How we read PIRLS, World Bank learning poverty, UNESCO, the Department of Basic Education and Stats SA, and how Big Five Group answers with Feed · Educate · Empower: fed learners, leaders in every school, and projects that count who is reached.
External context only. PIRLS, World Bank, UNESCO, DBE, WFP and Stats SA figures are official statistics, not Big Five audited metrics. Each one is quoted as published, with its period and a link, and every source is listed at the end of the page. Group programme numbers use the labels on Methodology.
Deploy skills, capital, platforms and relationships so Africa can feed its people, educate its leaders, and empower its enterprises — at scale and with proof. Our vision, “A prosperous Africa — for everyone on it”, starts with children who can read, think and lead.
Children in South Africa and across Africa are going to school in greater numbers than ever, but too many are not yet learning to read for meaning. We use this data as external context, then build African systems that respond.
of South African Grade 4 learners did not reach the PIRLS low benchmark: they cannot read for meaning in any language
South Africa's Grade 4 score fell from 320 in 2016 to 288 in PIRLS 2021, against a low benchmark of 400. Reading for meaning by age 10 is the foundation every later subject is built on.
DBE · PIRLS 2021 South African Main Report (2023) · PIRLS 2021
of children in sub-Saharan Africa are in learning poverty: unable to read and understand a simple text by age 10
Learning poverty combines children out of school with children in school who cannot yet read a simple text. Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest rate of any region before the pandemic, and it rose further.
children, adolescents and youth are out of school in Africa
Worldwide, 39% of the 272 million out-of-school children and youth live in sub-Saharan Africa (UNESCO, 2023 data). Upper-secondary age accounts for the largest share.
UNESCO Institute for Statistics · 2025 Africa SDG 4 Scorecard · 2025 Africa SDG 4 Scorecard
additional teachers needed in sub-Saharan Africa to reach universal primary and secondary education
The shortage is driven by a rapidly expanding school-age population and tight budgets. Teachers who stay need support, materials and leadership, not only recruitment.
Four official measures, one for each stage of a young South African's journey. Each is a different survey and year, so read them as stages, not one cohort.
of children enrolled in early learning programmes are On Track for early learning
of South African Grade 4 learners did not reach the PIRLS low benchmark: they cannot read for meaning in any language
DBE · PIRLS 2021 South African Main Report (2023) · PIRLS 2021
of South African youths successfully completed twelve years of education, up from 45% in 2008
DBE · 2025 National Senior Certificate Examination Report · 2024
of South Africans aged 15–24 were not in employment, education or training (NEET)
Stats SA · Quarterly Labour Force Survey P0211 (released 10 Nov 2026) · Q3 2026 (Jul–Sep)
South Africa's PIRLS Grade 4 score, down from 320 in 2016 (low benchmark: 400)
DBE · PIRLS 2021 South African Main Report (2023) · PIRLS 2021
In Q3 2026 the unemployment rate was 39.2% for South Africans without matric and 11.9% for graduates. Every stage a learner completes improves the odds of a first job.
Stats SA · Quarterly Labour Force Survey P0211 (released 10 Nov 2026) · Q3 2026 (Jul–Sep)
Nutrition and learning are one problem. The Department of Basic Education, WFP and the Thrive by Five Index all link meals, growth and the ability to learn.
South African schools received meals through the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP)
DBE · Annual Report 2025/26 (NSNP conditional grant) · 2025/26 financial year
children in Africa received school meals, up from 66 million in 2022
WFP · State of School Feeding Worldwide 2024 (Sep 2025) · 2024
of enrolled 4-year-olds show moderate or severe stunting, and stunted children are on average 5 months behind in early learning
Big Five Foods™ lands fortified institutional packs on the NSNP pathway with the Department of Basic Education, and feeding projects count every meal from paid orders. Feeding and educating are planned together, because a child who has eaten can learn.
Food securityQuality Education sits at the centre. Hunger, poverty, decent work, inequality and partnerships decide whether a child can learn.
Goal 4
The challenge
Ensure inclusive, equitable quality education for all. PIRLS and learning-poverty data show that most children in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa are not yet reading for meaning by age 10.
How we respond
Educating projects that count learners and schools reached, Big Five Learn and the Super-Cube® model for learners, teachers and principals, and Wi‑Fi learning at Big Five Direct containers.
Goal 2
The challenge
Hungry and stunted children learn less. Stunted 4-year-olds are on average 5 months behind in early learning (Thrive by Five 2024).
