A non-profit organisation, Santa Shoebox Project, says it hopes to address the literacy crisis in South Africa with the help of Basic Education, by installing reading corners in early childhood development centres countrywide - equipped with a revolving bookshelf, age-appropriate books, a comfortable bench, and an interactive rug.
This as today marks International Literacy Day , which is of particular importance in South Africa, a country plagued by a literacy challenges.
A recent study has shown that most children in SA are not developmentally ready when they start school.
CEO at the Santa Shoebox Project, Deb Zelezniak says these corners have positively impacted the lives of thousands of children to date but more still needs to be done.
We are still nowhere near the literacy rates that we need to support a growing economy, bottom line from the cradle to the boardroom that link is simply not being made. We are rolling these reading corners out annually, in the first six months of the year and in the last six months we address our set of shoe gift drive. It wasnt much of a game changer, Im not going to lie but with the new minister stepping into her role, I have high hopes.
