Shy primary school children in Alexandra are finding their voice through the Run Alex educational programme, Read Alex, according to its development secretary general, Anelisa Mzimazi.

Her comment followed Read Alex’s latest spelling bee, held at Assemblies of God in Alexandra on August 29. The competition brought together roughly 68 primary school learners from Grade 3, Grade 6 and Grade 7 across local schools, building on an earlier session that hosted about 54 learners from grades two, four and five.

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Combined, the sessions have now drawn over 100 learners, a marked climb from the programme’s early days, when as few as 30 children from only two grades took part. Mzimazi said the growth reflects the initiative’s expanding impact on local young people: “The biggest growth has been confidence. Having to see a child that was shy and unable to read to other children, now able to do that, means they trust themselves now.”

Mzimazi said the issue in Alexandra has never been about learners’ ability, but about a lack of platforms to develop them and let them show what they can do. That, she said, is exactly what Read Alex is doing.

Her observations sit against a difficult national picture. The department of basic education’s uphumelele national survey, released in February, found that only 30% of Grade 1 to Grade 3 learners read at grade level in their home language, with up to 25% of Grade 3 learners in some languages unable to read a single word, and 15% of those assessed scoring zero. Mzimazi said, as a teacher, she sees this gap firsthand in the classroom, noting that Grade 4 learners are often found reading at a Grade 2 level.

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The spelling bee builds on Read Alex’s weekend reading sessions, held every Saturday from 08:00 to 09:00 at Kwabhekilanga Sports Grounds, which focus on vocabulary, reading habits and public speaking – the groundwork, in Mzimazi’s account, for the confidence she has watched learners build.

Run Alex chairperson Mokakatla Masekela credited that growth to consistency. “The spelling bee is one of many activities that started from a one-hour allocated time of reading every weekend.”

He further thanked volunteers, stakeholders, schools and parents for their backing. “Parents’ participation is very important in our junior development programme,” he added.

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