The DBE, in partnership with the North West Provincial Education Department, commenced with the piloting of three alternative interventions in selected schools in the districts of Ngaka Modiri Molema and Dr Kenneth Kaunda in April this year. This Early Grade Reading Study forms part of the DBE’s agenda to establish effective ways to strengthen the teaching and learning of reading in the foundation phase.

Reading provides the foundation to all consecutive learning. Yet, studies have repeatedly shown that the majority of South African children are severely delayed in the acquisition of reading – for example, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) study of 2006 showed that about 80% of our grade 5 children were not yet reading with comprehension. Clearly reading is a key aspect of the education quality challenge in South Africa. 

The Early Grade Reading Study uses an impact evaluation design to measure the effectiveness of three reading interventions aimed at improving home language reading and literacy. The first strategy is a teacher training course on teaching reading together with provision of lesson plans and graded reading booklets. The second intervention provides the same set of lesson plans and graded reading booklets, but combines this with an ongoing support programme to teachers consisting of monthly visits from specialist reading coaches. The third intervention is designed to improve parent involvement in and monitoring of learning to read.

The realisation of this project depends on a unique partnership of government departments, NGOs, donors and academic researchers. The Early Grade Reading Study has been placed on the National Evaluation Plan of the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency. Generous financial support is being provided by the ZENEX Foundation, UNICEF, Anglo American Chairman’s Fund and the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation. Class Act has been appointed as the service provider to manage the implementation of all three interventions. The Human Sciences Research Council has been appointed to conduct assessments of reading proficiency for the sake of measuring impact.

The project targets Grade 1 learners in 230 schools and the implementation will cover a two year period. In February 2015 a baseline data collection, facilitating the project evaluations, was completed. A midline data collection will commence in November 2015 and an endline data collection will be conducted in November 2016.

Preparations for project implementation included extensive consultation with the North West Provincial Education Department Senior Management, meetings with district officials, school principals, subject advisors and teacher union representatives. All interventions have now been fully operational since the start of the term.  Additionally, the first two-day teacher training workshop was successfully held in February. This project supports the vision held by the Minister of Basic Education, Mrs Angie Motshekga  when she said in the 2015 Budget Vote Speech, “Madam Speaker, we must become a reading nation!” Minister Motshekga also highlighted in her speech that all South Africans should take up the theme of “A reading nation, is a winning nation”.