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Schools Funded By Gates and Zuckerberg Ordered Closed In Uganda (cnn.com) 89

Posted by EditorDavid 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.
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Schools Funded By Gates and Zuckerberg Ordered Closed In Uganda More

Schools Funded By Gates and Zuckerberg Ordered Closed In Uganda

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  • theodp must be ecstatic over this news! Ugandans wont take his job!

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      How do you get rich? Start a business that doesn't even come up tot he standards of Uganda.

  • Surprise! Surprise! (Score:4, Informative)

    by HanzoSpam ( 713251 ) on Saturday November 26, 2016 @05:37PM (#53367363)

    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?

    • Re:Surprise! Surprise! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ) on Saturday November 26, 2016 @06:10PM (#53367513)

      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.

      • Well, if they pretend to 'do the good work', then why are they putting up schools where there already are schools, with which they then compete?
        Let them put up schools where there aren't any yet.
        • Because they have never intended to do any "good" in their lives. We are talking about psychopaths, not normal humans capable of feeling compassion and empathy.

    • Why are they looking for trouble half a world away?

      Why are they looking for profit half a world away?

      • Re:Surprise! Surprise! (Score:5, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 26, 2016 @06:31PM (#53367569)

        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.

        • Net worth goes up over time due to good investing, oh no. Investing in a company that does things you don't like doesn't mean you support those things; indeed, one of the more effective ways to change a company (if you're rich enough) is to become a large shareholder.

    • 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

      So what problems could they solve in America as simply enough with the same amount of efficacy as educating a completely uneducated population?

      The problem is not about the geographical location of the fruit, but how high it hangs in the tree.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        So what problems could they solve in America as simply enough with the same amount of efficacy as educating a completely uneducated population?

        Uganda's education system is significantly worse than the US's (yeah,insert joke about how bad that must make it... actually the US is pretty good) but the claim that they're completely uneducated sounds like an insult from someone who's never been there and doesn't care to find out anything about them. It's just not true.

    • 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?

      They can throw a few million at disadvantaged populations in the US, the money won't go as far and if it's not wisely spend it might even make things worse.

      Or they can throw a few million at disadvantaged populations in Africa, the money will be extremely effective and can help a ton of people, and even if it's poorly spent it will still probably have a positive impact.

      It's actually similar to the whole argument about trade with China.

      It may have cost a few hundred thousand or a couple million jobs in the U

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by rtb61 ( 674572 )

        More likely in typical free market stupidity fashion, they can provide a ton of money, to the lowest bidders, who more often than not don't give a crap and their only focus is to grab as much of those rich gits money and provide as few services as possible. Schools shut down, but a quick name change and they are ready again to put up the lowest tender.

        The lowest tender is more often than not, also the worst tender, the worst quality, the most unreliable and their only intent is to steal as much as they c

      • Why not throw a ton of money at disadvantaged Americans. You act like the poor people in America don't have it as bad as people in other parts of the world. Check out the most backwood sections of our country and you will see practically no difference between them and rural South Africa. Lets not even get started on the amount of poverty that plagues our cities. Problem is though people don't see our country as having a poverty problem. For decades charities have been sending camera crews to the most destit

    • Most people in the US already use Windows, Office, and Facebook. If they are trying to brainwash the next generation of people to use their products, they'll get more bang for their buck in developing nations that are still modernizing.

  • Not the only criticism (Score:5, Informative)

    by guruevi ( 827432 ) on Saturday November 26, 2016 @05:43PM (#53367399)

    https://www.unite4education.or... [unite4education.org]

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

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by 110010001000 ( 697113 )
      It doesn't surprise me unite4education is a teachers lobby masquerading as an organization that gives a shit about education. Those types hate change and competition.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by I75BJC ( 4590021 )
        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 Bur

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jrumney ( 197329 )
      The clue is in the fact that Gates and Zuckerberg are described as investors, not donors.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by fermion ( 181285 )
      This is what is happening to US schools. A lot of the new school models are based on hiring new cheap teachers, working them to death, then getting rid of them before they have a real salary or a pension. There is no reason to even have teachers certified, because a teacher can teach for three years without certification. There is benefit to a certificated teacher as that teacher is just going to feel like they can stay for years.

      Teaching is about the only professional job I know where corporate wants r

      • You are on the money about hiring trends with teachers. Just look at this: http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/doc... [state.nc.us] The raises are barely enough to keep up with inflation, at least during normal economic times, and you can't raise a family of four and pay the mortgage on that. I have a B.S. in pure math, and would be eligible to teach lateral entry (initially without certification). Who would actually want to teach for that kind of money, though? They will not consider relevant experience outside of the teachin

  • both sides??? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sribe ( 304414 ) on Saturday November 26, 2016 @05:47PM (#53367427)

    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.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by 110010001000 ( 697113 )
      Correct. This is a slam piece written by the entrenched education lobby (probably unite4education) pretending there is a valid reason that the Ugandan government shut these schools down. This is even more dangerous than "fake news". Notice it is always "Anonymous"

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward

        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...

