Commercial Schools and the Right to Education
Among different types of private actors involved in education, commercial schools raise specific challenges. The following page is a resource page to reflect on the development of these types of schools through a human rights standards lens.
Bridge International Academies (BIA)
Bridge International Academies Ltd (BIA) is an American based company registered in Delaware under its parent company NewGlobe Schools Inc. The company runs a commercial, private chain of nursery and primary schools. According to the World Bank, in 2022 NewGlobe Schools, Inc. was reaching 750,000 children. Now NewGlobe is reaching more than one million children. It is the largest chain of commercial private primary schools worldwide.
BIA opened its first school in the Mukuru kwa Njenga slum in Kenya in 2009, by 2015 the company had 405 schools across the country. The company expanded further with two schools opening in Nigeria in 2015, its first school launching in India in 2016 and 63 schools operating in Uganda by 2016. In 2016, BIA became one of the major providers in the Liberia Education Advancement Program (LEAP), a public-private partnership implemented with the government of Liberia. NewGlobe is also “the technical partner” for RwandaEQUIP, a Rwandan government initiative, which aims to cover more than 750 schools by 2024. More recently, the Kwara State Government in Nigeria has started to work with NewGlobe. BIA/NewGlobe remains active in Uganda and Kenya. BIA/NewGlobe seeks to grow further with the aim of reaching 10 million students across 12+ countries by 2025.
Key background information
Since 2015, civil society groups have been mobilising to raise awareness on the impact of commercial schools such as Bridge International Academies. For instance, civil society shared its concerns about the World Bank’s investments in the expansion of fee-charging primary schools. A month before the Speech by World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim: Ending Extreme Poverty by 2030: The Final Push, several members from civil society organisations across the world met with senior education officials of the World Bank to specifically discuss the rise of fee-charging, private primary schools, the World Bank’s support to them, in particular, Bridge International Academies (BIA). Multiple reports examining BIA schools and their impact have been launched including:
- September 2016: Schooling the poor profitably: The innovations and deprivations of Bridge International Academies in Uganda
- December 2016: Education International and Kenya National Union of Teachers release new report, ‘Bridge vs. Reality: a study of Bridge International Academies’ for-profit schooling in Kenya’
- 2017: From Free to Fee: Are For-Profit, Fee-Charging Private Schools The Solution For The World’s Poor?
- Please see more reports below under ‘Research and resources on NewGlobe/BIA’.
A number of media reports also commented on commercial schools. Notably, on 27 June 2017 a New York Times Magazine feature titled ‘Can a Tech Start-Up Successfully Educate Children in the Developing World?’ discussed BIA.
In 2018, civil society groups published an open letter to investors in BIA, outlining concerns and urging them to cease support. Since then, additional concerns and scandals have been highlighted in the media, including the reported electrocution death of a child in a BIA school in Kenya, major teacher pay cuts in Liberia and Kenya during COVID-19, and charges of fraud and theft brought against a former Bridge director in a previous role.
In 2020, the IFC committed to freeze investments in for-profit K-12 schools.
Similar policy shifts have included the Global Partnership for Education’s decision in its 2019 Private Sector Strategy to prohibit funding to for-profit provision of core education services, and a 2018 resolution by the European Parliament declared the European Union and its Member States must not use development aid money to fund commercial private schools.
In March 2022, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) divested from BIA. The IFC invested a total of $13.5 million in BIA since 2014, with the intention of supporting the company’s expansion to other countries. In June 2022, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) decided to extend the 2020 freeze indefinitely when it announced that it will not resume its investments in K-12 private schools, following the release of an independent evaluation by the World Bank Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) on the IFC’s investments in this area.
Summary of CAO cases on IFC’s investment in BIA
- BIA-01/Kenya case: In April 2018, 10 parents and former and current teachers at BIA submitted a complaint highlighting BIA’s negative impacts, especially on the right to education, health and safety, and on labour rights. In its Appraisal Report published in October 2019, the CAO announced its decision to carry out a full compliance investigation into the adequacy of the IFC’s due diligence and supervision of its client. The compliance investigation is ongoing.
- BIA-02/Kenya and BIA 03/Kenya cases: In June 2020, the CAO confirmed acceptance of two new cases on BIA, filed by the parents of two children who were electrocuted while in a BIA school in Nairobi, Kenya. The electrocution caused the death of one child and injuries to the other. The Complainants and the Company agreed to engage in dispute resolution to try to arrive at a mediated settlement. BIA 2 has been closed and the dispute resolution process is still ongoing for BIA 03.
- BIA-04/Kenya case: In the course of the BIA-01/Kenya investigation, CAO staff and experts travelled to Nairobi in February 2020. The investigation team spoke to community members who raised concerns regarding instances of child sexual abuse at Bridge schools. In December 2020, the CAO concluded in its appraisal report that there are “substantial concerns regarding the child safeguarding and protection outcomes of IFC’s investment in Bridge considering: (a) specific allegations of child sexual abuse involving Bridge staff and students; (b) the child safeguarding and protection risks of the schools in light of their number, their student body (coming from low-income families), and the young age of students.” The Compliance Investigation Report has been published as well as the IFC’s Management Action Plan. The report makes clear that IFC’s failures in due diligence and supervision resulted in irrevocable harm to students including “acute and long-term damage to [survivors’] physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development, in addition to economic disadvantage due to lost productivity, disability, and reduced quality of life”.
