Open Letter: Calling attention of investors to concerning evidence regarding Bridge International Academies
March 1, 2018
Logos of some of the signatory organisations.
To: All current and prospective investors in Bridge International Academies
Subject: Public letter of concern to current or prospective investors in Bridge International Academies
Dear Investor or Donor Agency,
We, the undersigned group of 88 organisations, write to share with you the large body of independent evidence that raises serious concerns about the corporate practices and impact of Bridge International Academies (BIA), a commercial school company in which you are currently vested, or in which you may be considering investment.
We understand that investors in BIA, both public institutions and private organisations and individuals, have contributed financially to this company because of their desire to support and explore a new model to expand access to education in Africa and other regions. We appreciate this intention to make a contribution to improving education in developing countries, which is an urgent priority that we share.
However, a robust and growing body of independent evidence raises serious concerns about BIA’s corporate practices and the impact of their operations, and demonstrates that the company is neither contributing to positive disruption nor to meeting the global education goals. These concerns were documented in a statement signed by 174 civil society organisations from 50 countries in August, annexed for your reference. In particular, we would like to call your attention to a series of concerning practices and associated legal and reputational risks for investors, including lack of transparency, poor labour conditions, and non-respect of the rule of law in host countries. The annexed statement demonstrates, inter alia, BIA’s:
Failure to comply with requests from the Ugandan Ministry of Education to meet its legal and educational standards, resulting in a decision of the High Court of Uganda to uphold the Ministry’s order to close all 63 BIA schools in Uganda. Following 18 months of dialogue with the company, the Government of Uganda confirmed in a statement made public on 6th February 2018 that it had decided earlier in the year not to allow BIA to open for the academic year 2018 for failing to meet standards regarding the “safety and security of pupils”, to meet the requirements for licensing, and to submit full documentation for licensing;
Failure to comply with the Kenyan Ministry of Education’s requests to register schools, use of unapproved curriculum, failure to meet standards for teacher certification, and other violations leading to a court-ordered closure of Bridge schools in Busia County, in Western Kenya, and numerous other court cases;
Complicity in the arrest and detention without evidence of an independent researcher from the University of Alberta, Canada in Uganda;
Legal action against the Kenya National Union of Teachers resulting in a gag order preventing the union from publicly mentioning BIA while awaiting trial. The legal action was for allegations of defamation, after the union published a study raising legitimate concerns about BIA. The application for interim injunction was eventually dismissed on 20th February;
Poor labour conditions, in particular for teachers, who are paid below the living wage (around 100 USD a month) for 60 or more hours of work per week; imposition of contractual obligations such as long-term non-compete clauses.
No improved learning outcomes could justify these practices. But evidence suggests that BIA schools are not providing a decent quality education. Recent reports have questioned BIA's claims about improved examination results. The New York Times reported for instance that in preparation for the Kenya national exams, teachers said BIA asked some students to repeat a year, while “the rest were taken to a residential cram school and prepped for the test by teachers who flew in from the United States”. Other tactics, such as direct or indirect selection, could also impact the results. The recent independent evaluation of a pilot public-private partnership school program in Liberia, which includes Bridge Academies, indicates that BIA spent more than 13 times the Government spending per student and turned away children from schools to reduce pupil-teacher ratios, to reach artificially improved learning outcomes, though still only reaching low outcomes in absolute.
Evidence further suggests that the poorest and most marginalised children are not able to access Bridge schools at all because of the high cost relative to family income, which has been calculated to be in reality significantly higher than what BIA claims. This means that Bridge does not deliver on its promise to reach families living on less than 2 USD a day, fails on its ambition to deliver cost-effective education, and threatens to deepen economic and social inequality and segregation. We question such a model which seeks to extract profit from the aspirations of poor parents, who sacrifice other basic needs to pay fees for an education of uncertain quality.
Recent statements from several UN and regional human rights bodies – including a report published in November by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights directly addressing concerns about BIA – have raised strong concerns about the unregulated expansion of school models such as Bridge International Academies, confirming the above analysis. In April, and again in November, the UK Parliament’s International Development Committee expressed specific concerns about BIA regarding the quality of education, relationship with governments, lack of compliance with government regulations, and high cost of fees.
In light of this significant body of evidence, the undersigned organisations strongly recommend that you exit in the shortest possible time from your investment in Bridge. We call on you to fully discharge your legal due diligence obligations and responsibilities by making no further financing commitments to Bridge schools, and by using any suspension or termination rights to withhold any planned disbursements and withdraw existing investments in Bridge International Academies where contractually possible.
Seven months after the annexed statement was published, we would welcome the opportunity to have a meeting with you at your earliest convenience in order to discuss this matter, and present the evidence from various independent sources, including journalists, governments, former BIA staff, independent experts, and civil society.
Sincerely yours,
Appendix. You will find the statement of evidence here: http://bit.ly/biainvestors.
