Ei-iE

Students at the International Financing Corporation-funded Bridge International Academies (Bridge) in Kenya were sexually abused, maimed, and killed. Staff had their labour rights routinely violated. They now all deserve remedy and compensation.

Students at the International Financing Corporation-funded Bridge International Academies (Bridge) in Kenya were sexually abused, maimed, and killed. Staff had their labour rights routinely violated. They now all deserve remedy and compensation.

Education International – the global federation of education unions representing over 32 million educators globally – calls on the World Bank Board to take responsibility for harm committed by Bridge, which the International Financing Corporation (IFC) funded for many years. The IFC paid $13.5 million for an ownership stake in Bridge International Academies starting in 2013. It exited the investment in 2022 but it does not relinquish its responsibility to redress any breaches in its environmental, social and labour standards that lead to harm of children and communities.

The World Bank Board is meeting on June 13, 2024 to consider its response to one of the Bridge International scandals, as outlined in the Bridge-01 complaint. The complaint addressed issues including worker’s rights abuses, non-compliance with national laws and regulations, and non-fulfilment of the right to education for students at Bridge schools.

Our expectation is very clear. The IFC contributed to harm done to teachers and students through its reckless investment in Bridge and therefore the World Bank Group should contribute to a remedy fund.

Complaints to the IFC’s Ombudsman (the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman) in 2018 noted that many Bridge schools in Kenya were unregistered and thus were operating illegally throughout the duration of the IFC’s investment. Furthermore, the complaints stated that schools were unsanitary, dangerous for children, and inaccessible to students with disabilities. For staff, the working hours, minimum wage, and termination procedures were in breach of Kenyan law. The complaints corroborate EI’s research, which in 2016 rang the bell on systemic labour rights and safety violations in Bridge schools.

The IFC knew about these problems at Bridge schools prior to divestment and failed to ensure that Bridge complied with its contractual obligations to operate in accordance with the IFC’s environmental, social, and labour standards.

The report card is in on Bridge’s experiment in for profit education. Students were hurt, with at least two fatally injured. Staff were ripped off and schools were running illegally.

It's clear the Bridge experiment has failed. Now is the time to do the right thing by those who were harmed in the process. Now is the time for remedy. No more excuses.

More on Bridge International Academies’ scandal here.

Research on the operations of Bridge and more.