Project design and background
The Yizani Sifunde project (isiXhosa for ‘Come, let’s read’) was designed to improve early learning outcomes at under-resourced Eastern Cape preschools.
The project combined abundant books for preschools and for children to own at home (provided by Book Dash) with other high-quality interventions, including training on an in-classroom early literacy programme (Wordworks) and community activations (Nal’ibali).
The project was originally funded by the Liberty Community Trust.
What we learnt
An external evaluation found the eight-month intervention to be highly effective. Key findings were:
- Books predicted outcomes: children with more books at home had better early learning skills, executive functioning and early numeracy.
- Early learning outcomes improved: children’s skills improved by an additional three to six months of learning, on average.
- At-risk children improved most: children who were “falling far behind” at the start of the project gained an additional nine to 13 months of learning.
- Children’s skills improved in domains the project did not explicitly target, including fine motor skills, executive functioning and numeracy.
Internal project monitoring data found that:
- Books prompted sharedreading: After receiving books, parents read with children more often, whether or not they attended parent workshops.
- Books extended the project’s reach: 78% of children who received books shared them with siblings or neighbours.
Learn more
To read more, download key project documents, or scroll down for some highlights.
Project findings: highlights
