PHUTI MOSOMANE

FIVE children tragically lost their lives in a fatal traffic accident on Tuesday while on their way to school on AZ Berman Drive in Mitchells Plain, Western Cape.

Reports indicate that the bakkie carrying the learners collided with a traffic light, causing the children to be thrown off the back of the vehicle.

Expressing his outrage, Ricardo Mackenzie, the Western Cape MEC of Mobility, denounced the accident as a result of transporting learners illegally.

He described the deaths as tragic and entirely preventable.

“How many more children must we lose on our roads before the transportation of these precious lives is taken seriously by those driving the vehicles? Anyone who is transporting passengers – especially children whose bodies are more vulnerable to injury – has the weighty responsibility to keep them safe,” he said. 

He said vehicles must be roadworthy, drivers must be qualified and an operating licence is required to transport passengers. 

“Cutting corners with any of these requirements and driving recklessly is a matter of life and death. My condolences and prayers go out to these parents who are now faced with the grief of losing a child, and those with children in the hospital,” he added. 

Mackenzie said anyone wishing to report illegal or unsafe transport operators in the metro must contact the City of Cape Town Traffic Department, for enforcement and possible impoundment if the vehicle is unsafe, overloaded or the driver is unqualified. 

He said he recently attended two community meetings in Mitchells Plain to address the issues around learner transport and ensure that operators are properly registered and licensed.

Western Cape MEC of Education David Maynier said, “Today is a sad day in this province. A tragic accident has taken the lives of five young learners. They are from Wespoort PS, Harvester PS, Ridgeville PS, Highlands PS, and Duneside PS. Two learners are receiving medical treatment, from Ridgeville PS and Lentegeur HS. Western Cape Education Department counselling support teams are supporting the affected schools.”

Maynier further said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and the school communities. This is an unimaginable tragedy. Our thoughts are also with the learners currently being treated in hospital.”

Both Mackenzie and Minister Maynier visited the scene of the accident to understand what happened and express their condolences to the parents of the children involved in the accident.

They were also briefed by the SAPS’ Mitchells Plain Station Commander.

Meanwhile, a 55-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the horror crash that claimed the lives of five pupils and seriously injured two others, along AZ Berman Drive in Mitchells Plain.

The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education said it has noted with great sadness the loss of five young lives early this morning in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, on their way to school.

Committee Chairperson Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba said the committee would like to extend its condolences to the families, friends and school community:“This is indeed tragic; the worst news any parent or loved one can receive. It is the last thing you expect when seeing you children off safely to school. We mourn the young lives of our learners whot will now not have an opportunity to prosper and contribute to the future of our country.”

Mbinqo-Gigaba called on the authorities to investigate the accident and to leave no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of what happened. 

“Guilty or negligent parties should face the full might of the law. We call on all those transporting our precious cargo to take great care when doing so, especially during the rainy winter season,” said Mbinqo-Gigaba.

Western Cape Premier Allan Winde said he felt “deep sorrow for the pain of thier parents.”

“My heart aches for the families of the young lives so tragically lost in a road accident in Mitchells Plain today. It’s hard to find the words to convey the magnitude of the loss of these precious children,” he said.

INSIDE EDUCATION 

A student wounded his teacher with a hunting knife and brandished what turned out to be a toy gun at classmates in a high school in a Milan suburb on Monday, police said.

Classmates later recounted that the 16-year-old suddenly stood up shortly after classes began in the town of Abbiategrasso and attacked the teacher from behind on an arm and on her head, the Italian news agency ANSA said. When the attacker waved a gun at his classmates, the students fled the room, reports said.

Police told state TV that when they entered the room, the teen was sitting on the floor with no one else in the classroom and offered no resistance. The bloody knife and the gun were found resting on a notebook on a desk, according to photos released by police.

The teacher, 51, lost a lot of blood and was admitted to a hospital, also suffering from shock, news reports said. The student was taken to a hospital psychiatric department and had what apparently were self-inflicted injuries, the police said.

Principal Michele Raffaeli told reporters outside the school that the student had been having academic problems and his parents had been summoned to a meeting with school authorities, scheduled for Tuesday.

Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara visited the wounded teacher in hospital.

“The teacher had done her work in an exemplary way for the boy, who had already had several issues,″ the minister said in a video on Facebook.

Valditara added: “We must say ‘enough’ to aggression so that schools can be safe places and, at the same time, reflect on introducing (the figure of) a psychologist” in schools.

AP

STAFF REPORTER

The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) has secured substantial funding amounting to R17.5 million for students on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.

UKZN Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Nana Poku, announced the plans for the funding to the University community last week.

“This funding will be used to provide support to postgraduate students, especially those from historically disadvantaged backgrounds, and to establish a dedicated secretariat for addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV),” he said.
 
The bulk of the funds, R15 million will be earmarked for providing financial support to deserving postgraduate students. The primary beneficiaries of this fund will be those students from disadvantaged backgrounds who need support to graduate in this 2023 academic year. 

