This campaign has now closed

Since 2006 we have worked in South Africa, in deprived areas around Cape Town, recruiting, training and supporting literate adult volunteers to help 6000+ local primary school children who have fallen behind in their confidence and reading. Now we want to develop a 2nd branch, in Johannesburg.

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Categories

  • Education/Training/Employment Education/​Training/​Employment
  • Beneficiaries

    Situation

    Worldwide, 72 million young children do not attend primary school. The area most chronically affected is sub Saharan Africa. Only 22% of South African primary school children reach the lowest PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) benchmark of reading achievement, the worst performing country of any in the study. Particular problems in South Africa include the variety of languages spoken and a chronic shortage of qualified teachers. Only 40% of primary schools have a library.

    Solution

    Our work involves recruiting volunteers from the local community and providing them with comprehensive training so that they are able to engage with and encourage children who are struggling with their reading. By training local volunteers, help2read is often able to provide a more helpful language base than available to teachers and help2read provides volunteers with a box of relevant and stimulating books. We are adding vital capacity for one-to-one literacy support in very challenging areas.

    100%
    Categories

  • Education/Training/Employment Education/​Training/​Employment
  • Beneficiaries