Solving South Africa’s Literacy & Numeracy Crisis

Equipping Teachers to Ensure Every Child Can Read For Meaning And Calculate With Confidence By Age 10

Our why

Our mission

81% of Grade 4 learners in South Africa can not read for meaning in any language.

South Africa’s education system faces challenges, including insufficient foundational literacy and numeracy skills among foundation phase learners. There is a need to scale successful interventions, improve teacher pedagogical skills, and address gaps in both pre-service and in-service teacher training.

Because every child has a right to read

Our mission is to empower South African teachers with the skills, resources, and support needed to ensure that every child can read with understanding and calculate with confidence by the end of Grade 3. By 2030, we aim to create a generation of well-equipped Grade R-3 teachers who are capable of laying a strong educational foundation for all learners.

Who is Funda Wande?

About us

Funda Wande, a member of Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropies, is a not-for-profit organisation that tests and scales solutions that enable children to read for meaning and calculate with confidence by age 10.

We do this by developing high-quality learning, teaching support materials, pre-and in-service teacher professional development, and designing and supporting models that are rigorously researched. The insights gained from our independent evaluations are used to advocate and influence government take up and scale.

What we do

Testing and scaling solutions that enable South African children to read for meaning and calculate with confidence by age 10

Content Development

We offer comprehensive content development services that deliver high-quality learning and teaching support materials for the Foundation Phase. These materials include:

Teacher guides
Learner activity books
Anthologies
Other subject-specific resources

Research and Advocacy

Our responsible research and advocacy efforts are grounded in:

Evidence-driven research
A culture of knowledge-sharing and collaboration to promote informed decision-making and impactful change.

Teacher Training

We provide specialized teacher training programs designed to enhance foundational phase literacy and numeracy outcomes through:

Preparation and classroom-based teacher training and support
Iteration of different models of teacher training and support to continuously improve teaching effectiveness.

Our vision

By 2030, all children in South African will read for meaning and calculate with confidence by age 10

We believe that closing the critical gap in foundational literacy and numeracy will give children a better, more equal chance to succeed and could, ultimately transform education outcomes I n South Africa.

Children Achieving Literacy and Numeracy

All South African children can read with comprehension and calculate confidently by the end of Grade 3.

Empowered Teachers by 2030

All Grade R-3 teachers are well-equipped to teach reading and mathematics effectively by 2030.

Funda Wande:
reading for meaning

Using print and video materials to equip educators to teach Reading for Meaning in Grades R-3 in South Africa

Our Reach and Impact

Impact Across Provinces

Eastern Cape: Success Story

Since its launch in 2019, Funda Wande’s Eastern Cape program has shown significant strides in improving literacy outcomes. Initially, learners in intervention schools outpaced their peers by 43% of a year of learning. By 2022, despite disruptions from COVID-19, students in Funda Wande-supported schools achieved an average of 0.3 standard deviations above their counterparts in both literacy and numeracy, translating to nearly three-quarters of a year of additional learning. Furthermore, the organisation introduced TAs and in-class coaching models, which demonstrated substantial improvements across literacy tasks, with learners 9% more likely to meet Grade 2 reading benchmarks. Funda Wande has also emphasised sustainability by training Heads of Department (HoDs) as in-house coaches, enhancing long-term support for teachers within the provincial system.

Limpopo: Transformative Impact

Funda Wande’s interventions in Limpopo, initiated in 2021, utilised TAs extensively, which proved highly effective. By the third term of 2023, Grade 3 learners in classrooms with TAs showed a 125% improvement in literacy and a 98% increase in numeracy performance compared to their peers. Fluency rates were particularly promising: 32% of learners in schools with both Funda Wande materials and TAs reached the Sepedi fluency benchmark, as opposed to only 15% in control schools. Funda Wande’s model in Limpopo also supports the professional development of TAs, with several advancing to permanent teaching roles, indicating positive career pathways and continuity in teaching support.

Western Cape: Scaling Literacy Through Partnerships

In the Western Cape, Funda Wande began with a 50-school pilot in 2021, expanding in partnership with the Western Cape Department of Education (WCED) to encompass all isiXhosa and Afrikaans no-fee schools by 2023. The intervention leveraged subject advisors to provide teacher training and support, creating a sustainable, scalable model that is delivered through government systems. This province-wide rollout has reached over 861 schools, 3,729 teachers, and 187,405 learners. The collaboration serves as a blueprint for implementing structured pedagogy programs at scale and highlights the benefits of a government-partnered approach.

South African map showing Limpopo, Eastern Cape, and Western Cape as the provinces in which Funda Wande is most active.

Our courses

To ensure all children can read for meaning by 2030, we need more trained coaches, subject advisers, and teachers. Funda Wande offers specialized courses in early literacy and teaching reading in African languages. These courses are available as a formal qualification through Rhodes University’s Advanced Certificate in Early Literacy teaching, or as free materials on our website.

41 Lessons

Numeracy Academy

We believe that every child has the potential to excel in mathematics when given the right tools and support.

15 Lessons

Reading Academy

We believe that every child deserves the opportunity to master the essential skill of reading, which is the foundation for lifelong learning and success.

Our resources

Classroom Resources 

Our classroom resources include Teacher Guides, Learner Activity Books, Big Books, and Anthologies, available for Grades 1 to 3. Use the filters on the left or the search bar above to easily find the resource you’re looking for.

Videos

The Funda Wande videos are designed to support Foundation Phase teachers by demonstrating effective ways to teach reading and mathematics in learners’ home languages. They serve as practical, accessible tools for teacher training, learner support, and caregiver engagement to improve foundational learning outcomes.

Teacher Professional Development

You can sign up for our SACE-accredited Reading and Numeracy Academy by clicking on ‘Our Courses’. This section offers additional resources specifically designed for teachers, available in both video and PDF formats.