At Kenya Connect, we believe that a child who can read, write and communicate has the confidence to face the world. What about the child who is struggling read?
Our School Mobile Library Program is bringing books to 54 schools each year, but what happens if a child can’t read? In 2026, we are focusing on foundational Literacy. We are part of an innovative pilot with Nyanaspo AI who have developed an assessment to determine if children can read, and if they are struggling, what’s the road block? Is it that they don’t know letters or can’t read a word or is it that they are not comprehending what they are reading. Using the data, we are training teachers in the TARL methodology.
Sixteen teachers from 6 schools attended a “Teaching At The Right Level” TARL training to help assist struggling learners catch up in reading. It was an engaging session as teachers interacted and shared different teaching strategies on how to assist struggling readers. The training was facilitated by Nyansappo. The teachers were taken through the NAO assessment to measure the reading levels of the learners before starting the intervention. This was our first session with the teachers and we will have addition workshops to support the teachers in helping struggling readers.
After the training, Teacher Veronica excitedly shared “We have light at the end of the tunnel. This is what we needed. One struggling reader in grade 4 approached me and asked, ‘teacher are you sure that one day I will read?’ It truly touched my heart and I began a foundational literacy club for the struggling learners. We are teachers and parents as well. It’s not easy when you have children in grade 5 and they cannot read. It is real a struggle. Thank you Kenya Connect for supporting teachers with strategies to support and guide struggling learners. We also appreciate all the programs you are running in our schools that bring resources and to our schools.
Teacher Winfred shared, “I am so happy to be part of this program. The first time it was mentioned to me, I registered right away. As a teacher of English language, I have learners that cannot read and attending this program I feel so much supported and empowered to guide my learners. It is a joy for every teacher to see their learners read and succeed in their education.”
A follow-up training supported teachers with ideas and strategies on how to work with the struggling readers. The beauty of the workshop was seeing the teachers share best practice ideas together. These trainings will continue and at the end of the school year, a post-assessment will be conducted. Assuming this approach is successful, we are aiming to role this out to 30 schools in 2027.
