How do we improve literacy levels if SA’s kids aren’t reading?

“LOVE books like you love your mothers, we want you to love reading,” Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga told schoolchildren in Midrand this week.

Most of us would agree with this admirable sentiment. But how are our children to do so?

The Basic Education Department’s evaluation unit found that 13% of 11-year-olds, with five years schooling are still illiterate. Other studies, such as the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, put this figure higher.

There are many factors contributing to this, including poor infrastructure, the legacy of apartheid education and insufficiently qualified teachers. But one of the reasons for woeful literacy levels is that millions of pupils have no access to books.

The same study found that three in 10 pupils were in classrooms with no library or reading corner. The lack of even basic textbooks for most pupils is well-documented.

Where are the books to spark a love of reading?

In the course of my work, I meet students of all ages who have never owned a book. How can we hope to turn the literacy rate around in these circumstances?

What we know about reading is simple. Those who start reading young, and who practise reading regularly, are better readers – and do better all round in school. With access to good books and reading materials, a child can both improve literacy and develop a habit of reading that will last a lifetime.

Without books, no pupil can hope to become even minimally literate, never mind enjoy reading.

The non-profit organisation I founded, The Bookshelf Project, was born out of conversations with children’s centres and schools in underprivileged areas of the country.

In these conversations it became clear that limited access to books was one of the main barriers to literacy. We collect books and build bookshelves, and deliver them to community centres and schools who have shown both the capacity and commitment to use the bookshelves to their best advantage.

Many other organisations in South Africa are doing excellent work to bridge the reading gap, including Room to Read and Nal’ibali.

The government’s Kha Ri Gude Mass Literacy Campaign, run in all of South Africa’s 11 languages, is also to be applauded. But if South Africa is to truly foster a reading culture, much more needs to be done.

Last month, Motshekga called attention to research showing only 15% of South Africans read regularly.

This is a call that all of us can rally behind. Donate your books, time or funds. Lobby your local education department. Raise your voice and help fill school bookshelves with books that will bring joy, happiness, hope, passion and curiosity. Otherwise, we are condemning our children to a life of illiteracy or very low literacy. This stunts their chances of finding work, cuts off opportunities for further education and means they will struggle to navigate most aspect s of ordinary life.

As Motshekga also said, “children who read, lead”.

Every child deserves this chance.

Christopher Dykes is director of The Bookshelf Project.