The judgment delivered last week by the High Court in Busia ordering the closure of the 10 Bridge International Academies in the county will ensure other schools comply with education standards, an NGO official has said.
Last Thursday, Justice Korir dismissed a complaint from Bridge academies seeking to contest a decision by the Busia County Education Board to close their schools.
The board can proceed to close the 10 schools.
Abraham Ochieng, from the East African Center for Human Rights, on Saturday said efforts by the Education ministry to ask them comply with regulations fell on deaf ears.
“The ministry wrote to the school administration three times about compliance, but did not receive a response. Instead of the academies complying with Kenyan laws, they kept using delaying tactics,” he said.
Education CS Fred Matiang’i recently said he agreed with a report from Knut and NGO Education International which highlighted the poor standards at the schools.
Five NGOs have urged the government to ensure the affected students are transferred to nearby government schools to ensure learning is not disrupted.
They are the Africa Network Campaign on Education For All, East African Centre for Human Rights, Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Right to Education Project
The organisations said they are ready to work with the county and national governments to support the development of quality education.
Bridge academies administrators have been accused of failing to employ trained and registered teachers, having poor facilities.
There are more than 400 Bridge academies worldwide and 100,000 children enrolled.