The process of finalising the precise selection criteria for eligible postgraduate students is currently underway. Each qualifying student will receive financial assistance towards their studies, up to a maximum amount to be determined by each College in line with the University’s ethos of fairness, transparency and inclusion and alongside the structures of the funder’s requirements. 
 
The College of Law and Management Studies will receive R2 million, the College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science is set to receive R4 million, the College of Health Sciences is allocated R3.66 million, and the College of Humanities will receive a generous R5 million.
 
In addition to that, R2.5 million of the total funding will be dedicated to a crucial cause – the creation and operation of the GBV secretariat as mandated by the recently adopted UKZN SGBV Strategy. In line with that strategy and as announced in March this year, a specialised hub for addressing issues of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) will be established within the Office of the Vice-Chancellor. 
 
This hub will be responsible for steering the implementation of UKZN’s zero-tolerance policy towards SGBV and maintaining an accurate report of progress in this critical area. The funding will also support initiatives and activities to increase awareness about SGBV. 
 
Professor Poku said the contribution not only helps students from disadvantaged backgrounds in their academic journey but also aligns perfectly with the university’s commitment to eradicate the menace of sexual and gender-based violence from its campuses.

“It is a significant step towards a more inclusive, equitable, and safe academic environment at our institution.”

INSIDE EDUCATION

STAFF REPORTER

THE University of Cape Town (UCT) has done it again. Twelve of its academics and one university partnership have been selected as finalists in multiple categories for the 2022/2023 NSTF-South32 Awards – testament to their ground-breaking work in the fields of science, engineering and technology (SET) both nationally and abroad. 

The National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) Awards are the largest and most prestigious SET research awards in South Africa and are held annually in partnership with mining and metals company South32.

The awards celebrate the work of esteemed scientists advancing the sustainable socio-economic growth of the nation and improving the quality of life for all South Africans.

Being selected as a finalist for South Africa’s “Science Oscars” is no mean feat considering the pool of extraordinarily talented scientists and the number of nominations the NSTF receives every year.

This year’s winners will be announced at an awards ceremony taking place on 13 July, under the banner: “Ocean sciences for sustainable development” in response to the United Nations’ decade-long theme, Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

The UCT finalists are:  
Lifetime Award:
 Emeritus Professor Clive Gray – Professor of Immunology in the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS)
 Professor Juliet Hermes – Department of Oceanography in the Faculty of Science TW Kambule-NSTF Award: Emerging Researcher:

 Dr Rachael Dangarembizi – senior lecturer in the Department of Human Biology and Neuroscience Institute in the FHS
 Dr Mubeen Goolam – lecturer in human biology in the Department of Human Biology in the FHS
 Dr Daniel Ramotsoela – senior lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment (EBE) Management Award:
 Professor Isabelle Ansorge – head of the Department of Oceanography in the Faculty of Science Engineering Research Capacity Development Award:
 Associate Professor Denis Kalumba – director of the Geotechnical Research Laboratory and of postgraduate studies in the Department of Civil Engineering in EBE NSTF Water Research Commission Award:
 Associate Professor Kirsty Carden – interim director of the Future Water Research Institute NSTF-SAMRC Clinician-Scientist Award:
 Professor Salome Maswime – head of Global Surgery in the FHS Green Economy Award:
 Professor Rachel Wynberg – Department of Environmental and Geographical Science in the Faculty of Science
Data for Research Award:
 Professor Karen Barnes – Division of Clinical Pharmacology in the Department of Medicine in the FHS
 Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy – a partnership between UCT, the University of the Western Cape and the University of Pretoria Communication Award:
 South African Child Gauge: Lori Lake – communication and education specialist, Children’s Institute
Special Annual Theme Award:
 Professor Isabelle Ansorge – head of the Department of Oceanography in the Faculty of Science.

INSIDE EDUCATION

STAFF REPORTER

EDUCATION Minister Angie Motshekga presented the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE’s)
Budget Vote 16, for the 2023/24 Financial Year in the National Assembly, Parliament, Cape Town, last week.

The overall 2023/24 MTEF budget allocation for the DBE is R31.8 billion, an increase of 7.0% from
last year’s overall allocation. 

The Minister highlighted that the heart of any development within the Basic Education Sector, must be what learners learn – learning outcomes, adding that these were severely impacted by COVID-19, exasperating teaching and learning losses and setting students back by one year of learning.

“Prior to the pandemic, we had seen progress in the reading abilities of children. The Minister referred to the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2021) report that was shared with South Africans. PIRLS 2021 summarised the state of global learning poverty, as “the share of children who cannot read with meaning a simple text by the age of 10, as follows: “Firstly, in 2019, learning poverty was estimated at 57% in low and middle-income countries; secondly, post-COVID-19, a surge of up to 70% learning poverty in low and middle-income countries was noticeable; and thirdly, learning poverty was found to be as high as 86% for Sub-Saharan Africa”.

“During the 2018 State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Ramaphosa decreed that learners must be able to read for meaning by the age of 10 years.  The DBE and the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) responded with the National Reading Strategy (NRS) in 2019 with its 10 pillars.

