There is a reading crisis in South Africa. On international reading scales, children in South Africa perform very badly; in fact, South Africa comes last out of 50 countries, behind less developed countries like Egypt and Morocco.
Reading with understanding is the basic building block for good literacy and communication.
So TVS has decided to build on our Techlearn programme by working directly with teachers to deliver targeted teaching of reading and promote reading for pleasure for learners. We also plan to include members of the wider communities by setting up after-school reading clubs. Access to good quality books and reading materials will be an important part of the scheme, as well as instilling in all children and adults a love of, and respect for, books.
All the children involved in the project will be assessed to establish their reading ages at the start of the project in April and again at the end of October. This, together with the Techlearn assessments, will enable us to review our impact over six months.
We hope that this initiative can then be rolled out to other schools in the Valley, with the after-school groups including younger children reading in Xhosa.
Teacher training will be carried out by our staff in Tyume Valley, with support from UK volunteers. Funding for a good supply of appropriate books will be ongoing over the next year. Any donations towards the cost of books would be gratefully received.