Busia county is over on the western edge of Kenya, near the Ugandan border, and is heavily reliant on fishing and agriculture to sustain its economy. It is one of 47 counties in Kenya and, like many of them, the families that live there are in communities that have poor access to public services including schools. Bridge has been operating schools there for the last four years, and currently serves over 2400 children and their families. In many ways Busia is clearly representative of the counties and communities that Bridge looks to serve, providing opportunity and a good education in a place where the options are limited; enabling children to leave school numerate and literate and giving them a better chance to lead a successful and fulfilling life.
Those who act as Bridge’s vocal detractors have taken delight in a recent ruling in Busia that leaves the government the option to close ten Bridge schools in 45 days if an appeal is not successful. They are less gleeful about the two academies that have not had this sanction imposed. Bridge will of course appeal this decision and is confident that working with local authorities and stakeholders will see the situation resolved, enabling registration to be granted. As with Uganda, where Bridge schools remain legally open and educating over 12,000 pupils, the process in Busia will give an opportunity to showcase Bridge’s commitment to working with the Kenyan Ministry and to delivering education across the country. In each country, it is essential that academies are run within the regulatory guidelines of government; thoughtful regulation and a strong regulatory model drives quality and Bridge works closely with government to adhere to the standards required.
Amidst all this we should consider why it is essential that these academies remain open, and that is because of the people who ultimately lose out if they are closed. It is not those who campaign safely from Europe who would lose out, it is not organizations like Action Aid whose ideological opposition does not come with meaningful alternatives and ultimately it is not Bridge who runs over 500 schools and nurseries across two continents. The people that lose out are the children in Busia who Bridge had promised to give the chance to fulfil their potential, and the families who want more for their children than they were themselves able to achieve. Close classrooms, take away jobs from teachers and hope that in years to come national governments will somehow be in a position to enable every child to exercise their right to a high-quality education. In the meantime, allow a generation of children to be failed. This seems to be the approach of those who reject innovation, technology and providers like Bridge to protect the status quo at all costs.
Protecting a status quo that is failing children is unacceptable to families in Busia, and to Kenyans across the country. Bridge will fight those who believe nothing should be done to improve education for those that need it most every step of the way because not only do we believe that every child has the right to a high-quality education, we believe that we are able to help deliver change that eventually means no child is left out. We can prove that great education can be delivered at low cost and within the public budgets of developing countries. Truly great education for all is not a pipe dream.
Bridge academies are proving, across Kenya and beyond, that their model works. In 2016 independent national Kenyan exams saw an average of over 59% of pupils from Bridge pass compared to the national average of 50%. It’s the second year that Bridge has outperformed the national average. In fact, in the 2016 exams Bridge’s best performing pupil, Mary, was from Busia county who scored 406 marks out of 500. Mary has now gone to secondary school and hopes to win a scholarship. She dreams of being a doctor some day, a dream she can realistically achieve.
In Busia children are learning and we will fight tooth and nail to make sure that continues to be the case.