Democracy in South Africa was supposed to mean equal rights for all. And yet the South African public school system is in a dismal state with high numbers of children dropping out before graduation and many graduating *without* the ability to read. help2read is working to change this. We train tutors and place them in under-resourced public schools to work with children who are struggling in school. We see success: children improve their reading age by 14.4 months after 7 months of h2r tutoring.
On average, South African grade 3 learners score 35% on standardised literacy tests. In grade 6 that number goes down to 28%. What this shows is the majority of South African children are not learning how to read - a necessary and basic skill - and that the problem gets worse with time. Schools are overcrowded and poorer parts of SA lack a strong reading culture meaning children do not receive the extra help they need. When children cannot read, they fall behind in all areas of education.
In our Literacy Programme, we recruit literate adults from the schools' communities and train them in the help2read methodology. They are then placed in the under-resourced schools where they provide 1-on-1 twice weekly 1/2 hour tutoring sessions to the learners who are furthest behind for an entire year. In this 1-on-1 setting, the children are able to receive the focused attention they need for scholastic success; the volunteers often also act as a positive adult figure in the child's life.
Being able to read is a critical skill; literacy is linked to self esteem and self worth. For children living in high-risk environments, these are crucial qualities to have. Furthermore, when a child can read, they will be able to keep up with their schooling and avoid the temptation to drop out. Finishing school provides a range of employment opportunities that are not available to those with a lesser education. Being in help2read can therefore affect the quality of that child's entire life.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
