Scaling Literacy Reform in South Africa: Evidence from the Reading Support Project Impact Evaluation

• In Event: Language, Literacy, and Learning: Evidence from Education Reforms

Proposal

Introduction / Relevance

South Africa’s literacy crisis is deeply rooted in its apartheid history, which left behind a dual education system: a well-resourced minority of schools and a vastly under-resourced majority. Today, over 80% of Grade 4 learners cannot read for meaning, perpetuating cycles of inequality and limiting opportunities for social mobility. In response, the South African Department of Basic Education (DBE), in partnership with donors, implemented the Reading Support Project (RSP) to scale interventions proven effective in earlier pilots. By testing the resilience of these interventions under government leadership and at scale, the RSP offers lessons not only for literacy improvement but also for how education can contribute to addressing structural divides that remain a legacy of South Africa’s past.
Context

The RSP built on the Early Grade Reading Study (EGRS I), which had demonstrated that combining structured lesson plans, materials, and teacher coaching could deliver large and lasting learning gains. The RSP extended this model across two districts in the North West Province, layering additional interventions - coaching, School Management Team (SMT) support, and classroom libraries - onto a government-delivered base programme of training and material provision. Unlike the earlier pilot, which was tightly resourced, the RSP operated under real-world constraints: lower funding intensity, increased coach caseloads, and COVID-19 disruptions. This setting provided a rare opportunity to study how interventions perform when scaled through national systems.

Methods / Mode of Inquiry

The evaluation employed a randomised controlled trial design. All participating schools received structured lesson plans and teacher training, while subsets were randomly assigned to receive additional interventions. Learner outcomes were assessed in Setswana (Home Language) and English First Additional Language (EFAL) in 2021. Regression models estimated independent and interaction effects, controlling for baseline performance.

Findings / Key Results

Coaching Works, Even at a Low Dose
RSP coaching led to statistically significant gains on written assessment tasks in both Setswana and English.
Impact on Setswana Written Assessment: +0.095 Standard Deviations (SD)
Impact on EFAL Written Assessment: +0.098 Standard Deviations (SD)
Coaching still generated positive impacts despite an average of just three visits over two years, compared to a planned twenty.

Contribution / Implications

The RSP provides a core lesson: Scaling requires more than technical design - government leadership is critical to embedding reforms, but it must be matched with adequate resources and capacity to maintain fidelity and maximise gains in a resource constrained environment. In contexts marked by deep inequality, such reforms carry significance beyond learning - they are central to addressing the legacies of exclusion that continue to fragment South African society.

Conclusion / Takeaway

The RSP demonstrates that evidence-based literacy reforms can deliver results at scale, but only when closely aligned with system capacity and sustained government ownership. In South Africa’s case, literacy is not just an education priority; it is a social imperative, offering a pathway to greater equity, inclusion, and cohesion in the aftermath of apartheid.

Authors

• Mohamed Faarez Gamieldien, Genesis Analytics

• STEPHEN G TAYLOR, Department of Basic Education