10 lessons learned from three recent media articles on Bridge International Academies

Several civil society reports have raised major concerns on BIA, including on their quality, the fees charged, their discriminatory impacts and labour conditions. Bridge has rejected the findings of these independent reports. However recent media coverage has raised similar questions.

In the past eight months three major news articles have been published on Bridge International Academies:

• ‘The controversial Silicon Valley-funded quest to educate the world’s poorest kids’, Quartz, by Jenny Anderson, published on 22 January 2018, available here

• ‘No education crisis wasted: On Bridge’s “business model” in Africa’, Africa is a Country, by Maria Hengeveld, published 13 July 2017, available here, initially published in Dutch news magazine De Correspondent, available here

• 'Can a Tech Start-Up Successfully Education Children in the Developing World?', New York Times, by Peg Tyre, published 27 June 2017, available here

These articles stand out for the investigative rigour of the publications they appear in, the depth and detail of their analysis, and the fact that they are based on original research. They allow for civil society claims to be verified against independent journalist investigations. The GI-ESCR has prepared a brief summarising 10 key findings from these articles. These findings not only corroborate the concerns raised by civil society, but also reveal evidence of new challenges. The GI-ESCR shares this information as part of its work to encourage transparency and accountability in the delivery of education in the context of the fast growth of private actor involvement.

Read the brief here

Find further information on commercial actors in education here