Journey Towards Improved Foundational Literacy & Numeracy: Lessons from 5 years of the Funda Wande Randomised Control Trials in South Africa

• In Event: Protesting through and with language

Proposal

South Africa’s education system remains a tale of two worlds; with poor learning outcomes in low-socioeconomic status (SES) schools and better outcomes in well-resourced schooling environments. The 2021 PIRLS study confirmed that home-and-school SES remains a key determinant of reading achievement in the 4th grade, and that South Africa’s Grade 4 learners (288 points) performed significantly below the PIRLS center point of 500 points compared to other countries. These results mirror the pervasive socioeconomic and learning inequities that are observable throughout South Africa’s basic education system.

The development of strong foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) skills in children under the age of 10 is a prerequisite for future academic achievement and ensuring their holistic development. While the latest PIRLS results serve as a reminder of the many learning gaps that exist in foundational literacy, results in numeracy also leave much to be desired. The UIS Fact Sheet No.46 of 2017 showed that numeracy outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa were very low with 86% of girls and 80% of boys failing to reach the minimum proficiency levels expected at their age. It is crystal clear that addressing learning poverty and other systemic inefficiencies that make it difficult for children to learn is a catalytic move towards ensuring equity in education.

Over the past 5 years, Funda Wande has piloted two Randomised Control Trials (RCTs) in two South African provinces, spanning 177 schools (120 in Limpopo, 57 in the Eastern Cape). Results from the RCTs show that Funda Wande’s interventions have a positive impact on FLN outcomes when used with high fidelity, and that government buy-in and adoption is a necessary condition for scaling interventions. Access to LTSM (Learning and Teaching Support Materials), improving pedagogical content knowledge amongst educators and providing support through TAs (Teaching Assistants) and Coaches remain as key ingredients of the Funda Wande intervention(s).

Through discourse and reflection, this presentation will provide insights from the Funda Wande RCTs over the past five years; with attention to what works and what can scale. Reflections will also include key challenges and opportunities pertaining to FLN interventions in low-SES schooling environments.

Author

• Zolani Metu, Funda Wande