Edwin Naidu
In six years, South Africa hopes to have all its children reading. Driven by a new politician with renewed energy, the country has a new heavyweight leadership supporting the drive to have all our children reading by 2030.
If the government gets its ducks in a row, with help from civil society, one is optimistic that the 2030 Reading Panel could have a meaningful impact.
One felt positive after the weekend Reading Panel Education Conference in Pretoria.
The dialogue was hosted by the Umlambo Foundation, founded by the former Deputy President of South Africa, Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. The 2030 Reading Panel brings together prominent and respected South African leaders on a mission. This gathering holds the potential to bring about the necessary changes to ensure that all children learn to read in six years.
The dialogue happens in the light of the dismal findings of a Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), which last year revealed that 81% of grade 4 students in South Africa could not read for meaning.
This was up from 78% in 2016, a stark increase underscoring the urgent need for meaningful interventions. South Africa’s last place in a study of 57 countries further emphasises the gravity of the situation.
The solution to this crisis seems simple: empower our children with the necessary reading tools. This approach can significantly improve the literacy rates in South Africa.
In one of her first interviews after her appointment, the Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, pledged that getting children to read would be among her top priorities.
This strong commitment is a reassuring departure from her predecessor’s denial and blasé attitude. Failure to read hinders a child’s prospects of a better future as envisaged in the Bill of Rights. For almost a decade, children have been failed in this regard.
In 2000, the late former Minister of Education, Professor Kader Asmal, launched the Masifunde Sonke, a year-long campaign to help illiterate adults read. Unfortunately, the lack of continuity with such initiatives raises questions about the sincerity and whether they were more about public relations than genuine change.
Asmal’s legacy on human rights and the provision of water to the poorest citizens is well-documented. However, he was also credited with closing down 105 teaching colleges, which resulted in declining teacher numbers. To his credit, he put the spotlight on reading for a short period, albeit for our parents.
Gwarube says literacy is a fundamental human right and a gateway to economic emancipation. The DBE has acknowledged the need to improve the quality of early-grade reading.
The Minister says the DBE must ensure that all children can access engaging reading materials in schools, homes and communities, particularly in their home languages.
“At the heart of our efforts must be the goal of ensuring that all young learners have access to stimulating environments to support their literacy and numeracy endeavours,” Minister Gwarube, who spoke the day before at a DBE and PrimeStars event to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in lower quintile public schools.
More action, less talk. Gwarube is on the right track. In its quest to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects in rural communities, PrimeStars, in partnership with the DBE, has launched the eduCate Programme designed to facilitate comprehensive revision sessions for 300,000 learners in 1,000 lower quintile public schools across all nine provinces.
Gwarube said math and science were a bedrock upon which we build future professionals, innovators, and leaders. “There is no doubt in our minds that our country has indeed ushered in a new period characterised by working together irrespective of our political views and beliefs,” she said.
Reading, however, is at the heart of success. Kudos to the Minister for keeping her promise to improve our children’s lives in many ways, including reading. The challenge is delivery.
Gwarube will have help in this regard.
Mlambo-Ngcuka, the former Executive Director of UN Women, is the Chair of the 2030 Reading Panel, whose members include Prof Sizwe Mabizela, the vice-chancellor of Rhodes University, the affable former academic Prof Njabulo Ndebele, the Chairman of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Prof Vuyokazi Nomlomo, deputy vice-chancellor for teaching and learning at the University of Zululand, retired businessman Bobby Godsell, and the revered Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, the South African Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town.
Suppose the Minister thinks there is an easy ride. In that case, the 2030 Reading Pane line-up also includes probably one of our most outstanding educators: the internationally respected Prof Jonathan Jansen, a former vice-chancellor and Professor at Stellenbosch; Prof Catherine Snow, an educational psychologist and applied linguist at Harvard University; and Commissioner Andre Gaum of the South African Human Rights Commission.
It does not get any easier. Banker and academic Colin Coleman, seasoned broadcaster and reading advocate Hulisani Ravele, and the founding General Secretary of COSATU, Jay Naidoo, a South African politician and businessman, who has just written D’Amour et de Revolution, a book with his wife Lucie Paige about their wonderful 34-year union across borders and boundaries.
Former civil servant Prof Michael Sachs, currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, the General Secretary of Equal Education Noncedo Madubedube, the CEO of The Mandela Rhodes Foundation Judy Sikuza, and probably one of the best-known reading champions in our land, Elinor Sisulu, the founder and executive director of Puku Children’s Literature Foundation, complete the panel.
Halala 2030 Read Panel! Halala!
Edwin Naidu is the editor of Inside Education
