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
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
- Evidence-driven research
- A culture of knowledge-sharing and collaboration to promote informed decision-making and impactful change.
Teacher Training
We provide specialized teacher professional development programmes 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
Being a trusted partner in Foundational Education
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 children in South Africa 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 for meaning and foundational mathematics effectively by 2030.
Funda Wande:
reading for meaning
Impact Across Provinces
Eastern Cape: Success Story
Since its launch in 2019, Funda Wande’s Eastern Cape programme 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.
AI in Education: Read To Lead
Funda Wande is supporting the Department of Basic Education’s Read to Lead campaign, a national effort to improve reading across South Africa.
Reading is the foundation for all learning. This work aligns with Funda Wande’s mission to ensure that all children can read for meaning and calculate with confidence by age 10.
Read to Lead recognises that improving reading is a shared responsibility. Children need support in classrooms, homes and communities. They need access to books, regular reading opportunities, and adults who can help them build confidence and enjoyment in reading.
This campaign uses WhatsApp as a support tool for multiple stakeholders including NGOs, DBE directorates and Communities.
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.
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.
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