Signatory organisations:
1. ActionAid International International
2. ActionAid Liberia Liberia
3. Aide et Action France
4. All for Education!' National Civil Society Coalition Mongolia
5. Alliance of Government Workers in the Water Sector Philippines
6. American Federation of Teachers
United States of
America
7. Africa Network Campaign on Education For All (ANCEFA) International
8. Antarctic
Democratic Republic
of the Congo
9. Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education
(ASPBAE) International
10. Asociación Latinoamericana de Educación y Comunicación
Popular International
11. Association Camerounaise pour la Défense des Droits de
l'Homme des Libertés et du Bien être (ACADEHLIB) International
12. Association Française Pour un Enseignement Ambitieux et
Humaniste (AFPEAH) France
13. Brazilian Campaign for the Right to Education Brazil
14. Bretton Woods Project International
15. Cameroon Education For All Network Cameroun
16. Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) Bangladesh
17. Campaña Argentina por el Derecho a la Educación (CADE)
18. Campaña Latinoamericana por el Derecho a la Educación (CLADE) International
19. Campaña Peruana por el Derecho a la Educación Peru
20. Center of African Studies of the University of Porto International
21. CEPO/KASAI CENTRAL Democratic Republic of the Congo
22. CEPO-ONG Democratic Republic of the Congo
23. Child Rights International Network (CRIN) International
24. Cipe Consultores Honduras
25. Civil society Action Coaltion on Education for All (CSACEFA) Nigeria
26. Coalicion Colombiana por el Derecho a la Educacion Colombia
27. Coalition des Organisations Mauritaniennes pour L'éducation (COMEDUC) Mauritania
28. Coalition Éducation France
29. Coalition for Transparency and Accountability in Education (COTAE) Liberia
30. Construisons Ensemble le Monde Democratic Republic of the Congo
31. Corner House United Kingdom
32. CSC-Enseignement Belgium
33. DCI-Tunisia Tunisia
34. Defence for Children international - Ghana Ghana
35. Défense des Enfants International - Belgique Belgium
36. Economic & Social Rights Centre-Hakijamii Kenya
37. Equal Education South Africa
38. Equal Education Law Centre South Africa
39. FECASE Cameroun
40. Fédération Générale de L'enseignement de Base (FGEB) Tunisia
41. FERGET ASBL Democratic Republic of the Congo
42. Ficemea International
43. Foundation For Environmental Rights, Advocacy & Development (FENRAD-NIGERIA) Nigeria
44. FP CGIL Italy
45. Fundación Manatí para el Fomento de la Ciudadanía A.C. Mexico
46. Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition Ghana
47. Global Campaign for Education International
48. Global Campaign for Education-US United States
49. Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) International
50. Global Justice Now United Kingdom
51. Global Peace and Development Organization Liberia
52. Human Dignity International
53. Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER) Uganda
54. Jeunes et Femmes pour les Droits De l'Homme et la Paix (J.F.D.HO.P) International
55. Jeunesse et Emplois Verts pour une Economie Verte (ONG JEVEV) Benin
56. Labour, Health and Human Rights Development Centre International
57. Les Anges du Ciel Democratic Republic of the Congo
58. Mouvement Anfass Démocratique Morocco
59. National Campaign For Education Nepal Nepal
60. National Coalition for Education (NCE) India
61. National Network for Education Reform (NNER) Myanmar
62. Natural Resources Alliance of Kenya (KeNRA) Kenya
63. Network for Public Education United States
64. Northern Territories Federation of Labour Canada
65. OBESSU - Organising Bureau of European Schools Student Unions International
66. Organisation Démocratique du Travail Morocco
67. Oxfam International International
68. Pakistan Coalition for Education Pakistan
69. Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy United States of America
70. Programa de Comunicación y Educación (CEA-FCS-UNC) Argentina
71. Public Services International International
72. Red de Educación Popular entre Mujeres de América Latina y el Caribe Repem International
73. Rede Lusófona pelo Direito à Educação (ReLus) - The Lusophone Network for the Right to Education International
74. RESDEN Niger
75. Réseau Ivoirien Pour La Promotion De L'education Pour Tous Côte d’Ivoire
76. RESULTS International
77. Right to Education Forum India
78. Right to Education Initiative International
79. Sikshasandhan India
80. SNEN Niger
81. Society for International Development (SID) International
82. Solidarité Laïque France
83. Spanish Coalition Global Campaign for Education Spain
84. Syndicat National Autonome de l'Enseignement Secondaire (SNAES) Cameroon
85. Syndicat National de L'enseignement Secondaire (SNES) Mauritania
86. Syndicat National des Agents de la Formation et de l’Education du Niger Niger
87. The East African Centre for Human Rights (EACHRights) Kenya
88. UNISON - The Public Service Union United Kingdom
