GraphoGame (GG) is originally a technology-based intervention method for supporting children with reading difficulties. It is now known that children who face problems in reading acquisition have difficulties in learning to differentiate and manipulate speech sounds and consequently, in connecting these sounds to corresponding letters. GG was developed to provide intensive training in matching speech sounds and larger units of speech to their written counterparts. GG has been shown to benefit children with reading difficulties and the game is now available for all Finnish school children for literacy support. Presently millions of children in Africa fail to learn to read despite years of primary school education. As many African languages have transparent writing systems similar in structure to Finnish, it was hypothesized that GG-based training of letter-sound correspondences could also be effective in supporting children’s learning in African countries. In this article we will describe how GG has been developed from a Finnish dyslexia prevention game to an intervention method that can be used not only to improve children’s reading performance but also to raise teachers’ and parents’ awareness of the development of reading skill and effective reading instruction methods. We will also provide an overview of the GG activities in Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Namibia, and the potential to promote education for all with a combination of scientific research and mobile learning.

The widespread persistence of illiteracy across the world deprives millions of citizens of the economic and political opportunity to secure their basic human rights. Out of 650 million children of primary school age, at least 250 million are not learning the basics in reading and mathematics (Education for All Global Monitoring Report Team, 2014)(hereafter EFA). Out of these children, 130 million had attended school for several years. In sub-Saharan Africa, one in five children was out of school in 2011 (EFA, 2014), and across Africa fewer than half of the children reach the end of primary school (Heugh, 2011). In 17 sub-Saharan countries, fewer than half of the children are learning the basics, and they are poorly prepared for transition to secondary education (EFA, 2014). Such outcomes are the rule in Africa, not the exception (as documented in several reports of the Africa Progress Panel until the end of this forum, 2017) and pose a great risk to the continent. It has, after all, a rapidly growing population of young people, all of whom need to find employment and livelihoods. The promotion of literacy in Africa faces challenges at many levels. Universal access to education was an important objective of the decolonization movements and, indeed, these movements did trigger dramatic rises in enrolment for basic schooling across many African nations, among them Zambia. But with rapid demographic growth and economic recession, the proportion of primary-schoolage children out of school began to rise again in the 1990s. By 2014 it had reached 21% in sub-Saharan Africa, with about half of the children affected not expected to ever enter school (UNESCO, 2016). In Zambia, the net enrolment ratio for primary schooling remained quite high, estimated by the World Bank as 95% in 2014 (FHI, 2016).

A number of international and national assessments show that Namibian children are not reading according to set benchmarks. The teaching and learning of reading can only be as good as the teachers who facilitate the reading acquisition process. Namibian learners are formally taught how to read in Grade 1, and thus this article focuses the perceptions of Grade 1 teachers in Windhoek, Namibia regarding their knowledge and classroom practices in teaching reading and how they support their learners’ reading acquisition. Through a survey to gauge their use of reading practices, 132 teachers were asked about the teaching methods they use, the specific instruction content they use, how they create a literate classroom, how they encourage and support poor readers, and whether and how reading instruction in small groups occurs. Their teacher training was examined, as well as the knowledge that they have regarding certain language and reading components that support reading instruction. Teachers reported that they mostly use a range of methods when teaching reading (83%), while (15%) report using only one method. Of all the reading and language skills that teachers had to select from, 90% included phonological awareness as part of their reading instruction content, more so than the other reading and language skills. Among different strategies used to create a literate environment in the classroom, the majority (82%) use labels and notices to draw children's attention to literacy. To encourage struggling readers to read, teachers indicated they mainly use simple, easy texts so that poor readers can experience success. The results of the study reveal that while most Grade 1 teachers (81%) claim that they have received average to excellent training in teaching reading and demonstrate that they overwhelmingly agree (99%) with good reading practices and beliefs, the results reveal that their actual knowledge of various aspects of reading does not relate to their stated teacher training and reading beliefs. It appears that the overall average for the knowledge section showed that less than 37% of teachers had detailed knowledge of specific aspects of reading such as being able to identify syllables, morphemes, and speech sounds in words as well as demonstrating knowledge of phonics, phonemes, and diphthongs. The article discusses some strategies to alleviate some of the issues highlighted in the results.

This chapter investigates the effectiveness of a digital reading tool, called GraphoGame, that could be employed as one of the solutions to the poor reading results of learners that have been revealed in both national and international assessments in Namibia, specifically, and Sub-Saharan Africa in general. Following a research study, this chapter sets out to demonstrate that, through pre-and post-tests, GraphoGame Afrikaans improved the initial reading skills of Grade 1 learners. The results have implications for the utilization of computer-assisted tools to support reading acquisition in the lower grades. As GraphoGame employs a scaffolded approach by presenting learners with letters and words, it can be utilized to support learners individually in classes with large numbers, as is typical in Africa.

This chapter starts with the description of deaf education in the Namibian context in terms of providing formal education for learners who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). It traces the history of deaf education from the 1960s to date and reports on early childhood education and primary, secondary, and tertiary education for this population. The second section of the chapter describes the road that Namibia has taken considering the needs and challenges the country is facing in providing quality education to DHH learners. The outcomes of two important conferences dealing with this issue are discussed. The last section discusses options for the way forward. Despite constraints in financial and human resources, there has been definite progress in the provision of quality education to DHH learners in Namibia.