When Shannon May was in China doing research for her PhD in ecology. While she was there she taught at the local village school- and it was there she saw the incredible importance of education. She, unfortunately, also saw the state of education in rural China. The principal drank at lunch time with the teachers, who would rarely show up for afternoon classes. Most of the teachers were unqualified, and often absent. The only computer was taken home by the principal. This story, sadly, is not an uncommon one.
Shannon and her boyfriend Jay Kimmelman decided to do something. Abandoning her ecology studies, they decided to start their schools to bring high quality education to poor countries. After getting married they took a dream honeymoon- visiting Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Nigeria to investigate failures in basic education in poor rural areas.
The designed a for profit model that would be supported by tuition, not the corrupt governments. They target families that earn $2/person a day, and they have created something truly amazing.
Each school is standardized to maintain quality. Content is delivered wirelessly via computer tablets so they can track teacher development and instruction. Teachers are provided lessons so even those without training can still lead a great lesson. Students attend school for 55 hours each week and families are charged an average of $6/month.
Charging even a little has made Bridge sustainable and independent of government slowdowns. And their numbers don't lie, compared to other education available Bridge Students score up to 205% better in reading fluency, 37% better in reading comprehension, 25% better in addition skills, 24% better in subtraction skills and 42% higher in word problems.
Since they are "for profit" donations are not tax deductible, but I know that my money will be well used and I think it's important that we continue to try different approaches to solve old problems.
The Rundown
I gave $25 for a new uniform
their website
donate here
NOT give enableded
Shannon and her boyfriend Jay Kimmelman decided to do something. Abandoning her ecology studies, they decided to start their schools to bring high quality education to poor countries. After getting married they took a dream honeymoon- visiting Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Nigeria to investigate failures in basic education in poor rural areas.
The designed a for profit model that would be supported by tuition, not the corrupt governments. They target families that earn $2/person a day, and they have created something truly amazing.
Each school is standardized to maintain quality. Content is delivered wirelessly via computer tablets so they can track teacher development and instruction. Teachers are provided lessons so even those without training can still lead a great lesson. Students attend school for 55 hours each week and families are charged an average of $6/month.
Charging even a little has made Bridge sustainable and independent of government slowdowns. And their numbers don't lie, compared to other education available Bridge Students score up to 205% better in reading fluency, 37% better in reading comprehension, 25% better in addition skills, 24% better in subtraction skills and 42% higher in word problems.
Since they are "for profit" donations are not tax deductible, but I know that my money will be well used and I think it's important that we continue to try different approaches to solve old problems.
The Rundown
I gave $25 for a new uniform
their website
donate here
NOT give enableded
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