CHAPTER 3:
An independent evaluation of Nali'bali's supplement demonstrates its significant value to South Africans
Nal’ibali commissioned JET Education Services (JET) to undertake a formal evaluation into the effectiveness of our multilingual newspaper supplement.
Below are some of the key findings JET’s evaluation identified:
Reach
It reaches people of all classes, races and age groups.
Target audience
The primary target audience is adults (potential reading role models) who live and work with children.
Usage
The varied content and types of stories produced are greatly appreciated and well–used by the target audience.
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95% of partner organisations and 1 in 5 newspaper readers use the supplement.
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97% of reading clubs not currently receiving the supplement would like to.
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94% of respondents using the supplement agree that Nali’bali’s stories are interesting but appear to be targeted at younger children.
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95% of respondents believe that reading to children would help them perform better in school.
Some of Nali’bali’s key messages have been adopted by many supplement users:
The importance of reading aloud to children.
For children to read on their own.
Children must have access to reading materials at home.
The main area that Nali’bali needs to improve on, according to the JET evaluation is to use more and a larger variety of channels to reach their target audience. Nali’bali revised some of its supplements content and its distribution, by increasing the number of supplements we distributed to schools and reading clubs, where 95% of supplement recipients make use of the it. We also increased delivery via the SA Post Office, the effectiveness of which will be evaluated in 2019.
Overall, the external evaluation concluded that Nali’bali’s supplement is an impactful and cost-effective resource in promoting literacy development in South Africa.
We will integrate these findings into our strategy for 2019. Subsequent actions have included:
- Redesign and reformatting of key pages
- Shifting the supplement from inclusion in the Sunday Times to the Sowetan which is distributed the following areas Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, North West and Limpopo.
- Further increasing the Post Office role in distribution.
- Exploring partnership opportunities with a community newspaper group to distribute the supplement via community papers and/or African language newspapers.
- Introducing new eligibility criteria for FUNda Leaders and subscription periods for partner organisations
Since inception, the supplement has been produced by our founder and partner, PRAESA. In 2019 the supplement will be produced in-house.