Tackling the Literacy Crisis in Kenya’s Slums
A survey by the Kenyan government revealed that 60% of Kenya’s schoolchildren struggle with basic literacy—and in the slums, where there are no government-run schools, the situation is even worse. To address this, ChallengeAid launched two pilot Accelerated Learning Programs (ALPs) in our Schools of Hope in Nairobi. Designed to fast-track reading and writing skills for 9–11-year-olds, the ALP trained teachers to deliver focused, intensive lessons. Students were assessed every two weeks and by the end, 70% had made significant progress.
Building on this success, we’re now training all School of Hope supervisors in the ALP method and partnering with Strathmore University to train student volunteers as literacy coaches. These coaches will support 11 informal schools in the slums—taking the program beyond Schools of Hope, which run in the evenings, weekends and holidays, and into the school day.
From April 22nd – 25th, ChallengeAid, in collaboration with Zizi Afrique, delivered a 4-day training session at Strathmore University to boost the numbers of ALP-trained teachers and supervisors. We’re proud to announce that 18 new ALP teachers are now ready to make a difference – 11 talented students from Strathmore and 7 dedicated teachers from community schools in Mathare, Kawangware, and Kibera.
The training included hands-on workshops and live classroom sessions, ensuring our teams are equipped to teach basic literacy to young learners who need it most.
With schools reopening next week, the newly trained teachers will be launching catch-up sessions to help bridge the literacy gap. We can’t wait to see the progress unfold this term!
Thank you as always to @wcvacymru for supporting the Accelerated Literacy Program 👏🙌
