By Lebone Rodah Mosima
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) is launching a national literacy-promotion toolkit aimed at coordinating efforts to encourage reading in homes, schools and communities.
The Department is launching the National Literacy Promotion Toolkit Initiative with the National Education Collaboration Trust and other literacy organisations at a three-day capacity-building workshop at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni. The launch started on Tuesday.
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The workshop, held under the theme “From Plans to Implementation: Building a Reading Culture Together”, marked the official rollout of the toolkit following an earlier process in which education officials and literacy partners tested and refined its contents.
The initiative forms part of the South African National Literacy Strategy and Plan for 2024-2030. It is intended to support the strategy’s fourth pillar, which focuses on the involvement of parents and communities in children’s literacy development.
“Reading is more than a skill, it’s the foundation for lifelong learning,” the department said.
The launch comes amid continued concern about South African children’s reading ability.
The DBE’s 2025 Funda Uphumelele National Survey found that 31% of Grade 1 learners reached the expected home-language reading benchmark. About 33% of Grade 2 learners and 31% of Grade 3 learners reached the benchmarks set for their grades.
By Grade 4, only 46% of learners had reached the Grade 3 home-language reading benchmark, underscoring the scale of the foundational learning challenge the toolkit is intended to help address.
The toolkit itself is a planning and implementation framework rather than a standalone intervention. Its success will depend on sustained implementation by provinces, education districts, schools and community partners, as well as access to resources and effective monitoring.
Opening the workshop, DBE Deputy Director-General for Delivery and Support Simone Geyer described the toolkit as a practical instrument for building a sustainable reading culture across the country.
Geyer said literacy development extended beyond the classroom and required the involvement of parents, communities, schools, libraries, civil society organisations and the private sector to ensure children had access to reading opportunities from birth.
“We can’t do it alone, and we can’t do it in a classroom alone. We have to work with everyone,” Geyer said.
“It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that the child is developed right from birth.”
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DBE Director for Reading Dr Nompumelelo Nyathi-Mohohlwane said the initiative was rooted in the national literacy strategy and aimed to promote reading in homes and communities through practical, evidence-informed resources.
“Literacy is a social practice. It’s shaped by culture, by language and daily experiences, and it is important to leverage home languages as a gateway to literacy rather than something to be overcome,” Nyathi-Mohohlwane said.
She introduced District Reading Collectives as the initiative’s implementation structure at district level.
The collectives are expected to bring together government departments, schools, libraries, community organisations, faith-based groups, businesses and literacy partners to coordinate reading-promotion programmes and reduce duplication.
“The toolkit provides a shared national framework for literacy promotion, including guidance on establishing reading clubs, creating print-rich environments, celebrating national literacy events, and supporting initiatives such as the reinstated DBE National Spelling Bee,” she said.
Nyathi-Mohohlwane said the initiative was not intended to be a once-off project, but a sustained programme aimed at embedding literacy promotion in the education system through to 2030.
DBE Chief Director for Foundations for Learning Kulula Manona said literacy development started before children entered formal schooling.
“Literacy begins long before a child enters Grade R or Grade 1. It starts at home, in conversations, songs, stories, play, pictures, and books,” Manona said.
Manona stressed the importance of investing in children’s early years as the foundation for lifelong learning and the development of a lasting reading culture.
She said the toolkit was intended to provide a practical framework through which different organisations and institutions could coordinate their literacy-promotion activities and help children become confident readers.
“Our goal is a child who chooses to read, a caregiver who tells stories, a teacher who inspires a love of books, a community that celebrates literacy, and a society where reading becomes part of everyday life,” she said.
Three flagship literacy programmes are due to be showcased during the workshop: Nal’ibali Reading Clubs and Reading Campaigns, Room to Read’s School Library Development programme and the DBE National Spelling Bee Programme.
