Teachers called to help learners read for meaning

The Department of Basic Education will improve the foundational skills of literacy and numeracy for learners.

Speaking on behalf of Minister Angie Motshekga at the South African Principals Associations conference at Ingwenyama Conference and Sports Centre, MEC Bonakele Majuba said the department had developed a national reading framework which maps out differentiated approaches on how to teach reading in African languages.

“The framework provides guidelines for the development of quality reading materials and teacher development programmes,” he said. He added that the department will develop and adopt a National Reading Plan for primary schools to help in improving the foundational skills of literacy and numeracy, especially reading for meaning.

“We will encourage schools, parents and the communities in the target areas to actively participate in the reading movement to establish a reading culture. We will actively establish partnerships and raise funds to support the reading movement. Reading norms will be deepened to strengthen existing curriculum delivery, building on the department of basic education’s norms already in use in different African languages,” Majuba said.

He added that the sector will also finalise a draft report on education progress using the Household Survey data this year. Sapa president David de Korte explained that the conference aims to address challenges faced by principals in the schools of the country. The three day conference was attended by 700 principals from schools in all the nine provinces of the country.