A
legal tug-of-war between Ugandan authorities and a for-profit
international chain of schools has led to the education provider being
ordered to shut down in a matter of weeks, leaving the lives of
thousands of pupils in limbo
The Director of Education Standards for the Ministry,
Huzaifa Mutazindwa, says that the nursery and primary schools were
not licensed, the teachers weren't qualified and that there was no
record of its curriculum being approved.
"The
Ministry does not know what is being taught in these schools which is a
point of concern to (the) government," Mutazindwa said.
The
low-cost education provider, which has 63 campuses across Uganda, is
allowed to remain open until December 8 to allow students to sit for
exams and finish third term. This was after BIA secured an interim court
order that restrained the government from closing its schools until its
main case for stay could be heard in court.
For
its part, BIA — which runs more than 400 nursery and primary schools
across Africa — has continuously denied the allegations that have been
made by the government.
"There's a
lot of miscommunication and a lot of very serious, unfounded
allegations. We would like to be given the opportunity to explain
ourselves ... The Ministry has been unwilling to give us an audience to
set the record straight," Uganda's BIA director, Andrew White.
In a statement, BIA addressed eight allegations
that have been made about its operations. It said it teaches the
Ugandan curriculum, all schools have good sanitation facilities and that
the majority of their teachers are certified and registered. Those who
aren't certified and registered, it said, are attending in-service
training.
 |
| Pupils from Bridge International Academies protest after Uganda's High Court ordered the closure of its low-cost private schools. |
When
asked why the allegations were made if they weren't true, White said:
"We definitely feel like a lot of pressure has been applied to have a
particular view of Bridge that is a negative one."
He suggested that the opposition against BIA was because the campuses competed against local state-run and private schools.
"I
don't think the government is threatened by Bridge, but I think lobby
groups are trying to make the government and ministry feel like they
should be," White said.