By Lungile Ntimba
Ford South Africa recently launched its new three-year cycle of Rally to Read project, reinforcing its commitment to education and community upliftment.
It will support four schools in Nelson Mandela Bay and four schools in Sarah Baartman District in the Eastern Cape, ensuring that learners and teachers receive sustained assistance.
The previous three-year project in Nelson Mandela Bay assisted eight schools in and around Gqeberha and Kariega.
Since 1998, Ford SA in partnership with the READ Educational Trust, has provided vital education resources and teacher training to underserved schools.
“Walking into the schools and seeing the excitement on the faces of both learners and teachers reinforces why this initiative matters,” Ford SA government affairs and transformation director Esther Buthelezi Buthelezi said in a statement.
“This is where the transformation begins, with a book in a child’s hands and a teacher empowered with the right tools and training.”
She said the programme extended beyond just distributing resources, but to fundamentally improve literacy levels through structured and long-term interventions.
It also provided teachers with training sessions to help them build strong literacy foundations for their students.
Buthelezi said the province was deeply embedded in Ford’s legacy, not only as the home of the Struandale Engine Plant in Gqeberha, but also as the place where its journey began in 1923.
She said for more than a century, Ford has been part of the region’s economic and industrial fabric, creating jobs, driving innovation and investing in the future of the country’s communities.
Buthelezi said that while the province’s matric pass rate showed a positive increase last year, early childhood education remained a crucial factor in sustaining this progress and ensuring long-term success.
“By investing in education today, we are investing in the future workforce. Many of these young learners could one day be part of the Ford ecosystem, whether as engineers, technicians, or business leaders shaping the automotive industry,” she said.
INSIDE EDUCATION
