Background Information

Our Evolving Vision and Mission

Project Literacy was established in 1973 to organise volunteers to teach basic literacy and sewing to domestic workers and gardeners living in urban areas. In 1986 a Trust Fund and a Section 21 company were formed to promote literacy in a more professional way by employing teachers who were retrained to teach adults.

Project Literacy’s current mission statement is to deliver a wide range of education and training programmes to educationally disadvantaged adults, youth and children by way of adult education centres, teacher training, curriculum development and community outreach. Its vision is to effect broad based black socio-economic development through high quality education and training programmes.

We have always developed and used materials in all the languages relevant to the communities. Our beneficiaries have changed enormously over the last 50 years. Now Black youth comprise 65%, unemployed Black people 53% and Black people living in rural areas 53%.

Non-Profit status

We trade through a Non Profit Company, Project Literacy Education Centres (Registration No. 1986/004771/08). We are also registered as a Public Benefit Organisation (PBO 18/11/13/753). The organisation has no shareholders and nonexecutive directors give their time free of charge.

BBBEE Profile

Project Literacy is a Level 1 BBBEE Contributor. Its permanent staff is 84% Black and 98% of its beneficiaries are Black. (Honeycomb BEE Rating: Certificate HR/SED/2811/17, B-BBEE SED Recognition 100%).

Project Literacy has AET programme approval from Umalusi which quality assures the delivery of NQF Level 1 Adult Education and Training Certificates. (UMALUSI accreditation: 16 AET03 00025). Project Literacy is also registered by the Independent Examinations Board as a Foundational Learning Competence FLC training provider. (IEB Training Provider FLC No 2783). Project Literacy is a Level 1 BBBEE Contributor. Its permanent staff is 84% Black and 98% of its beneficiaries are Black. (Honeycomb BEE Rating: Certificate HR/SED/2811/17, B-BBEE SED Recognition 100%).

Financial Integrity

Project Literacy has its financial statements audited every year and we have received unqualified audits without exception throughout our history. We take great pride in our ethical financial management practices.

Accreditation

Project Literacy is accredited as a training provider by the ETDP SETA for Adult Education and Training (AET) Practitioner qualifications, and for a number of unit standard-based programmes including Assessor, Facilitator, Moderator, Coach and Mentor, Financial Literacy and Facilitate Learning in a Community Context. (ETDP SETA Accreditation number is ETDP0348).

Project Literacy has AET programme approval from Umalusi which quality assures the delivery of NQF Level 1 Adult Education and Training Certificates. (UMALUSI accreditation: 16 AET03 00025). Project Literacy is also registered by the Independent Examinations Board as a Foundational Learning Competence FLC training provider. (IEB Training Provider FLC No 2783).

WORKING WITH CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

The Run Home to Read Project, our ECD family literacy programme, turned 13 this year and it continues to reach more families. Project Literacy launched ‘Run Home to Read‘ (RHTR) in June 2006 to tackle the absence of Early Childhood Development (ECD) provision for poor rural, peri-urban and township children by involving their parents and caregivers to develop their children’s early literacy skills at home so they can make the most of their formal education at school. it is community-based, and approval is obtained from the community leaders. Then unemployed local people who are literate in relevant languages are identified to be trained as ‘Reading Champions’. These champions are allocated families where the carers and children are keen to participate, and the reading, playing and learning takes place in and around the homes, using the home language. This empowers the adults involved to participate and creates a situation where the learning is available to all interested parties, including older children who may be struggling at school.

ENSURING QUALITY

Project Literacy's approach to planning and implementing out AET/FLC/RPL programmes is based on the following processess, elements and principles.

• SENSITISATION
• PRE-ASSESSMENT AND PLACEMENT
• PROVISION OF QUALITY AET EDUCATORS/ INSTRUCTORS
• PROVISION OF LEARNER SUPPORT MATERIALS
• INTERACTIVE OUTCOMES-BASED FACE TO FACE AND COMPUTER-BASED BLENDED LEARNING
• MONITORING AND EVALUATION
• EXAMINATION READINESS ASSESSMENT
• FINAL EXAMINATION
• MATHEMATICAL LITERACY, MATHEMATICS AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCE

The course provides for a co-operative learning environment in which pair and group work is favoured above more prescriptive classroom approaches. As mentioned above our Umalusi Programme Approval also covers the delivery of the following electives that may be provided if so desired:

• Mathematics and Mathematical Sciences
• Financial Education
• Arts and Culture
• Economic Management Sciences
• Natural Sciences
• Technology
• Tourism
• Ancillary Health Care
• SMME and
• Computer Literacy

EXTENDING OUR REACH

Community Capacity Enhancement is a methodology that has been tried and tested in various countries. Critical to this methodology is that it utilises tools and skills that promote inclusivity and equality in communities. It involves convening communities through Community Conversations that take place within a six-step framework of relationship building; concern identification; concern exploration; decision-making; action-implementation and reflection and review. The inclusive and participatory dialogic encounters of CCE create space for people to learn from one another.

Since 2013 Project Literacy has been offering services to grow the use of this excellent approach. we have witnessed communities transform and tackle their core challenges together. The visible impact has been profound, often leading to high levels of discovery on the part of communities and community members of their own potential and ability to solve complex social problems affecting them. Through various projects driven by the Department of Social Development, PACTSA, USAID, Gauteng Department of education, the international Organisation for Migration and the South African National AIDS Council we have been able to work with communities trying to deal with problems such as Hiv/AiDS and STDs, TB, social ills affecting orphans, youth and vulnerable children, girl children in schools, migrants, farm workers and gender issues. This is done by enhancing the capacity to run community dialogues and follow the six steps to effect community change. Facilitators and Master Trainers are trained and undergo a hands-on, community level extended mentoring process. The training they receive includes training and assessment to achieve an eTDP SeTA accredited unit standard: Facilitate Learning in Development Practices.