We know that literacy is a continuing challenge in South Africa. The ability to read is a vital skill, but so many South African children struggle to meet this important milestone. Qhawe Bula – a second-year Social Sciences student at UCT – wants to change this through digital entrepreneurship, with a digital library of audiobooks for children aged 2 to 9 years old.
Written for South Africans, by South Africans
The library, called TAQA, is a celebration of South African culture. The stories are written by South African authors and are available in all of our 11 official languages. This ensures that the stories are highly relatable to children’s real-life experiences, while also increasing literacy in mother tongue language as well as second language skills.
“We believe that it’s important for young South Africans to see themselves and their languages represented and celebrated in mainstream storytelling. We are committed to telling proudly South African stories,” Bula said.
The library has received local and international attention
Qhawe Bula and his team entered TAQA into the 2020 Entrepreneurship Intervarsity competition, where it excelled in the business ideas category. They have also partnered with Nal’ibali, an award-winning international literacy NPO. They are also open to partnering with government and other organisations to help make TAQA accessible to children from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds.
“TAQA’s main aim is to protect and celebrate African cultures and identities. We believe that by leveraging language and technology we can go a long way towards achieving this goal,” Bula said.
Now that’s social and digital entrepreneurship at its best! As many of you know, we’re great fans of social entrepreneurship that incorporates digital learning, to give young South Africans new skills and knowledge. Check out our new online entrepreneurship learning programme, providing teens with free access to a range of valuable business skills!
