Creating a love of reading
Thu, 2 February 2012
“Zoe has become confident when reading. She now always volunteers to read aloud in class. When speaking to her she answers confidently and fluently.” - Teacher at Square Hill Primary, Retreat
IMPACT REPORT: help2read - Literacy Support Programme in Cape Town Metropole
The help2read literacy support programme provides training to volunteers who then conduct weekly one-on-one reading sessions with primary school learners. Beginning in March 2010, the programme set out to recruit 160 volunteers to work with 330 learners and help them to improve their reading.
This report revisits the project 6 months after its completion to assess the impact that is has had on the lives of the children and volunteers it worked with.
Impact
- In total 348 learners were assisted through the programme, exceeding the programme’s target of 330.
- help2read trained 210 community members as potential volunteers. Of these, 132 went on to become volunteers, 30 of whom left the programme during the year. Reasons for volunteers dropping out include a lack of interest in the programme and volunteers finding employment elsewhere.
- Assessments of the learners enrolled in the programme show significant improvements in reading levels. These assessments were carried out an average of 5.1 months apart, but learners’ reading abilities on average improved by 9.8 months.
- Before the intervention, 138 learners who were assessed were unable to read at the appropriate level for their age. All of these learners were able to read at or above the appropriate level by the end of the intervention.
- Learners in grades 2, 3 and 4 improved the most, and on average now read above the required level for their age. This creates a solid foundation for these learners who in 2012 will begin the school year at or above the required reading level for the first time, and suggests that help2read’s strategy of concentrating on learners in these grades is the right one.
Challenges
Volunteer retention and recruitment were the biggest challenge that help2read faced in implementing this project. Often, volunteers personal circumstances would change – for example by fnding full-time employment – and they would no longer participate in the programme. Strategies have since been implemented, particularly in the Khayelithsa area, to increase volunteer retention and recruitment and improve the quality of the service offered by colunteers. These include:
- The use of open days to recruit volunteers. This means that volunteers can ask questions and make an informed decision before attending training.
- Training taking place in the community at schools, thus making it more accessible to potential volunteers.
- Encouraging schools to recruit their own volunteers, which will allow help2read to identify potential volunteers who already have a stake in the performance of the school and are therefore more likely to stay committed.
- Placing a larger number of volunteers at fewer schools. This is easier to coordinate and increases efficiency, lowers costs and ensures maximum impact at each school. Having a bigger group of volunteers at each school also helps to create a sense of camaraderie among the volunteers.
- Significantly increasing onsite support and guidance from support workers during volunteer reading sessions, which has led to improved volunteer retention and motivation.
- Nominating and training some volunteers as volunteer coordinators. They will be required to ensure volunteers’ regular attendance and will assist in facilitating effective communication with the support worker and other volunteer reading helpers.
Conclusion
The children who participated in this programme are better prepared for learning, and for many, 2012 will be the first year that they are able to read at an appropriate level before starting a new school year. This has an enormous impact on their ability to perform in all school subjects and means that they are far less likely to fall behind in their school work.
Through this project, help2read have demonstrated the effectiveness of their programme. In the future, the organisation plans to expand its programme both in the Western Cape and in Gauteng. As their work grows in scale, more and more children will benefit from having a literate adult support spending time with them and assisting them with their reading. Eventually, this will contribute to the higher number of literate adults – a vital first step in addressing South Africa’s crisis of unemployment.
