Resource centre launched at Lerato Education Centre
Woolworths and MySchool shine light on literacy in Gauteng
THE Lerato Education Centre in Eikenhof launched the first ever resource centre in Gauteng on March 7, courtesy of Shine Literacy, Woolworths and MySchool.
Shine Literacy is an external non-profit organisation (NPO) that has literacy centres nationally. The centres are known as chapters and so far Shine Literacy has 20 chapters throughout South Africa. Shine Literacy partnered with Lerato in 2017 and has now launched the first resource centre in Gauteng. The resource centre is basically a centre for the children to read, write and learn. They do this through fun, games, help from educators and volunteers and with colourful and interactive resources. The chapters are a way of collaborating with other companies, increasing Shine Literacy’s footprint and creating a culture of reading in schools according to social franchise manager of Shine Literacy, Claudia Stanfield.
More about the Woolworths and MySchool fund-raising campaign
Every festive season, Woolworths and MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet embark on a special drive to raise funds for children in need. Over December 2017, for the second year in a row, they raised funds for Shine Literacy. The campaign, through customers swiping their cards over the festive season and the sale of reusable Shine Literacy shopping bags, raised R654 950.
The country’s low levels of literacy came into the spotlight last year when the results of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Studies (PIRLS) global assessment of the reading skills of nine and 10-year-old children in 50 countries was released.
South Africa ranked lowest of all and according to the results, 78 per cent of South African Grade Four children cannot read for meaning. Internationally, only four per cent of children cannot reach this basic educational benchmark.
“Every year the Woolworths and MySchool fund-raising campaign boosts the capacity of the Woolies shopper to make a difference over the festive season. From November 1 to December 25, 2017, every swipe of a customer’s linked Woolies or MySchool card resulted in an additional donation by Woolies and MySchool to Shine Literacy, a registered non-profit organisation (NPO) with a proven track record of delivering on their mandate to boost literacy in South African schools,” said Helene Brand, marketing and CSI manager at the MySchool fund-raising programme.
MySchool MyPlanet MyVillage is South Africa’s largest community-based fund-raising programme linked to consumer rewards. Customers choose their causes, use their cards at till points or online when they shop, and financial contributions are made at no additional cost to them.
Maurita Weissenberg, executive director of Shine Literacy thanked Woolies customers and the retailer for the important donation.
“It is phenomenal fund-raising. More than half of the donation has been allocated towards supporting our 19 social franchises, known as Shine Chapters, across four provinces, and supporting the ongoing work of our six Shine Centres in the Western Cape,” she said.
Helping Shine Literacy
Shine Literacy engages more than 900 volunteers in its hands-on programme to improve the reading skills of Grade Two and Grade Three learners. The organisation has an award-winning model for scaling up its interventions. The balance of the Woolies Christmas giving campaign has been allocated towards the costs of resources which includes materials, books and stationery. Thanks to Woolies shoppers, 30 ‘Boek Hoeks’ will also be established in the classrooms of under-resourced Gauteng primary schools this year.
“Woolworths has been a dedicated supporter of quality education in South Africa for decades. Literacy is fundamental to learning. We are delighted that our Christmas giving efforts of 2017 can give NPOs such as Shine Literacy and Book Dash a much-needed boost to address the issues and cultivate an empowering culture of reading in our country,” says Sally Munro, special occasions marketing manager at Woolworths.
Local author Zanele Dlamini was also in attendance of the launch and she read to the learners.
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