Bridge International Academies
Market Need – Affordable, Quality Education
Quality education is a fundamental prerequisite to breaking cycles of poverty. Yet, the state-funded education system in many sub-Sahara African countries is stressed and underperforming. Acute teacher shortages, limited physical infrastructure and ineffective teaching methods are compounded by the lack of accountability and incentives to improve performance. As a result, students perform at the 3rd percentile compared to children from developed countries. Meanwhile, so-called “universal free education” is often not free, as students pay $2 – 5 per month in ad hoc desk, exam, and school maintenance fees.
Investment – Bridge International Academies
Bridge International Academies is expanding access to affordable high-quality primary education for poor families in Kenya and beyond. Bridge has developed a comprehensive “school-in-a-box” model that includes all of the operational tools and systems, curriculum materials, teacher recruitment and training processes to build, open, grow, manage and rapidly replicate affordable, high-quality schools on franchise principles.
At less than $4 per student per month, a Bridge education is accessible to 90% of families in the Nairobi slums. With a profitable model, Bridge can pursue aggressive expansion, aiming to operate 1,800 schools serving 1 million students by the end of 2015. In addition to providing an effective education option for low-income families, Bridge schools also create jobs and provide income for education workers in local communities.
Early results are encouraging. In the first 24 months of operation, Bridge:
- Built and opened 22 schools serving 2,700 students
- Hired and trained 200 employees
- Created and refined curriculum and fully scripted instructional manuals
- Achieved student test scores in literacy and numeracy that are 50-100% higher than peer schools in the state system
- Developed the systems, processes and capital base to enable exponential expansion