Eastern Cape literacy programme project awakens love of reading in children

In a bid to equip children with reading skills from an early age, three non-governmental organisations have launched a literacy programme in the Eastern Cape. 

Yizani Sifunde (come, let’s read) aims to address literacy problems in the province by supporting children in Early Childhood Development Centres along with their parents and teachers to awaken a love of reading and story sharing. 

On a wider scale, NGOs Nal’ibali, Book Dash, and Wordworks hope to reduce the number of pupils in SA who cannot read.

Research shows that 78% of grade 4 pupils cannot understand what they are reading and close to one-third of children from rural areas are functionally illiterate.

The majority of these children will leave the school system without the skills they need to succeed in life and will remain trapped in a cycle of poverty. 

Funded by Liberty Community Trust, Yizani Sifunde aims to support 40 ECD centres in Komani, East London and Tsholomqa by injecting 100,000 culturally relevant isiXhosa storybooks into these communities.

Nal’ibali spokesperson Siya Mahomba said the NGO’s aim was to expand the programme to cover more areas in the Eastern Cape before extending it to other provinces. 

“As we know, the Eastern Cape is struggling when it comes to education,” Mahomba said. 

The literacy programme was launched in April.

Project co-ordinator Phumelele Keswa said organisers had spent the last two months recruiting and training “story sparkers” — a group of field staff who work directly with communities on the ground. 

“These are people who come from these communities, so they know them better than us.

“We have also engaged local libraries so they can assist us in identifying and extending the campaign to other people we have not reached.

“From next week, the story sparkers will formally introduce the project to the communities and stakeholders so we can all work together.”

Keswa said the NGOs would provide training to interested community members to run extramural learning programmes while practitioners implement a literacy-themed learning programme.

“By starting at the ECD level, the effects of such interventions will be meaningful and long-lasting into adulthood,” Keswa said.

Nal’ibali CEO Yandiswa Xhakaza said reading was not only a feel-good activity but was important in the process of imparting language skills for children's development.

“Each of us is a storyteller in some form, and reading and storytelling could well turn out to be SA’s secret weapon.

“Reading and sharing stories with young children is vital in laying the language foundations they will need to learn to read and write later on.

“It can also help with cognitive and emotional development.

“But best of all, taking time out to read and share stories with our children simply feels good,” Xhakaza said. 

Children who regularly read for pleasure performed better in the classroom, she said. 

HeraldLIVE