Igniting a passion for reading helps pupils excel
The story of home-grown literacy organisation, InspireZA
In 2017, Times Live published an article stating that four out of five South African Grade 4 pupils fall below the lowest internationally recognized level of reading literacy. Financial adviser and mother Mologadi Mathosa felt so moved by this that she decided to take action and make a difference in the lives of the children in her community. She used her passion for reading and books to start in her spare time, InspireZA, a non-profit organisation that helps children start their journey to success by mastering the skill of reading.
“From the beginning, I knew that if I was going to contribute to education, it had to be in the foundation phase. I decided to change my focus from facilitating English, Maths and Science tutorials at a primary school in Olievenhoutbosch to focusing on reading skills. It made sense why most of the children were battling in subjects like English, Maths and Science because they could not read with comprehension,” says Mathosa. The programme focuses on skills that include, the basics of reading (reading with comprehension and expression, reading for oneself), spelling, pronunciation and listening skills.
To honour her efforts, Mathosa, an employee at Momentum Metropolitan, was recently recognized at the Lesedi Staff Volunteerism Awards for inspiring young readers and promoting literacy via the organisation she founded, InspireZA. The awards precognizes the outstanding volunteer work done by Momentum Metropolitan employees. Mathosa’s work links closely to Momentum’s efforts to drive financial literacy in a country where most adults lack financial literacy skills. “This skills gap is directly related to the often poor decisions South Africans make around money which can have a lasting impact on their futures,” says Charlene Lackay, Group CSI Manager for Momentum Metropolitan.
While Mathosa faced many challenges in the outset as she struggled to get funding and attract talented volunteers, the organisation has seen great success and has evolved from a unilateral approach to education into a comprehensive programme. InspireZA teaches basic reading skills to primary school children, as well as sports, academics and career counselling for high-school children. The rest of the team consists of colleagues Mary Mutlanyane and Lerato Nonyane who has experience working in the career and mentorship space in high schools.
By using informal ways of learning such as games, quizzes and social events, InspireZA nurtures and develops a love for reading which helps children improve their academic standing. According to Mathosa, part of the programme is to expose children to real role models and careers. “I look out for inspirational events or activities that the learners may probably not have been exposed to, such as an extraordinary VIP movie experience of Marvel’s Black Panther movie at Mall of Africa or other reading festivals like the annual SA Book Fair.”
Mathosa and the team also launched the InspireZA Reading Festival as a move to shift the traditional teaching model of offering academic lessons to introducing learners to the basics of reading in a fun and interactive way. A book donation drive was held in 2018 and over 300 books were collected for Walter Sisulu Primary School library and the Olievenhoutbosch community library. “This made a huge difference in the lives of our learners and continues to have an impact as we continue to receive donations due to word of mouth and social media,” says Mathosa.
Now in its 4th year, the Lesedi Staff Volunteerism Awards paid tribute to Mathosa’s use of her love for reading to inspire children and young adults to take interest in the world around them. “Literacy is the starting point of any journey. Knowledge puts you in control of your future, your decisions, your life aspirations and one day, your financial goals by being financially literate,” concludes Mathosa.
Anyone wanting to assist or donate books can contact the InspireZA team via social media.
