Education nonprofit help2read is placing the youth at the centre of their approach to South Africa's reading crisis. By employing young people from local communities as literacy tutors in their partner schools, they are filling two needs with one deed.

South African education nonprofit help2read is not only seeking to improve reading outcomes in schools, but also involving young adults in their efforts to make a difference. Their approach is chipping away at two major problems facing our society: poor child literacy and high youth unemployment rates.

The nonprofit trains and employs young people from the communities surrounding their partner schools to be English literacy tutors, providing both group and one-on-one support for struggling Foundation Phase learners.

"Covid-19 has played a role in almost creating a lost generation, but there is good news," said Lynn Cumpsty-Steyn, CEO of help2read.

"Help2read is a tiny NGO - we've reached 30,000 plus learners since 2006... We give young people 10 months of employment, we train them to give one-on-one attention to learners, and our assessment is showing that the help2read learners... improve dramatically in the building blocks of reading. So, it can be done."

The results of the 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls), released on 16 May 2023, showed that 81% of Grade 4 learners in South Africa were unable to read for meaning in any language.

Through Early Grade Reading Assessments (Egra) - standardised tests meant to...