There’s more to read into SA kids’ literacy ‘correction’
Re: “Prof proves SA kids know their stuff” and “Red faces at IEA over error in SA” (October 25) .
As national study centre responsible for administering the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) in SA since 2006, we have been engaging with the department of basic education, the IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Education Achievement) and Boston College since October 2019, when the findings around trend growth first became known.
Over the last year, the IEA and Boston College have responded to this issue and more analyses have been done to uncover the nature of growth that was detected by Dr Gustafsson’s work.
While a change in trend growth is certainly positive, we have to qualify what the nature of growth has been to really understand these results in perspective. Regardless of the mistake made by the IEA in calculating the trend growth for SA between 2001 and 2016, some points are worth mentioning:
The change in trend growth has not given rise to a change in overall league table standings. With more countries administering the easier PIRLS Literacy version in 2016, one would hope for substantial improvement given the government’s commitment to pro-poor policy and investment in the education system. PIRLS, however, mirrors the glimmers of hope and small improvements in results of similar studies such as the Trends in Maths and Science Study.
Growth has not taken place in the sectors in the education system where it is needed most. So, for example, schools in quintile 1, 2 and 3 are still not better off in terms of comparative performance with quintile 4 and 5 schools, and it would seem that government efforts for a more equitable system have not found the desired effect for the poorer schools yet.
Grade 4 children’s ability to engage or read with understanding is nowhere near international patterns. We do see growth in the percentages of children who can engage in basic reading skills, but the increase in percentages of learners who can engage in the higher order reading skills one would expect to be in place (or that show potential for further development) do not show growth. We have reliable evidence of grade 4 learners’ ability to retrieve and repeat from text, a skill that is in fact expected from much earlier grades. But the ability to engage with text meaningfully at an abstract level of making inferences, interpreting and integrating ideas and events is largely absent. It is this very fact that President Cyril Ramaphosa referred to as “reading for meaning” in his opening of parliament speech in 2018.
The IEA and Boston College have been understanding, accommodating and willing to engage with us in the re-analysis of the trend data, to rectify the mistake and to co-operate with us in finding better scaling solutions for our data that has traditionally always proved to be very complex in comparison with other countries’.
Dr Surette van Staden, director: Centre for Evaluation and Assessment, department of science, maths and technology education, faculty of education, University of Pretoria
Judge Gayton McKenzie objectively The article “The power of one in the city of Joburg” (October 25) unfairly portrays Gayton McKenzie as a megalomaniac. He is merely a child of his time and a harbinger of times to come — for the unwary.
What he is doing has been the pattern of South African politics from 1994. It is called “cadre deployment”. Mr McKenzie is simply copying the blueprint of the bigger parties.
Vilifying the man because he is extending patronage to his inner circle is disingenuous, for this too has been par for the course since 1994. That the departments he has access to have enormous budgets does not imply that he and his deployees will continue the looting spree.
The thought that coloured people will for once be recipients of meaningful jobs and economic empowerment in the city is seemingly too much to bear for some who are firmly ensconced in privilege.
The article would have been more balanced if it analysed the implications of the result of the by-election in Ward 68.
His utterances must be seen in the context of the contestation taking place there and the capacity of those with the power of one to change the course of politics in Joburg.
Judge Mr McKenzie objectively. Judge him on his track record and his capacity to deliver services to the people. Whether he is the right person for his constituency is a different matter altogether.
Ronald Harris, Florida
SAA proves skewed priorities
Two of the primary responsibilities of any government are protecting citizens from crime and ensuring that citizens are provided with decent education — not repeatedly bailing out failing airlines.
But on Wednesday, the ANC-led national government decided to support a R10.5bn bailout for SA Airways. This will have to be funded by slashing the police budget by R1.2bn and education by R1.4bn.
This isn’t a New Dawn, it’s a disaster and it’s inexplicable how any government that claims to be committed to a better life for all can prioritise bailing out an airline over providing services to people. During a pandemic, it goes from inexplicable to borderline insane.
The ANC’s policies had already led to an economic calamity before the pandemic, and putting SAA over service delivery is another illustration of the government’s skewed priorities.
Stuart Pringle, Somerset West
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