PEHRC advocacy letters
- October 20th 2023: Joint statement in Response to Reports of a Child Sexual Abuse Cover Up at the World Bank
- September 29th 2023: UK’s development finance ‘harming society and the environment’: civil society organisations respond to critical report by UK Parliamentary International Development Committee
- September 13th 2022: Civil society organisations highlight limitations of new study on Bridge International Academies’ education model, and urge caution in interpreting findings
- June 14th 2022: Statement: Civil society groups applaud IFC’s decision to stop investing in fee-charging private schools, call on other investors to follow its lead
- March 16th 2022: Statement: Civil society groups celebrate IFC’s divestment from profit-driven school chain Bridge International Academies
- April 10th 2022: Statement: Endorsement of the International Finance Corporation Decision to Move Away from For-Profit Education Investments
- October 1st 2019: Over 170 organisations urged the World Bank to ensure that development aid for education is used to support the public provision of free, quality education.
- March 1st 2018: Open Letter: Calling attention of investors to concerning evidence regarding Bridge International Academies Joint letter by 88 Organisations
- February 7th 2018: Statement: Bridge International Academies must respect the right to education and comply with Ugandan Government order to close its schools
- August 1st 2017: Open Letter: Call on investors to cease support to Bridge International Academies. Letter here.
- November 10th 2016: Statement: Uganda judgement on the closure of Bridge International Academies must signal a move toward fulfilling the right to education
- May 14th 2015: Statement: Response to World Bank President Jim Kim’s speech “Ending Extreme Poverty by 2030: The Final Push” Statement signed by 120 organisations.
Research and resources on NewGlobe/BIA:
- 2023: A is for abuse: the saga of for-profit schooling in Africa
- September 2023: Report by the International Development Committee (IDC) of the UK House of Commons, entitled ‘Investment for development – The UK’s Strategy towards Development Finance Initiatives,’ raises major concerns about the UK’s investments, including to BIA, as part of development aid
- 2022: Transparency of Private Commercial Education Providers: A Case Study of Bridge International Academies
- 2019: What do we really know about Bridge International Academies? A summary of research findings
- 2017-2020: Articles by Education International
- April 2018: Blog post: Evidence before marketing – recalling the known, independently verified factors about Bridge International Academies
- February 2018: Brief on 10 key findings on BIA from three articles from the New York Times, Africa is a Country and Quartz (updated)
- November 2017: New UK Parliament report finds Bridge’s model problematic and raises questions about UK’s funding
- November 2017: Report by the UK International Development Committee, DFID’s work on education: Leaving no one behind?
- October 2017: ActionAid, Whose Children go to Bridge International Schools? A School of Choice for the Middle Class in Ijegun, Lagos
- March 2017: Results Education Fund release report ‘From fee to free: Are for-profit, fee-charging private schools the solution for the world’s poor?’
- March 2017: EACHRights release report ‘Low Cost Private Schools: School Choice for the poor at the expense of Quality?’
- February 2017: Devex, Education experts square off on the public versus private school debate in Africa
- December 2016: GI-ESCR, EACHRights and ISER-Uganda statement, ‘What do the new data on Bridge International Academies tell us about their impact on human rights? A five-point analysis.’
- December 2016: Education International and Kenya National Union of Teachers release new report, ‘Bridge vs. Reality: a study of Bridge International Academies’ for-profit schooling in Kenya’. More information here.
- November 2016: Summary of human rights treaty bodies statements related to BIA
- October 2016: Interview with Angelo Gavrielatos, Project Director at Education International and Tanvir Muntasmin, International Policy Manger at ActionAid on BIA’s business model
- October 2016: Video from Education International
- September 2016: Education International release new report, ‘Schooling the poor profitably: The innovations and deprivations of Bridge International Academies in Uganda’
- June 2016: Review of BIA’s report on its academic results
- June 2016: Independent investigation into BIA’s operations
- 2015: “Just” $6 a month?: The World Bank will not end poverty by promoting fee-charging, for-profit schools in Kenya and Uganda
Country-specific information
BIA in Kenya
- 16 April 2018: Kenyan citizens, parents and teachers file complaint against the World Bank for it funding to Bridge International Academics
- 23 February 2018: Kenyan court prevents attempts by Bridge International Academies to muzzle critics
- 13 November 2017: African Commission raises concerns about lack of regulation of Bridge International Academies
- 19 July 2017: Leaked letter from Ministry of Education finds Bridge in breach of education standards
- 17 February 2017: Kenyan court upholds closure of Bridge International Academies in Busia county
- 2016: Education International and Kenya National Union of Teachers report, ‘Bridge vs. Reality: a study of Bridge International Academies’ for-profit schooling in Kenya’: More information here.
BIA in Uganda
- April 2020: Status of Bridge Academies in Uganda.
- 16 March 2018: High Court of Uganda denies Bridge International Academies’ application to suspend Ministry order to close unlicensed schools
- 7 February 2018: Press release – Bridge International Academies must respect the right to education and comply with Ugandan Government order to close its schools
- 10 November 2016: Press release – Uganda judgement on the closure of Bridge International Academies must signal a move towards fulfilling the right to education in Uganda and other countries
- 9 November 2016: Statement from the Ministry of Education and Sports on the closure of BIA
- 4 November 2016:High Court orders closure of BIA in Uganda
- 4 November 2016: High Court ruling upholding the Minister of Education’s order to close BIA schools in Uganda
- September 2016: Education International report, ‘Schooling the poor profitably: The innovations and deprivations of Bridge International Academies in Uganda’
- 12 August 2016: Press release – Uganda to close the largest chain of commercial private schools over non-respect of basic education standards
- 9 August 2016: Transcript of the Ministry of Education’s statement on the operations of the Uganda Bridge International Academies before the Ugandan Parliament
- August 2016: Audio of the Ministry of Education’s statement on the operations of the Uganda Bridge International Academies before the Ugandan ParliamentInterim Order on closure of BIA in Uganda
- 2016-2017: Media coverage on the closure of Bridge International Academies in Uganda