Project Literacy is proud to announce that our Run Home to Read project has won the Silver Award of the Impumelelo Innovations Award Trust 2010 Sustainability Award. Our prize money will enable us to create a small playground for the children visiting the Bala-o-tsebe library in the village of Mahlomelong.
to view our video.




In South Africa the legacy of apartheid and rural poverty has led to severe educational neglect, especially in the early childhood development sector.

Many children start school without effective pre-literacy skills, i.e. the reading, writing and cognitive behaviours that develop into conventional literacy later. Education experts say that the absence of these skills impairs children's cognitive development and their formal learning abilities. The proof of this is reflected in the poor 2009 matric pass rate and the huge number of learners who drop out of the school system between Grade 1 and 12.

Drawing on a pilot project conducted by the Department of Library and Information Science at UNISA, Project Literacy designed the Run Home to Read programme. The Run Home to Read programme seeks in part to remedy the absence of Early Childhood Development (ECD) practices for poor and rural children through mother tongue family literacy programmes. We give parents and caregivers the tools to develop their children's early literacy skills at home so they can make the most of their formal education at school. The impact of this project is profound both because there is a need for educational improvements particularly for pre-primary school children, but also because there is a strong desire on the part of many adults to give their children a better chance than they had.

The Run Home to Read project

>>	Encourages parents and caregivers to read to children at home to develop the early literacy skills they need at school.
>>	Trains adults with low literacy levels how to read to their children, benefiting both adults and children.
>>	Makes reading fun for children. If reading is enjoyable, the benefits for their cognitive development are easier to access.
>>	Prepares children for school by introducing them to reading skills.
>>	Strengthens family life and enhances the social development of children.
>>	Introduces the use of and access to libraries to poor and rural families.

Adult caregivers, who previously did not perceive themselves as having a role to play in their child's early literacy development, now have a renewed sense of confidence in their abilities. Many of these caregivers are illiterate, but are now equipped with the skills to engage their children in reading and other stimulating activities. Armed with increased confidence some caregivers have sought further Adult Basic Education and Training. This positive change in their confidence levels has contributed to their increased involvement in their children's formal schooling experience with parents questioning teaching methodology and requesting support for their children with special needs.

Project Literacy rolled out the first Run Home to Read programme in Limpopo in June 2006 and with the invaluable support of our Foundation Partners we have expanded the project to include a number of villages in Soshanguve in Pretoria. Up to the end of August 2009 Project Literacy has trained 500 adult caregivers and over 1 000 pre-school children bringing the total number of trained caregivers and preschool children to 2 400 and 4 800 respectively!

Click here to see images of Libraries

Laughing Children

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