Every year, Rhodes 欧洲杯足球网_外围买球app推荐-投注|官网 celebrates an academic who has excelled in engaged scholarship by presenting the Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Award for Community Engagement. The Award recognises academics who have leveraged deep and meaningful relationship-building in the teaching, research and community engagement activities. 2024 Recipient of the 2024 Award, Professor Samantha Naidu presented her work in the Foundation Phase literacy space in August.
Prof Sam Naidu, a Lecturer in the Department of Language and Literary Studies, coordinates CERCO - Community Engagement Reading Clubs Orientation. CERCO is a short course that prepares student volunteers to set up and manage reading clubs with various organisations across Makhanda. These students spend an hour a week engaging with learners and contributing to addressing literacy in Makhanda.
CERCO was launched in 2014 and continues to support early literacy development in foundation-phase learners.
As part of the VCs Award event, Prof Sam invited a panel comprising a local teacher involved in the project, student volunteer, a former participant of the reading clubs who is now a 欧洲杯足球网_外围买球app推荐-投注|官网 student, as well as other stakeholders in the clubs.
Nompumelelo ‘Mpumi’ Frans is a passionate primary school teacher who has gone above and beyond for her young learners for decades. Mpumi is a teacher at C.M. Vellem started reading clubs with Prof Naidu in 2014, as a response to an ongoing crisis in her classroom - her Grade 3 class was largely unable to read.
“Some of them cried when I asked them to read,” she said. “So I said, let’s not read—let’s talk about the pictures.”
With training from retired professors also invested in the reading space, and with the support of volunteers, Mpumi’s school introduced interactive, low-pressure reading sessions. “The volunteers were like angels,” she said. “They were warm, encouraging, and made the children feel safe enough to try, make mistakes, and grow.”
Lindani Sifanele, a student leader and student volunteer in several RUCE programmes shared his journey in the programme. "Children remember visuals more than text," he explained, "but beyond that, what they truly remember is how you make them feel. When they see you show up, every week, they begin to trust you."
His work with children not only improved their reading abilities, but also shaped his own growth. “I became more patient, empathetic, and better at communicating. More importantly, I realised that creating safe, welcoming spaces makes all the difference.”
The project extended its reach by involving parents. A community session was held to show families how they could support reading at home—even if they couldn’t read themselves.
Through Lindani, CERCO’s reach went beyond communities in Makhanda. He recalled how, after learning the value of reading aloud to children, he encouraged his sister—who was raising a vulnerable child—to start reading at home. “Change doesn’t always begin in big programmes,” he added. “Sometimes it starts with one conversation.”
Today, the legacy of that intervention persists. Mpumi proudly shared that her Grade 4 learners now voluntarily read to younger classes every morning—without being asked or rewarded.
“Because they know what reading did for them, they want to pass it on,” she said. “Reading has become the culture of our school.”
Prof Naidu reflects on the decade-long process of developing CERCO. “What began as a small intervention has grown into a model of sustainable community engagement,” he said. “We are seeing generational change—children helping children, parents helping parents.”
Makhanda has higher literacy rates among Foundation Phase learners than other areas in the province. As literacy rates among foundation-phase learners continue to be a national concern, the CERCO model offers simplicity and impact.