HIT THE BOOKS

New statistics paint a shocking picture of SA children's reading abilities. Experts tell us how to help your kids improve their skills

- KESHIA AFRICA

IT'S a scene many teachers are familiar with a primary school child staring at their book, battling to read basic words such as apple, balloon and flower. And when they reach the end of the page they might as well be reading Greek because many can't comprehend how the words fit together in context.

New statistics show that 82% of South African children in Grade 4 don't understand what they're reading and 60% of children entering Grade 2 don't know the alphabet.

President Cyril Ramaphosa set a target in 2019 that all children aged 10 and older should be able to read for meaning by 2030. But there's no chance of all children being up to speed within seven years, according to a bombshell report recently released by the 2030 Reading Panel, an independent team established to track the progress made towards achieving this target.

In fact, at the rate we're going, it will take 86 years or until 2108 - before 95% of children will, at last, be able to understand what they're reading, the panel predicts.

There are many factors in play - poor teaching methods in the foundation phase, the valuable time pupils lost because of Covid-19 restrictions, and the fact that teachers promote rote learning rather than giving pupils the skills they need to read independently and draw their own conclusions.

The ramifications of the poor reading skills are immense, experts say. "Reading skills should be the main focus of education, especially during the early years of education," says Melanie Moen of Stellenbosch University's department of educational psychology.

Not being able to read with comprehension hampers a child's ability to do well in all subjects, says Professor Jonathan Jansen of Stellenbosch University's education department.

"It will have academic consequences that can stretch throughout a child's school career," he adds. "You can't build strong matriculants with a weak foundation phase."