Source: DBE · Minister of Basic Education at the Thrive by Five Index launch (8 Sep 2025)How we respond
Fortified Big Five Foods™ porridges and meals for school and ECD kitchens, on the NSNP pathway with the Department of Basic Education, counted as meals on feeding projects.
Goal 1
The challenge
Children in high-fee preschools are twice as likely to be On Track as those in low-fee ones (Thrive by Five 2024). Poverty shapes learning before Grade 1.
Source: DBE · Minister of Basic Education at the Thrive by Five Index launch (8 Sep 2025)How we respond
Affordable fortified formats for low-fee ECD centres and schools, and programmes that customers and partners can fund and track by project.
Goal 8
The challenge
Without matric, unemployment in South Africa is 39.2%; for graduates it is 11.9% (Stats SA, Q3 2026). Learning is the first step into work.
Source: Stats SA · Quarterly Labour Force Survey P0211 (released 10 Nov 2026)How we respond
Super-Cube® leadership formation, container franchises run by youth and women, and supplier skills on SupplierAdvisor®.
Goal 10
The challenge
In PIRLS 2021, Grade 4 scores ranged from 363 in the Western Cape to 232 in North West, and results fell steeply for children tested in most African languages.
Source: Parliament of South Africa · Portfolio Committee briefing on PIRLS 2021 (23 May 2023)How we respond
Projects placed in the provinces and communities that need them, mapped by city or province on the educating projects page.
Goal 17
The challenge
No single department, school or donor closes a learning gap this size. Government, business, funders and communities need shared rails and honest numbers.
How we respond
Customer and partner portfolios, programmes and projects in one system, with impact counted from paid orders and reported the same way to every funder.
Official SDG colour tiles · sdgs.un.org/goals
The data does not only diagnose. It points to what must be built: reading by ten, strong early years, fed learners, capable leaders and honest counts.
Back early-grade reading with materials, reading time and trained teachers. PIRLS shows where the gap is largest, by language and province.
Only 42% of children in early learning programmes are On Track. Nutrition, books at home and practitioner support in the ECD years pay back across all of school.
School and ECD meals keep children in class and attentive. Fortified, affordable food on a reliable schedule turns a meal programme into a learning programme.
Principals, teachers and learners who can lead themselves and others. The Super-Cube® model gives schools a common language for growth.
Wi‑Fi and education at Big Five Direct containers on taxi ranks and in rural communities, so youth outside school still have a door back in.
Educating projects record learners and schools reached from paid, allocated orders, so funders and communities see the same honest number.
Educate leads, and Feed and Empower make it possible: fed children, leaders in every school, and learning at the places young people already pass every day.
Teachers, principals and young people need leadership and learning support, not only content.
Leadership development built on the Super-Cube® model: a free baseline, programmes for kids, adolescents and adults, and school and organisation pilots.
Hungry or stunted children fall behind before they can learn to read.
Fortified porridges and one-pot meals for school and ECD kitchens, on the NSNP pathway with the Department of Basic Education.
Youth who leave school early lose access to learning and to work.
Solar mobile containers at taxi ranks and rural sites with Wi‑Fi for learning, run by youth and women as franchise owners.
Schools and funders need food and supplies they can verify.
SupplierAdvisor® for verified suppliers, menus and orders, and SchoolAdvisor for kitchen food-safety compliance under the NSNP.
Start an educating project, bring the Super-Cube® into your school, or feed the learners you already serve.
Schools, ECD centres and learning programmes our customers and partners run, with live counts of learners and schools reached from paid orders.
See educating projectsSix faces of the cube with you at the centre: the model behind Big Five Learn, for learners, teachers and principals.
Explore the Super-Cube®School and ECD feeding, counted as meals and people fed. Plan one with the feeding calculator.
Plan a feeding projectFull transparency notes: Methodology & sources. Sister pages: Food security and Economic empowerment.
Figures are quoted as each source publishes them, with the period they refer to. Checked 13 November 2026.
NGOs & NPOs
Organisations running educating projects can list themselves with Big Five Foods™ in the public directory and show that work on their own page. Donors and customers can support them, including by allocating meals to those projects.
Once an organisation is reviewed and approved, and opts in, it appears on the NGOs & NPOs page with its own organisation page.
In the donor flow, a listed organisation can be chosen as the recipient of a gift, so the meals go to its projects.
Customers and partners can allocate food they buy to an organisation they support. Those meals are counted on the organisation's projects.
Organisations can be verified, list their projects publicly, and follow the meals and reports on those project pages.
Whether you run a school, an ECD centre or a learning programme, or you fund one, we help you feed learners, grow leaders and count who is reached.