Reading in first four years of school a real challenge among SA pupils

Pupils’ poor reading performance was a known national crisis with some children being between two and four years behind, experts say.

The 2023 Background Report for the 2030 Reading Panel found literacy was going backwards, with more pupils falling behind and not being able to read and comprehend.

Reading

The results of the 2023 Background Report for the 2030 Reading Panel, released last Tuesday, suggested the learning losses seen in the Western Cape were experienced by South Africa as a whole.

The report found the percentage of Grade 4 pupils who cannot read for meaning would increase from 78% pre-pandemic to 82%.

Educational expert Professor Mary Metcalfe said the poor performance in young children’s reading was a well established fact.

“Reading in the first four years of school was a real challenge,” she said.

Covid

Metcalfe said Covid made the problem worse and added research has shown children’s reading has declined during this period.

“It’s a national challenge but it was a known national challenge,” she said.

Metcalfe said the Western Cape and Gauteng presented “fabulous work to address the early grade reading”.

“The challenge going forward was to support other provinces that don’t have the same resources to catch up. The reality was many young children come into Grade 1 ill-prepared for the activity of reading. First, the pupil has to understand the funny shapes on the page have meaning and can tell a story,” she said.

No books

Metcalfe said many homes in the country had no books.

“The only time they encounter books is when the teacher stands in front of the class. Children have to have access to books. You learn to drive by driving; you learn to play soccer by playing the ball. How do learn to read if you don’t have books,” she said.

Metcalfe said many households didn’t have access to books in the home language of the pupil. Educational expert Professor Brahm Fleisch said the damage was significant.

“There is no doubt many pupils were between two and four years behind by the time they get to primary school,” he said.

Backlogs

Fleisch said he didn’t know of any programme that effectively addressed the backlog of reading for children in the school system. The Democratic Party shadow MEC for education, Khume Ramulifho, said it was difficult for teachers to teach 77-plus pupils in one classroom.

“Teachers mostly pay attention to top pupils and leave the rest, as they can’t manage such big classes,” he said.

Support

Ramulifho said many of these pupils had no support at home.

“If they don’t get taught at school, there are no additional lessons at home. We need manageable class sizes so teachers can teach in a conducive environment where it is easy to identify gaps and fix them.”

Wonderboom High School principal Marius Lezar said high school pupils’ reading comprehension was very poor.

“The number of children who do not understand what they read is alarmingly high. It is quite safe to assume there is a very low premium placed on reading books in households,” he said.