Educationists believe the Department of Education needs to employ more tangible efforts to eradicate poor reading among Grade 3 learners.

According to the recently released 2030 Reading Panel report, 80% of Grade 3 learners cannot read for meaning in any language measured by the South African systemic assessment, while Grade 4 learners cannot read for meaning.

Crisis

"This is a crisis, and it demands immediate, unapologetic action. No more pilot projects, no more task teams, no more empty rhetoric about transformation from South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) and the Department of Basic Education while millions of children sit in classrooms where learning is impossible. Schools must get back to the fundamentals. Phonics, comprehension, structured reading instruction—nothing fancy, just what works," said University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) School of Education Academic, Professor Wayne Hugo.

He said the DBE has spent money and allocated resources yet the same result is noted year after year.

Fellow academic at UKZN's School of Education, Professor Murthee Maistry, said it is very likely that under-developed reading, speaking and writing abilities carry into the higher grades, all the way to Grade 12.

"This worrying condition suggests that reading, speaking, and writing are not just Early Childhood Development (ECD) problems. It demands that a whole-school approach to reading, speaking and writing be considered and that every teacher across all subjects, even Maths, should think of themselves powerful and active teachers of reading, speaking and writing, and that these important competencies should not simply be left to the teacher of English," Maistry said.

Professor Vimolan Mudaly, also from UKZN's School of Education, said a similar study should be undertaken with teachers.

"Intense training must be conducted with primary school teachers relating to the pedagogies around reading and teaching for understanding. Second, a culture of reading must be encouraged through games and competitions with tangible prizes to be won. The idea of reading and retelling stories should be encouraged at the earliest of grades. While mother-tongue languages are critical, I think the focus must shift to reading, understanding, and then explaining," Mudaly said.

Parents involvement

Experts believe that parents and caregivers should make a more concerted effort.

Hugo said reading must start in the home, with or without state support.

"No expensive materials, no formal training, just daily exposure to words and stories.

"Talk to children, tell them stories, ask them questions. Reduce screen time and replace it with real conversation. The government has failed to create a literate society, but parents can still fight for their children’s future with small, simple daily habits," he added.

Maistry said there is a need for teacher educators, subject advisors and school teachers to reflect on why SA children lag behind their international counterparts and some of our neighbours on the continent.

"What is clear is that there is no grand national plan to arrest the reading deficit that we know exists in SA schools and that if we continue to use the same teaching practices, not much systemic change will happen in the next 10 years.

"But we are never in a state of perpetual helplessness or hopelessness. We do, however, have to think differently – about partnerships between schools, universities, the parent community and the business sector. These initiatives have to start small at a local school level, where principals, ECD Heads of departments and teachers take the lead in addressing the reading, speaking, and writing project in the ECD phase," Maistry said.

seanne.rall@iol.co.za

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