Early Grade Reading Instruction for Home Language in Foundation Phase
Title: EGRI – Early Grade Reading Instruction
Location: KwaZulu-Natal
Timing: 2022-2026
Budget: 4,840,000 Euro
Donor: Directorate-general Development, Belgium
Sector: Foundation Phase (Grades R-3)
Focus areas:
- Teacher Professional Development
- Professional Learning Communities
- Early Grade Reading
- Emergent Reading
- Play Based Learning – Learning through Play
- Online resources / blended learning
VVOB – Education for development, supports the Department of Basic Education (DBE), the South African Council for Educators (SACE) and the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Department of Education (KZNDoE) to improve Early Grade Reading Instruction for Home Language in Foundation Phase.
Reading is the foundational skill upon which all others build. However, in South Africa a very high number of children do not learn to read for meaning, e.g., PIRLS (2016) shows that 78% of Grade 4 learners cannot read for meaning in their home language.
International reviews of interventions to improve early grade reading instruction show the effectiveness of what is often referred to as the ‘education triple cocktail’: lesson plans, reading resources and training & coaching. The pilots of the Early Grade Reading Studies in South Africa confirmed this and identified on-site teacher coaching as crucial. However, the fact that a very high number of schools need to be supported by limited numbers of district officials, makes on-site coaching by district officials impossible, while hiring extra coaches is a very costly and thus not scalable solution.
The Early Grade Reading Instruction programme aims to improve the efficiency of this model by improving delivery of district training (e.g., supporting training with online resources, exploring blended learning) and testing Professional Learning Communities as alternatives for coaching. More effective training approaches will lighten the workload of district officials. Professional Learning Communities (supported from within the school) will allow District Officials to focus more of their time supporting the schools that need it most.
The intervention will build on the work of relevant organisations such as NECT/PSRIP, PILO/Jika iMfundo, PSRIP, Funda Wande, and support the National and Provincial reading strategies.
Evidence, based on solid research on effectiveness and cost will be used in scaling up and shared with all relevant stakeholders at national level.
