Reading Is Kwaai High School Teacher Starts Mobile Library For Learners

Nigel Mortley describes himself as an ordinary oke who really likes children to read. Last year, he started a mobile library called Reading is Kwaai, for learners who have limited access to books because their schools do not have libraries.

I travel with twelve boxes every week to my schools, six in the boot and six on the backseat, he says.

In 2020, I started working with a group who were running extra lessons on Sunday mornings for learners from five schools - Grades 11 and 12. They would do an hour and a half of Mathematics, Physical Science and English. And what I discovered teaching these learners English was that they werent reading. Not necessarily because they didnt want to read, but they didnt have access to books.

GroundUp highlighted the issue - that 74 of public schools did not have libraries. That article really struck a chord with me, and I quote it to people all the time, said Mortley.

Last year, we reported that about three quarters of South Africas public schools dont have libraries. An Education Facility Management System report from August 2023 showed that in August 2021, 74 of the nearly 23 000 public schools were without libraries. Of the schools with libraries, 43 were not fully stocked, meaning only 14 of the countrys public schools had fully stocked libraries. More recent figures are not available.