Learning to read is foundational to every child’s schooling journey and thereafter, yet too many children in South Africa are still being left behind.

In 2021, the North West Province Department of Education, UNICEF and the Danish Hempel Foundation rolled out the Early Grade Reading Programme (EGRP) in Grades 1 to 3 in schools across the province. The programme included the training of Foundation Phase teachers who teach Setswana (the most spoken language in the province) First Language and English First Additional Language.

UNICEF South Africa and the Danish Hempel Foundation offer strategic support and programme interventions to the Department of Basic Education, which runs the EGRP.

The EGRP is a response to one of the biggest developmental challenges facing South Africa, namely the concerning number of children who do no learn to read-for-meaning in the early years of school.

Teachers who are part of the programme say they have seen a marked improvement in their classrooms and are better equipped to teach learners to read and write.