News and Updates - Teach Any Child or Adult to Read

News and Updates

29 November 2002	John Kehoe function at Johannesburg Prison Thanks to the extraordinary cooperation of the Department of Correctional Services, about 200 Readucate Instructors and their learners were transported from every prison in Gauteng early on Friday morning. Generous as ever, Vodacom supplied the refreshments - sandwiches and tea on arrival and lunch after the function. John Kehoe's motivational speech was so dynamic and inspiring he was given a standing ovation. He generously gave 250 of his own books as gifts to all those present. The Johannesburg Area Manager and Gauteng Commissioner both paid tribute to Vodacom for support in rehabilitating prisoners through the Readucate programme and the prisoners on the programme also expressed their great gratitude. Over thirty Readucate Instructors received their Preliminary Readucate Certificates and many learners were awarded Certificates of Achievement and a bible donated by Trustee Keith Craig for completing the Readucate course under a Readucate Instructor. Initial figures show that about 1500 prisoners are becoming literate through our prisoner Readucate Instructors. For the first time in the history of the Trust two prisoners, John Ferrier from Nigel Prison and Velly Molefe from Pretoria Central, (both Vodacom!) won the READUCATOR OF THE YEAR Trophy, much to the delight of all the prisoners. We're enormously grateful to the Department of Correctional Services, Vodacom, FCB Impact, our Trustees and the Readucate staff for all the support we've had this year. Now that we've ended the year on such a high note let's hope that it augurs well for 2003. Top
1 July 2002	Readucate One-Day Conference and Memorial Dinner "READING IS LIVING" To commemorate and celebrate the inspiration of Rebecca Ostrowiak, whose books "Teach Any Child or Adult to Read" encapsulate her unswerving belief in everyone's potential, a Readucate Conference was held in Germiston on July 1, 2002. Programme... Top
15 June 2002	Edna Freinkel awarded the The Rotary Club Paul Harris Fellowship for her activities in the area of Literacy. Top
January 2002	Letter received from the South African Minister of Education, Kader Asmal: "May I take this opportunity of wishing you success in arranging the Reading Seminar. My Ministry acknowledges and respects your organisation's commitment and dedication to raising the standards of reading and education in our schools and prisons. We are aware of your literacy work in Gauteng with prisoners and the desperate need for this type of intervention. One of the main challenges of my Ministry is to address the poor literacy levels in South Africa. It is against this background that the Ministry supports and endorses your Reading Seminar. Further, it is hoped that the Seminar will be a productive engagement that will assist in creating a more literate South African society." Top
January 2002	Vodacom are so pleased with the rehabilitation effect of Readucate on the Instructors and their learners, as well as the fact that they have an honest means of livelihood once released from jail, that they are donating a further R265 000 for another 60 inmates to be trained in Gauteng prisons. Thus all Gauteng prisons will now be Readucate prisons so that if inmates are transferred from one to another, they will still be under the Readucate umbrella. Readucate is deeply grateful for this continued support from Vodacom who have a high sense of social responsibility. Once again, the Department of Correctional Services has ensured that Readucation continues wherever funding is available for it to do so. Top
January 2002	Late in January 20 prisoners, drawn from the four major prisons in Northern Province, gathered at Pietersburg Prison for a Readucate course run by Readucators Cathey Serokolo and Beauty Kgatla and sponsored by Sanlam Investment Management. More... This follows on a major workshop that the National Department of Correctional Services agreed to sponsor for prison Education Officers early in December at Leeuwkop Prison in Johannesburg. Seventy-six Gauteng and eleven Northern Province Education Officers heard about Readucate's prisoner rehabilitation programme through prisoners learning how to upgrade literacy amongst fellow functionally and totally illiterate inmates. The workshop was conducted at the request of and by Edna Freinkel, Founder & Trustee of the Readucate Trust. She paid tribute to the Department and all their personnel for their magnificent co-operation. The Readucate Trust is proud of being a partner in the Department's vision to become a world leader in correctional services. Top
