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Schools Funded By Gates and Zuckerberg Ordered Closed In Uganda (cnn.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the government-ordered-recess dept.

Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are two investors in Bridge International Academies. But in Uganda, the group's 63 schools have been "ordered to shut down in a matter of weeks, leaving the lives of thousands of pupils in limbo." An anonymous reader quotes CNN: Uganda's High Court has described the Bridge International Academies...as unsanitary and unqualified, and has ordered it to close its doors in December because it ignored Uganda's national standards and put the "life and safety" of its 12,000 young students on the line. The Director of Education Standards for the Ministry, Huzaifa Mutazindwa, told CNN that the nursery and primary schools were not licensed, the teachers weren't qualified and that there was no record of its curriculum being approved.
Bridge's Uganda director denies the allegations, says the government hasn't even granted them an audience, and "suggested that the opposition against BIA was because the campuses competed against local state-run and private schools," according to CNN. Their reporter also found two educator advocates who complained that Bridge's schools were actually a privatized, profit-making entity targeting the poor. There's strong arguments on both sides, but it's all raising a lot of questions about how technology should be used in school programs, as well as how they should be funded.

11 of 89 comments (clear)

  1. Surprise! Surprise! by HanzoSpam · · Score: 4, Informative

    Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have plenty of problems to solve in their own country. Why are they looking for trouble half a world away?

    --

    Progressivism: Parasites helping parasites to help themselves - to other people's stuff.
    1. Re:Surprise! Surprise! by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have plenty of problems to solve in their own country.

      I prefer that they focus on Africa, rather than trying to "fix" America.

      Why are they looking for trouble half a world away?

      They just failed to bribe the right people.

    2. Re:Surprise! Surprise! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Why are they looking for profit half a world away?

      Because they are not the philanthropists that they pretend to be.

      Despite all of his pretense of "helping" people in Africa and elsewhere, Bill Gates keeps getting richer, going from a net worth of $50 Billion to over $70 Billion in less than 5 years. And the Gates Foundation has invested at least 1/3 of its money (approx $10 Billion) in companies whose activities go directly against what the Foundation is supposedly trying to accomplish.

      In Africa, the Foundation has invested more than $400 Million in oil companies responsible for much of the pollution many blame for respiratory problems and other afflictions among the local population. The Gates Foundation also has investments in sixty-nine of the worst polluting companies in the US and Canada. It holds investments in pharmaceutical companies whose drugs cost far beyond what most patients around the world can afford and the Foundation often lobbies on behalf of those companies for "Intellectual Property" protections that make obtaining low cost medicines more difficult.

      Other companies in the Foundation’s portfolio have been accused of transgressions including forcing thousands of people to lose their homes, supporting child labor and defrauding and neglecting patients in need of medical care.

  2. Not the only criticism by guruevi · · Score: 5, Informative

    https://www.unite4education.or...

    They are literally commercializing schools similar to Trump University.. Didn't surprise me given this is an unholy union between Microsoft, Facebook and Pearson.

    --
    Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
    1. Re:Not the only criticism by I75BJC · · Score: 2

      That sounds like the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association here in the USA. Teacher Unions that, while claiming (at one time) to protect and support student, is now a Teacher Assistance Programs. Unions are treacherous everywhere now-a-days. Plus, in the USA, private schools have faced this type of harassment for decades. Bill and Melinda thought helping educate students would be "fun", "exciting" and "beneficial". Welcome to the Real World of Adults, Unions, Government Bureaucrats... Hat! Ha! Loads of fun now.

  3. both sides??? by sribe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No, there are not "strong arguments on both sides". One side is corrupt and lying. Either the local administration of the schools are skimming funds and creating the hazardous unqualified schools as described, or the government agency is lying because they demanded bribes and were refused. This is not a "both sides have a point" kind of situation, and actual journalism would require digging in and finding the truth.

    1. Re:both sides??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Notice it is always "Anonymous"

      What is always anonymous (other than me and you (assuming that 110010001000 isn't what your parents called you))? The news source is CNN. The reporter is Bianca Britton. Claims that the schools were not licensed and the teachers weren't qualified were made by Huzaifa Mutazindwa, Uganda's Director of Education Standards. Others are also quoted in the article...

  4. Serious question by indi0144 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Would the world one day get tired that Africa looks hopeless and let it go their way? It always looks like their priorities are something totally unrelated to what the world perceives as should be their "needs".

    This is no bait nor trolling in any way, no need for AC, just want to know: if you donate like me, what do this kind of news make you think?

    1. Re:Serious question by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      Would the world one day get tired that Africa looks hopeless and let it go their way?

      Unlikely. Africa is not hopeless. Africans have a long way to go to catch up with the rest of the world, but they are making huge progress. People there are growing more prosperous, longevity and literacy are rising, birthrates are falling. Many areas of Africa are joyful, and wonderful places to visit. I have been to Ghana and Senegal, and in both places the people were friendly and helpful, had plenty of great food, and had really good taste in music.

      if you donate like me, what do this kind of news make you think?

      Uganda is backsliding, but that is an exception. But I would recommend that you donate carefully. Africa needs opportunities, not hand-outs. Bill Gates does good bottom-up work, focusing on health and education, but many other charities likely do more harm than good. Instead of donating to charity, you might consider investing in an "Africa fund" that helps African businesses grow and create jobs. That will do more good than most charities, while also giving you a return on your investment. Win-win.

  5. Uganda is shite by Hognoxious · · Score: 2

    I don't like Uganda. It's CentOS on servers and something Minty on desktops for me.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  6. Re:Education is either profitable, or it isn't. by hughbar · · Score: 2

    Well, is that you Milton Friedman, when we all believed (hoped) you were dead? Actually education is a 'public good' and that is the 'profit' from it. It's the benefit (or potential benefit) to a society so that it is not full of near-cave-people with ill-considered opinions and semi-automatic weapons. Oh, wait...

    --
    On y va, qui mal y pense!