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A new report in South Africa says basic literacy among young children has dropped since the start of COVID-19 pandemic. Despite government vows to improve reading, the report says more than 30 percent of South African children entering grade two do not know the alphabet, and the majority of grade 4 students struggle with basic reading comprehension. Some private schools are working hard to reverse the trend, as Jan Bornman reports from Johannesburg.
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((PLAYBOOK SLUG: South Africa Child Literacy (TV/R)
HEADLINE: South Africa Sees Reading Crisis as Learners Fall Behind
TEASER:
PUBLISHED: 2/21/23 at 8:45am
BYLINE: Jan Bornman
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Johannesburg, South Africa
VIDEOGRAPHER: Zaheer Cassim
PRODUCER: Jan Bornman
SCRIPT EDITORS: DLJ, MAS
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA,
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB__ TV X RADIO X
TRT: 2:23
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: Radio intros in script below for Production to version for radio. ))
((INTRO)) A new report in South Africa says basic literacy among young children has dropped since the start of COVID-19 pandemic. Despite government vows to improve reading, the report says more than 30 percent of South African children entering grade two do not know the alphabet, and the majority of grade 4 students struggle with basic reading comprehension. Some private schools are working hard to reverse the trend, as Jan Bornman reports from Johannesburg.
((NARRATOR))
A new report by a member of South Africa’s 2030 Reading Panel found that the number of Grade 4 learners who lack good reading comprehension skills has increased to 82 percent, up from an already-high level of 78 percent seven years ago.
To counter this, some private schools are spending up to 25% more time on reading and comprehension.
((FOR RADIO: Waahida Tolbert-Mbatha is the principal at Kgololo Academy.))
((Waahida Tolbert-Mbatha, Kgololo Academy Principal (English:))
“We've had students from both government schools, private schools, your formal model C schools, and the constant is that when those students come into our learning environment, almost none of them are able to read, not even blend words. So we have to go back and we have to teach our second graders, our sixth graders, sometimes even eighth graders, how to blend and so that's really complicated because eighth graders are supposed to be able to read Harry Potter fluidly.”
((NARRATOR))
The academy’s principal for early primary grades says parent involvement is key.
((Nelly Mhlongo, Principal for Primary Grades (English)
“If there's a need for the parent to come in, get strategies from the school, they then make an appointment to come and meet with the teacher, that’s the support that they get from the school.”
((NARRATOR))
Nic Spaull is an associate professor of economics at Stellenbosch University and the author of the Reading Panel report. He says the South African government needs a plan, a budget and more.
((Nic Spaull, Economics Professor at Stellenbosch University) (EnglisH))
“At the moment, there is no national plan for reading, there's no reading plan for the whole country, and there isn't a budget. So if you don't have a budget, and you don't have a plan, you're not going to see any progress. And the big problem in South Africa is we lack the political will to actually tackle this problem.”
((NARRATOR))
Officials with the country’s Department of Education have acknowledged shortcomings but add school participation and completion rates have improved over the last 20 years.
Officials – like Stephen Taylor from the Basic Education Department – note the problem is not limited to South Africa.
((Dr Stephen Taylor, Department of Basic Education)) (English))
“So, we participate in something called the Southern and East African Consortium for Monitoring Education Quality. This is an international assessment of reading and maths at the grade six level that's done across 14 Southern and East African countries and, and that shows that South Africa is not unique in having a reading challenge. We are actually slightly above average in the region.”
((NARRATOR))
Educations officials say more high schoolers are graduating and say that shows the country’s education system is making incremental progress.
((Jan Bornman, for VOA News, Johannesburg))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateFebruary 21, 2023 08:34 EST
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
