Cape Town - The time has come for the government to fork out more resources to improve the state of the foundation phase of education.
If this is not done, we should forget about turning the tide on poor child literacy rates.
A recent report compiled by an advocacy group, 2030 Reading Panel, paints a bleak picture of the country’s education, revealing that pupils at foundation phase were unable to read for meaning.
The report points out that 82% of South Africa’s Grade 4 children could not read for meaning.
This shocking statistic is, unfortunately, an increase from 78% pre-pandemic.
Perhaps what is particularly difficult to accept is that it would take 86 years on the current trajectory to reach 95% of children reading for meaning.
Therefore, addressing these deficiencies in the learning outcomes is not sufficient, but the speed at which this is achieved is absolutely essential.
The reality is that the lion’s share, if not all, learners who constitute the 82% who can’t read for meaning come from poor rural and township schools.
This means that our education system is not the equaliser of society that it is meant to be. If anything, the gap between the rich and the poor will continue to rise to a point where it is not sustainable.
The time to procrastinate is gone, and those responsible for our education system need to roll up their sleeves and invest more resources in the foundation phase.
We dare not fail our children. The current trend where education officials spend a fortune to produce improved matric results, including winter camps and extra classes, is not the way to go.
Instead, the focus should be on getting it right much earlier. More funding should be set aside for the foundation phase, and better qualified teachers should be employed.
The focus should be on teaching children numeracy and literacy. The foundation phase should not be an afterthought but a priority of our education system.
We commend the Department of Basic Education for making the foundation phase compulsory at every primary school.
The next step is to ensure quality education so that learners can cope with the challenges they will be confronted with later on in their schooling careers.
Cape Times