EXECUTION:

To demonstrate the level of English competency and comprehension of an average township learner, One School At A Time conducted a live social experiment at the Times Newspaper newsroom in Johannesburg, South Africa. How? By dictating two press-ready articles to seven Grade 10 learners (16 years old) from Diepsloot, a Township just outside of Johannesburg. The articles, exactly as they were written by the pupils, were then typeset and ran the next day, side by side to the original article in The Times Newspaper.

RESULTS:

An alarmingly low level of comprehension was clearly evident. Not only was One School At A Time able to demonstrate the challenges a second language English speaker has to cope with, but they also got the nation talking – sparking a massive one hour-long debate on Talk Radio 702, gaining exposure on national stations through the SABC, social media and our experiment even made it into the pages of the Cape Times (another newspaper) the following day.