Schooling the poor profitably: the innovations and deprivations of Bridge International Academies in Uganda
by C. Riep and M. Machacek
The study reveals the operations of BIA in Uganda where it sells its version of ‘education,’ or its standardised ‘Academy-in-a-Box,’ to an estimated 12,000 fee-paying students in 63 schools.
Its teachers, untrained and unqualified, have been dumbed-down to content delivery agents and test score attendants rather than educators. What is too commonly referred to as ‘personalised learning’ is no more than scripted learning. It is worrisome that the World Bank, global education corporation Pearson, as well as billionaires Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, are supporting Bridge to the tune of $100 million USD.