Back to education basics

THANDO Dhlamini is a wonder kid. Only six years old, she reads and writes so well that her teachers have already promoted her to Grade 2 — when some of her peers are still in Grade R.

If she keeps this up and continues to perform so exceptionally at school, the sky is the limit for Thando. Her future is bright.

But not all children are as gifted as she is, and the vast majority have to rely on a properly functioning public education system to help them succeed in life. And the system is failing them. A Stellenbosch University report released this week says that about 60% of South Africa’s children cannot read at a basic level by the end of Grade 4.

The report further states that these pupils will never be able to fully engage with the curriculum during their school years and will fall behind in their studies as they will not fully understand the concepts they are introduced to.

Educationists say there is a direct link between early reading and academic success. This means that 60% of the children in our education system are doomed to underachieve unless the problem is dealt with.

It is high time education authorities put more emphasis on improving the skills of teachers at lower grades to bolster the children’s chances of academic success later on.

For too long the focus has been on the matric pass rate, with little attention being paid to the source of the problem: lack of adequate investment in the foundation phase.

That investment should also mean the retraining of teachers who on average — according to the Stellenbosch report — have the English vocabulary expected of Grade 3 pupils.