UK aid money linked to chain of private schools in Uganda closed down by High Court
Date: 7 November 2016
Uganda’s High Court has ordered the closure of a chain of private schools run by an American company, Bridge Academies International, over concerns about poor sanitation and its curriculum.
According to one report, the schools had received £5.5 million in UK aid money in the last year.
In 2012 DfID announced the creation of the Impact Fund, a 13 year project worth £75 million managed by CDC, to promote the role of private sector in basic services, especially education. The Impact Fund’s first investment was in the venture fund Novastar, which then went on to invest in Bridge Academies International. DFID is listed on Bridge Academies International’s website as one of its ‘biggest investors.’
In April 2015 the UN special rapporteur on the right to education wrote that, “the international development agenda must aim to eliminate private schools, not champion them.”
In October 2015 a coalition of organisations submitted a report to two United Nations human rights committees expressing concern that the British government could be violating the right to education with its support for the growth of private schools across Africa and south Asia.
Nick Dearden, the director of Global Justice Now said:
“UK aid money could and should be used to develop robust public education systems that would help lift people out of poverty. Instead DfID seems to be hell bent on throwing money at schemes whereby private companies profit by making people in countries like Uganda pay for what turns out to be a shockingly substandard service.
“The British government is a world leader in using aid money to push privatised education on Africa and Asia. They treat these continents as guinea pigs for a model which is also being increasingly pushed here – running education for profit rather than need. It’s shocking that the aid budget is being used to fuel the profits of education multinationals.”
See also:
Profting from poverty again – DiFD’s support for privatising education and health
The UK’s support of the growth of private education through its development aid
