What we provide – the right materials.
We are changing the perception of what literacy really means. Working with teachers and communities, children are making the crucial shift from “learning to read” to “reading to learn”.
Our projects follow a six-stage plan which takes a holistic and child-centred approach to working with communities, children, teachers, schools and education authorities.
And all our projects in Zambia are managed and run by local staff and our in-house team of teachers who continuously develop and adapt material we supply to our project schools.
53%
GAIN
Results taken from schools in our project schools in Zambia’s Central Province showed that the average functional literacy scores increased from 2.18 to 3.34, a percentage gain of over 53% in a year.
3x
GREATER
When comparing change in learner literacy, research showed that the amount of change in schools where we ran a project was almost 3 times greater than in one of the control schools.
£48.33
PER LEARNER
The Book Bus enrolled 1200 children and 29 teachers onto a project for 17 months. Achieving improved literacy was found to cost the equivalent of only £48.33 per learner, or £2.84 a month.
Measuring Literacy & Efficacy
The Book Bus measures learner literacy levels by using the internationally recognised Functional Literacy Assessment Tool (FLAT).
To support our goals, we invest time and resources into our management systems and processes to ensure that each of our literacy projects achieves their desired outcomes.
We do this through monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) an approach key to our success, as it reveals what works and what doesn’t. Using MEAL also helps to lower cost overall as it helps us to avoid wastage and allows us to focus funding on the activities that are truly effective.
Building on global learning
Prior to the pandemic, The Book Bus also ran literacy programmes in Malawi, Ecuador and India and learning from these programmes continues to inform our activities in Zambia today.
Our projects are supported by charities and funding partners dedicated to improving the lives of children, including the Magic Library Foundation, the Gilchrist Trust, the Ferguson Trust and the TUUT Charitable Trust, and we work with researchers as we continuously review the most effective way to empower teachers and tackle illiteracy.
A long-term commitment
The Book Bus is a well-known and well-respected organisation in Zambia. Since 2008, our buses have brought joy to children.
Cloaked in magical artwork by Sir Quentin Blake, they are packed with books and reading resources and are the cornerstone of how we engage with pupils and communities.
With your help, our teams of dedicated reading mentors can keep our buses on the road and continue to transform lives in the years ahead.
“At age 10, neither Anna or Emmanuel could read. Today, both are in university. Anna is studying medicine and Emmanuel, economics. The impact of The Book Bus on their education is truly inspiring.”
David Gordon
The Book Bus CEO