South African Literacy Program Reaches More Than Two Million Adults

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The fight for literacy has recently seen a great deal of success in South Africa. The country’s Kha ri Gude literacy program reported that it has registered more than two million adults for basic literacy education since its inception in April of 2008.

The government-sponsored campaign consists of a massive network of volunteer educators who oversee a minimum of 18 students each year. These educators are just one part of a hierarchy of local supervisors and district coordinators who report to the Department of Basic Education.

Through this system, Kha ri Gude is able to not only distribute hundreds of thousands of sets of comprehensive curriculum materials, but also collect learner portfolios to measure and assess students’ skill levels upon completion of the program. The result is that more than 40,000 literacy classes take place across South Africa each year, and 80 percent of those enrolled complete the six-month program.

The program’s efforts are dedicated to reducing the number of nonliterate adults in South Africa by 50 percent by 2015, as part of the country’s commitment to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. This is crucial, since more than 169 million adults in sub-Saharan Africa lacked basic literacy skills as of 2010.

For more information about Kha ri Gude, read the full article here: http://mg.co.za/article/2012-11-09-a-hidden-education-success-story.

Comments

  1. UnknownDecember 2, 2012 at 9:04 PM

    Improving literacy in this way is so commendable when considering the doors that open up to individuals when they are able to read. Knowing that 169 million lacked the skills to read in sub-Saharian Africa in 2010 is mind boggling. I am thankful that there are programs like Kha ri Gude thaqt have goals set to diminish this problem by half in the next 3 years. Please continue to let the world know of your fight so that this and programs like it can gain the support they deserve.

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