    • 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.

      So the original post said there were "strong arguments on both side", but you posit that this is incorrect, and in this case one side must be clearly in the right and the other clearly wrong.

      Hmm, it seems like both you and the original post have strong arguments, though only one of you must be right...

    • From the article that someone linked below, I get that hiring unqualified (or at least unlicensed) teachers to deliver a scripted standardised curriculum is the official practice of the school: whether it is a bad idea, a full scam or an innovative way of reducing costs via computerized lessons is open to debate (debate into which I will not enter since I have not checked the actual schools).
      So, maybe someone is lying, but maybe there are just two different conceptions of education in confrontation here.

  • Serious question (Score:4, Insightful)

    by indi0144 ( 1264518 ) on Saturday November 26, 2016 @05:50PM (#53367435) Journal
    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?

    • 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.

      • Bill Gates does good bottom-up work, focusing on health and education,

        Except that everywhere he goes, he compromises education.

        • Except that everywhere he goes, he compromises education.

          In Uganda, pretty much anything he could possibly do would be an improvement.

    • I imagine it is for the same reasons that Europe went down there in the first place. There's a wealth of natural resources available there, and leaving off, letting them go their own way cuts you off from all those resources.

      You might as well wonder why the US was so interested in there being peace in the Middle East.

    • That you have to be very careful to who you donate and what it brings... and that, basically, you can't buy solidarity: your money can help, but it's not enough, you have to involve yourself in what is done with it, and you have to understand the society you try to help.

  • The Bridge Foundation just needs to pay whatever baksheesh the President For Life needs, and life will go on as before.

  • Uganda win them all!

  • How bizarre. Either

    1. Somebody didn't pay their unofficial participation tax.

    Or

    2. Local resistance to alternative school ahh hahahahaha biting the Kind Hearted in the ass.

    It is, of course, #1.

  • Uganda is shite (Score:3)

    by Hognoxious ( 631665 ) on Saturday November 26, 2016 @06:35PM (#53367591) Homepage Journal

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

  • Of course they are unsafe, and filled with witches, sorcerers, and demons ready to take over the minds of young innocent students. Not to mention the curriculum wasn't specifically approved by the government and might have taught them something like it was bad to cut off the clitoris of a woman, or birth control could prevent STD's.

  • The problem is you can shovel all of the money you want into third world countries, but no problems will be solved or even mitigated until you clean out systematic corruption.

    In a country that does not truly have rule of law, there is very little you can do to help the people and nothing at all remotely.

    • "In a country that does not truly have rule of law, there is very little you can do to help the people and nothing at all remotely."

      And your plan is... corrupt the rule of law at that place?

      Please note the allegations are "the nursery and primary schools were not licensed, the teachers weren't qualified and that there was no record of its curriculum being approved"

      That's quite easy to fact check: they either are licensed, and then there will be a paper track showing it, or they aren't, and then they have no

      • It may be that they tried to get these things, but soon figured out they'd get nowhere without paying bribes, which while common there, will get you in a lot of hot water back in the states. "Will you pay this bribe or not" isn't exactly rule of law.

  • African corruption is as common as weeds.
    A shake down by someone looking for a new yacht for Xmas.

  • arrogance (Score:2)

    by Tom ( 822 )

    Bridge's Uganda director denies the allegations, says the government hasn't even granted them an audience,

    So in short, they couldn't get permission, decided to just ignore that and go ahead anyways, and now they're crying?

    The mental maturity of a 3-year-old at work.

  • Wouldn't trust anything Gates is involved in.

  • All you cynics have failed to note the generosity of Gates and Zuckerberg. How kind-hearted of them to reach out to underprivileged Ugandans and offer a techno-boost. They understand that poor people around the world need the best education so that they can some day come to America and fill the disastrous shortage of qualified (and ethnically diverse) programmers and engineers. As we used to say "What's good for General Motors (or M$ or FB) is good for America!" Let's give Gates and Zuck a big American salu

  • 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.

    No, this "raises the questions" of competing with the established locals and the proverbial "City Hall".

    And, yes, there is not a shadow of doubt in my mind, it involved bribes — expected and/or outright demanded, but not given.

    There are some decent countries in Africa — such as, perhaps, Botswana — but their schools are already Ok...

  • We only have to look at the track record of academies/charter schools in the UK and US to see how goddam awful the reality of these enterprises is.

  • ... in Sipi Falls, near Mount Elgon. There was a nice computer lab, where adults were learning basic keyboarding and Microsoft Office. I asked what they are going to do with this knowledge? Well, nothing, they said, we don't have enough inexpensive internet out here, and there's no jobs that need computer skills. But it's good to learn things.

    I left them some Ubuntu DVDs.

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