The Bidvest Rally to Read initiative visited schools recently to tackle the problems of inadequate literacy, especially in rural areas. Inadequate literacy prevents children from obtaining a good education and therefore Rally to Read was developed to improve reading, writing and general communication.
During the Rally to Read, corporate South Africa has the opportunity to work together to change the lives of rural schoolchildren in partnership with the Department of Education and the READ Educational Trust. 12 schools were visited by the corporate companies that bought sponsorships.
Each sponsor donated two library boxes and R1,000 for learners’ lunches. The sponsorship also includes teacher training. The literacy materials in the library boxes were developed by the READ Educational Trust according to the standards of the Revised National Curriculum of the Department of Basic Education. Grade R learners received books and educational toys sponsored by Mercedes-Benz to prepare them for foundation-phase schooling.
