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Article

24 Feb 2017

Author:
The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights & 4 others

Court upholds local govt.'s closure of Bridge International Academies' schools over failure to respect education standards

"Kenyan court upholds the closure of Bridge International Academies over failure to respect standards"

A judgement delivered yesterday by a Kenyan Court upholds the action taken by Busia County Government to close down ten Bridge International Academies for violating education norms and standards. It marks a turning point and must signal a move towards fulfilling the right to education in Kenya and other countries...

Hon. Justice Korir...dismissed a complaint from Bridge, which sought to contest a decision by the Busia County Education Board to close their schools. The judge allowed Busia County to close 10 of the schools for which there were school inspection reports recommending closure, out of the 12 in the County. He ordered that the Bridge schools remain open until the end of the current school term (in April), for the County to secure placement in a public school for the affected children...

Boaz Waruku, from the Africa Network Campaign on Education For All (ANCEFA), commented: “This judgement adds to the similar one in Uganda and is a strong affirmation that Bridge schools do not comply with the minimum education standards in the region. We’re extremely concerned that Bridge Academies, an international profit-driven company with investments that are counted in several billions of Kenya shillings, can come to African countries and charge fees from poor children in our communities without respecting basic laws and education standards of the country.”