In order to boost literacy rates among Grade 4 children in South Africa, drastic adjustments are required. This is according to a panel of experts who convened to assess the current state of reading among South African children.
According to the 2016 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), 80% of Grade 4 learners are unable to read for meaning across all South African languages
Findings by The 2030 Reading Panel’s Background Report show that if this trend persists without any meaningful intervention, this cohort of will only be able to read for meaning by 2098.
Education economist Professor Nic Spaull, who forms part of the 2030 Reading Panel says that without a standardized universal primary school assessment that tests a learner’s reading abilities, there is no information about which schools need additional support or more accountability measures.
Spaull further states that although there has been a gradual improvement in those stats since 2007, the pace of progress in this regard is not enough.
That improvement rate is not fast enough to get us to the 2030 goal of all children reading for meaning by the age of ten by 2030.
According to its Background Report, the panel has so far proposed the following recommendations be made to curb this prevailing issue:
- Establish a universal external Grade 2 assessment of reading.
- Move from slogans to budgets. It was estimated that government would need to spend R1,3-billion per year to provide high-quality reading materials and support to teachers
- Provide a standard minimum set of reading resources to all Foundation Phase classrooms (Grade R-3) as a matter of urgency.
- A university audit of preservice teacher education programs.
In addition to this, the panel says that the Department of Basic Education's reading plans are “slogans” because they lack funding. Spaull adds that there is existing evidence that current teaching programs at universities are not enough to prepare teachers for their careers as skilled teachers.
