78% of South African Grade 4 children cannot read for meaning in any language. Children need to develop early literacy skills at a young age so that they’re prepared for Grade R. ECD Practitioners have an important role to play in encouraging and supporting young children to develop their reading skills. As part of Ntataise’s vision to extend access to quality ECD in marginalised communities, we are working with Saide and the Open University of the United Kingdom to support ECD trainers and practitioners to complete the ‘Teaching Early Reading’ online course. The badged online course was created by TESSA (Teacher Education in Sub Sahara Africa) in collaboration with Saide and is available on the Open University’s Open Learn Create platform.

Through the Ntataise Network, a total of 118 ECD Practitioners have completed the course so far. There have been many successes and lessons learnt over the course of the year. The project has not only improved the digital comfort levels of the ECD practitioners involved but has also resulted in practitioners recognising online training as another option for further learning and development.

During a recent evaluation visit to various ECD sites, practitioners and trainers reflected positively on their experiences of completing the course. In their words:

“I will try more online courses now. It is easy and I can do it at my own pace. I just need data.”

” I would give it four stars for the information you get. It is helpful and easy to use during your lessons and can be easily downloadable.”

“It is relevant to the level 4 training that I am currently conducting as it talks about basics that practitioners should know as they plan to develop children’s reading”