Foundational Skills

Children who fail to read in the early grades fall further behind each school year, as the ability to read is critical for acquiring other types of knowledge. Learning to read constitutes the building blocks upon which a child’s education is built. As often emphasized, “children must first learn to read before they can read to learn.”

Literacy acquisition in the first years of primary school or earlier is especially critical for academic success in later grades. Poorly performing students struggle to catch up, and many of them drop out of school. Children who do not develop reading skills during early primary education are on a lifetime trajectory of limited educational attainment and, therefore, limited economic opportunities. Furthermore, the educational achievement of a country’s population directly correlates with its economic growth rate.

Research points to three areas where the involvement of families and communities can be most beneficial for improving early reading: 1) providing books and other materials to read at home, 2) engaging in daily literacy interactions with children at home, and 3) having an enabling environment that supports parents and communities to transform behaviors and ensure all children have opportunities to read.

World Vision complements and strengthens what children learn in school by guiding parents and communities to better support the literacy skills of their children. We partner with parents to discuss the importance of learning to read in early primary school and guide them with practical techniques to support their children to read at home and in their community. This type of involvement is an important way of supporting children as they learn to read and foster their love of reading.

Rwanda: USAID Rwanda Uburezi Iwacu (Homes and Communities) activity
The primary objective of the USAID Uburezi Iwacu project in Rwanda was to ensure that all children have a safe, healthy, and stimulating home and community environment. USAID Uburezi Iwacu supports families in creating home environments that foster children’s learning through:

1. Encouraging positive parenting approaches
2. Providing conducive reading spaces
3. Reading to children and listening to children read
4. Utilizing reading materials
5. Participating in literacy activities
6. Engaging with schools to support children’s reading

USAID Uburezi Iwacu engaged communities by providing high-quality and accessible literacy materials, as well as 12 community libraries. The project also facilitated 14 community initiatives that support children’s well-being, language development, literacy, and social-emotional learning.

USAID Uburezi Iwacu established 13,085 community reading clubs. These reading clubs are led by 26,170 Community Education Workers (CEWs) and 3,189 Cell Volunteer Coordinators who provided coaching and mentoring based on recommendations from the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Quality Assurance (MEQA) framework. Most cell volunteers have an education background, including some teachers and retired education professionals. All volunteers have completed either secondary or higher education. Of the CEWs, 77% are young volunteers aged between 18 and 30.