The Mellon Educate literacy programme is designed to address the low rate of literacy in South African primary school aged children.
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According to the 2021 PIRLS study, 81% of South African Grade 4 children cannot read for meaning in any language i.e. cannot locate and retrieve explicitly stated information in a simple and easy text.
COVID 19 PANDEMIC WIPED OUT 1.3 YEARS OF LEARNING, EQUIVALENT TO 6.5 YEARS OF LEARNING PROGRESS.
Our Community Centred Approach
The Mellon Literacy programme offers support to children struggling with the basics of literacy and language in the foundation phase of their education. One-on-one tutoring takes place in the rich environment of the Literacy Hub, built and resourced by Mellon Educate, as well as in community based libraries. The programme has been proven through a two-year pilot across three primary schools and is now being expanded into multiple schools.
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Baseline Assessments Participants are identified through baseline assessments by the school.
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Participants Participants are provided with weekly one-to-one tutoring designed to accelerate the child’s early reading skills in both their home language and English.
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Teachers Teachers and ECD practitioners are offered workshops to increase their understanding of the literacy programme and to broaden their own literacy teaching skills.
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Caregivers Workshops are held for parents each term so that they can assist their child with homework.
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Learner Progress The efficacy of the literacy intervention is assessed by measuring the average improvement of the group versus a control group.
Impact by Literacy Hub
The Mellon Educate Literacy Programme benefits over 834 people per school.
Reaching 500,000 Children Across South Africa
Our intention is to scale up and replicate our model for additional disadvantaged schools and communities across the country.
“Literacy is essential in equipping children to succeed in education, in work and in life – and it is possibly the single most important factor in overcoming poverty, unemployment, and inequality.”
— President Cyril Ramaphosa, SONA February 2019
Addressing Youth Unemployment
Our Literacy Tutors are recruited from the young school-leavers within the local communities of the schools