December 2001	Twenty Northern Province teachers were trained during the December school holidays by Readucators Thapedi Chokoe and Shirley de Jager. They all expressed excitement at "at last finding out how to teach properly". Several said that their own confidence had improved, while others were delighted that they themselves had discovered the joy of reading. Some remarked that they had considered taking early retirement they had been so frustrated at not getting the results they hoped for, but they were going to implement Readucate principles and start the school year with new heart. Top
November 2001	Late in November four female and one male prisoner who had been sponsored by Vodacom completed a Readucate course at Johannesburg Prison. The warder who had to accompany the female prisoners expressed such interest, that funding that had been donated for prison work by John Kehoe of Mind Power fame was diverted to cover the cost of her course. By the end of it she was so thrilled with discovering her hidden talents as a natural gifted teacher, that this year she will enrol to study teaching part-time. The other participant was a Salvation Army Minister whose course was covered by the Aaron Beare Foundation. This course was historic as it was the first time in the ten years of the Trust's existence that all participants achieved over 90% in their final test. The course was conducted by Founder & Trustee Edna Freinkel and Readucator Bets Theron, formerly a senior lecturer at the Kimberley Teachers' Training College. Top
14 August 2001	At least 600 young prisoners in Gauteng will receive basic literacy training, as a result of a R250 000 donation from the Vodacom Foundation. This donation covered the training of 60 literate juvenile inmates and will enable them to teach other young offenders the basics of literacy. More... Top
7th June, 2001	Readucate received a cheque for R10 000 in front of hundreds of Mind Power students towards our work in prisons. Not only was the donation welcome, but we had the opportunity of telling a wide audience about Readucate's rehabilitation work in prisons and teacher development in schools. We are deeply grateful to John Kehoe for suggesting this donation to his students. Part of the John Kehoe Mind Power donation not only helped sponsor a Readucate Insructor, but also went to buying tape recorders and cassettes for 7 Gauteng and 4 Northern Province prisons. Tape recorders are essential from two aspects. Firstly, the master programme that Readucate Instructors receive has five audio cassettes for correct pronunciation. The Instructors themselves find these extremely useful, as for most of them English is a second, third or even fourth language. Their learners also benefit from hearing the tapes in class. Secondly, for distance education it is useful to hear an actual lesson to hear the Instructor's tone of voice, how he responds to questions, how he puts over the techniques he is trying to teach. Top
	Our ever hardworking and generous American donors, Toby and Charles Milner, have collected funds for another 15 teachers to become Readucate Instructors in the Lillydale area. More... Top
Nov, 2000	Edna Freinkel lectures on "Recidivism reduction through literate prisoners teaching illiterate and dyslexic inmates" at the 51st Annual Conference of The International Dyslexia Association, Washington DC. More... Top
	Readucate Prison Project now operating in 6 prisons in South Africa. More... Top
Winter, 2000	"Dyslexia in South Africa" published in the Winter 2000 edition of the International Reading Association newsletter, Perspectives. More... Top
25th September, 2000	Hundreds of children, parents, teachers, inmates and staff graced the 8th Annual Readucate "Open" Day. More... Top
5-12 August 2000	An American community sponsors the literacy upgrading of a South African village through Readucate. More... Top
23 November, 1999	A celebration of thirty years of The Rebecca Ostrowiak School of Reading and eight years of the Readucate Trust. Read more about the celebration... Top
July, 1999	Human Sciences Research Council this year published a Report on the evaluation of the 1997/8 Samancor-Billiton/Northern Cape Education Department/Readucate Pilot Project in which 187 teachers were taught how to teach reading. The Report found that Readucate's effect on the culture of learning and teaching was "resoundingly positive" (available from HSRC Library).
1998	Readucate wins the Library and Literature Category in the 1998 Awards of the Northern Cape Arts Council. Top
2-4 December, 1997	EDNA FREINKEL LECTURES AT FUTURE WORLD CONFERENCE International Conference & Exhibition, "Educating for the 21st Century" Speakers from: Bulgaria, England, Luxembourg, Finland, Georgia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Thailand, USA and South Africa. Top
	Readucate has been accepted as a Co-operating Organisation for the SA Commission of UNESCO.