EDITORIAL: Child literacy statistics are a disgrace

Our children cannot read, and those responsible should hang their heads in shame. The 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls), released on Tuesday, shows that more than four out of five SA grade 4s — 81% — are unable to read for meaning.

Interrogating the detail only reveals more horror. Children who learn in English and Afrikaans showed no decline in literacy in the period (2016-21), despite Covid-19. Pupils learning in other African languages experienced big declines. This suggests that the collapse in literacy from woeful to diabolical has disproportionately affected non-fee schools and by extension poor black children.

A further layer of dismay is to be found in the widening gender gap. SA boys are falling behind fast. Boys lag girls in all geographies, but SA has the worst gender gap among all 57 countries studied, with boys now 18 months behind their female contemporaries, a gap that has almost doubled in the decade up to 2021.

This state of affairs is untenable. These statistics reveal a country that is making an enemy of its own future, creating a generation of young people without hope of ever finding meaningful work or exercising their right to economic activity and dignity.

There seems to be little urgency in the corridors of power. Every four years a new generation passes through the critical foundation phase. Nobody seems to care. Young South Africans already bear the burden of unemployment, with more than 60% of 15- to 24-year-olds unable to find work. This has a catastrophic effect on individuals, families and communities.

The 2021 Pirls study showed that just 11% of children expressed a dislike for reading. The department has a large budget and children have a yearning to learn. Our persisting failure to educate them is the fault of the individuals at the department in current and previous administrations. They owe our children an apology for their indifference, and the time to execute plans to address the failure of our schools is long past. The situation is a disgrace.