“Can you imagine not being able to read a newspaper, a road sign or directions on a bottle of medication? Sadly, this is a reality faced by many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders living in remote communities today.”
– Karen Williams, Executive Director, Indigenous Literacy Foundation
“The reading gap in primary school between the lowest socio-economic students (SES) and the highest SES is equivalent to 3 years of schooling.”
– Department of Education Science and Training (2005),Teaching Reading: National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy
“The average year 9 Indigenous student in a very remote area scores about the same in NAPLAN reading as the average year 3 non-Indigenous city student.”
– Grattan Institute, 2018
“Research identifies a clear link between the development of literacy skills at an early age and higher levels of education achievement, greater employability, higher earnings and greater social participation.”
– National Assessment Program: Literacy and Numeracy Report, MCEEDCDYA 2010
Many existing in-person volunteer tutoring programs couldn’t scale or expand to help more kids in need due to the shortage of adult volunteer tutors, and restraints of physical distances.
According to research, one of the best ways to assist students’ reading is to get them reading buddies who are near their own age.
The answer is…
KLAP Australia is the country’s first online platform which helps disadvantaged primary school students get learning assistance -reading (and maths as well in the future) by tapping into the vast volunteer resource potential of city high school students around the country.
Our success relies on the support from local governments and various organisations, and most importantly, the schools around the country. This way, we can create impact at scale and reach those most in need.
In all we do, we are committed to upholding the highest standards of best practice and accountability.
Some statistics from a similar reading buddy program:
The Smith
Family ‘Student2student’ Program
According to 2016’s
analysis of data for 728 participants (students, buddies,
parents)
97% of students
improved their reading
89% students
agreed the program helped them feel more confident with school work
94% of parents
reported children felt better about themselves
Before introducing
the program nationally, The Smith Family trialled and independently evaluated
the student2student program for three years in NSW.
‘In 2019, 96% of
children in our student2student reading program improved their reading age.’
