Illiteracy is the number one barrier of student potential within South African public schools, children cannot read. Most are well spoken but offered the opportunity to read they cannot. Spoken language is the deceiving barrier camouflaging their inability to read. 80% of school examinations of child capability on the different disciplines are written and require any candidate to be literate in the language of instruction. Children are filtering through the system reaching levels from grade 4 onwards lacking the ability to read.

Illiteracy is not only a challenge in primary school but is carried forward to high school where career paths are defined. According to Department of Basic Education's (2014) 1,100,877 learners enrolled for Grade 10 but only 610,178 enrolled for Grade 12 in 2016, showing an alarming rate of 44.6% of learners either dropping out of the system altogether or remaining stuck in Grade 10 and 11 attributed by the illiteracy rates that are not addressed within the first 6 years spent in primary school where literacy and numeracy are established. Once reading, our main challenge, is addressed, YRI will be able to offer the children an opportunity to excel in accordance to their potential. Made at the tip of Africa.