the original on 2016-01-18. Archived 18 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Bridge International Academies: Rapidly Scaling Education for Kenya's Poorest Children – Technology and Operations Management". digital.hbs.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  5. ^ "Bridge International Academies". WISE. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  6. ^ "Inclusive business case study" (PDF). International Finance Committee.
  7. ^ a b "Bridge International Academies". www.wise-qatar.org. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  8. ^ "BIA Volunteers to Make Andhra Knowledge Hub". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  9. ^ "Bridge International Academies - 2016 Global Shared Value Award Winner". globalactionplatform.org. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  10. ^ "Bridge International Academies gets high marks for ambition but its business model is still unproven". The Economist. 2017-01-28. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
  11. ^ Romero, Mauricio; Sandefur, Justin; Sandholtz, Wayne Aaron (2020). "Outsourcing Education: Experimental Evidence from Liberia". American Economic Review. 110 (2): 364–400. doi:10.1257/aer.20181478. S2CID 211238897.
  12. ^ "Bridge International Academies: Scripted schooling for $6 a month is". The Independent. 2015-07-28. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  13. ^ "Bridge International Academies gets high marks for ambition but its business model is still unproven". The Economist. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  14. ^ "African Leadership Network: Winners For The 2012 Africa Awards For Entrepreneurship Announced!". The African Leadership and Progress Network. 2013-02-27. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  15. ^ "Ahead of their time: Rebels, leaders and innovators". CNBC. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
  16. ^ "Innovation Awards & Summit 2015 | The Economist Events". events.economist.com. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  17. ^ "Focus on OPIC Impact Award Winner: Bridge International Academies (Development Impact) | OPIC : Overseas Private Investment Corporation". www.opic.gov. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  18. ^ "The World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2015 in Education". Fast Company. 2015-02-09. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  19. ^ McGivney, Jenny Perlman Robinson, Rebecca Winthrop, and Eileen (2016-04-13). "Millions learning: Scaling up quality education in developing countries". Brookings. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  20. ^ "African Business Employer of Choice". African Business.
  21. ^ "ACQ5 Global Awards 2018". ACQ5.
  22. ^ "'Academies-in-a-Box' Are Thriving—But Are They the Best Way to School the World's Poor?". Cal Alumni Association. 2014-04-15. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
  23. ^ Ross, Terrance F. "Is It Ever Okay to Make Teachers Read Scripted Lessons?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
  24. ^ "Why do British charities want to shut down private schools in Africa?". The Spectator. 2018-04-21. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
  25. ^ (PDF) http://globalinitiative-escr.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/May-2015-Join-statement-reaction-to-WB-statement-on-Bridge-14.05.2015.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  26. ^ "What Do a Musician, Actor, and Teacher All Have in Common? Guided Instruction". Education Next. 2018-07-10. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
  27. ^ "Low Cost Private School Firm Bridge International Keen On Liberia Despite Opposition". www.afkinsider.com/. Retrieved 2016-06-02.
  28. ^ "Bridge International Academies gets high marks for ambition but its business model is still unproven". The Economist. 2017-01-28. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2017-02-05.
  29. ^ http://globalinitiative-escr.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/May-2015-Join-statement-reaction-to-WB-statement-on-Bridge-14.05.2015.pdf
  30. ^ "Over 100 organisations slam World Bank support for UK aid-funded private education project". Global Justice Now. 2015-05-14.
  31. ^ "Investors". Bridge International Academies. 2013-01-21. Archived from the original on 2017-09-24. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
  32. ^ "2015 Gates Annual Letter". www.gatesnotes.com. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
  33. ^ "CDC supports expansion of Bridge International Academies with US$6 million investment | CDC Group". www.cdcgroup.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-17. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
  34. ^ "Bridge International Academies | Khosla Ventures". www.khoslaventures.com. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
  35. ^ "Bridge International Academies | NEA | New Enterprise Associates". www.nea.com. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
  36. ^ "Bridge International Academies - Omidyar Network". www.omidyar.com. Archived from the original on 2015-03-25. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
  37. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-08-10. Retrieved 2016-07-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  38. ^ "Bridge International Academies - Pershing Square Foundation". Pershing Square Foundation. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
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