There is an emerging view that these must be changed to four key interdependent strands: an explicit reading literacy policy; skilled and agile teachers; age-appropriate and culturally relevant LTSMs; and involved parents and communities. An Integrated National Reading Literacy Strategy must be well resourced –  we are engaging the National Treasury in this regard”.

“Since the Early Childhood Development (ECD) function shift from the Department of Social Development to the DBE, we have been crafting and implementing innovative strategies to strengthen the foundations of learning, looking at the continuum from birth to early Grades in the Foundation and Intermediate Phases. The Department subsequently conducted the National Census of Early Learning Programmes in 42,420 ECD programmes and the Thrive by Five Index Baseline Study revealed that only 45% of children, who are currently attending ECD programmes, are
developmentally on track. It is therefore important that a new holistic and inclusive model includes all communities of trust in the ECD space”.

In respect of skills and competencies for a changing world, the Three-Stream Curriculum Model is a responsive curriculum to meet the demands of the 21 st  Century. The Minister cited the introduction of the vocational and the occupational streams as additional learning pathways towards the attainment of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) in the schooling system.

“Other milestones include the finalisation of 35 Occupational and Vocational subjects for implementation in 74 Schools of Skill.  In 2021, we began piloting the specialised subjects in Grades 8 and 9 in 104 Public Ordinary Schools and Focus Schools selected across all nine provinces. The General Education Certificate (GEC) was piloted for assessment in 277 schools in 2022. This year, we have decided to step-up the pilot in 1,000 schools, including 126 Schools of Skill”. 

The Sanitation Appropriate for Education (SAFE) Initiative, launched in 2018, focused on providing appropriate sanitation to schools, which were dependent on basic pit toilets. In 2018, there were initially 3,898 schools on the SAFE initiative. Further assessments and rationalisation decreased this number to 3,395 schools.

At the end of the 2022/23 financial year, the construction of age-appropriate sanitation projects were completed in 2,722 schools. The remaining 673 sanitation projects are scheduled for completion before the end of this year. The Department has crafted an Infrastructure Ten-Point Strategy to accelerate the roll-out of school infrastructure, adopted by the Council for Education Ministers (CEM).

In conclusion, Minister Motshekga expressed her appreciation to partners, singling SACE, Umalusi, NECT, unions, SGB associations, principals’ associations, national organisations responsible for learners with special needs and independent schools’ associations for their counsel and impeccable resilience.

“As we continue to confront our ongoing challenges in the Sector: learner performance; schools and
district offices; infrastructure; resource constraints; school safety; learners and teachers’ well-being; and parental involvement, we must remember this quote from Dr Mokhubung Magubane: the future is embedded in the present, as the present bears imprints of the past.”

INSIDE EDUCATION

KAREN ROUX

MORE than 80% of South Africa’s grade 4 pupils – who are on average nine or 10 years old – cannot read for meaning. That means they can’t answer basic questions about or draw inferences from a text they’re reading. This worrying statistic emerged from the 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), which were released by the country’s basic education minister, Angie Motshekga, on 16 May.

The Conversation Africa asked Karen Roux, a specialist in reading literacy and development of equivalent assessments, to unpack the results.

What is the purpose of the study?

It’s an international large-scale assessment which provides participating countries with comparisons across education systems. Perhaps more importantly, it also allows countries to monitor trends over time and indicators of growth in the early years of children’s education. The assessments are conducted in five-year intervals; more than 50 countries participate. Only three African countries participated in the latest cycle: South Africa, Egypt and Morocco.

One of the main objectives for South African education authorities and researchers was to compare how well grade 4 learners read, across the country’s 11 official languages and its nine provinces. This information is vital to government bodies, policy-makers, non-government organisations, and scholars – it can be used to identify strengths and weaknesses and to address curriculum or policy shortcomings.

How did South Africa fare?

The PIRLS 2021 study showed that 81% of South African grade 4 pupils, across all 11 official languages, cannot read for meaning. Five years earlier, in the 2016 study, the figure stood at 78%.

The latest results indicate that eight out of 10 grade 4 children did not reach the Low International Benchmark, where they are expected to read a piece of text and locate and retrieve explicitly stated information. For example, the text would say “octopuses sometimes even make rock ‘doors’ for their dens that can be pulled closed to keep them safe” and the question would ask “what do octopuses use to make doors for their dens?”

The texts used in these tests came from all over the world, submitted by the participating countries. Twelve were trend texts; they were used in previous PIRLS cycles. Six new tests were developed. All countries got the same tests.

What explains South Africa’s performance?

The study happened in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, when schools all over the world had to close for a period of time. It was to be expected that school closures would cause learning losses – that is, what pupils ought to have gained over a normal year of schooling, versus what they actually learned.

In low- and middle-income countries, including South Africa, the pandemic exacerbated existing learning losses. Some scholars suggest that learning losses also include the “deterioration” of accumulated knowledge that is lost over time.

COVID disruptions weren’t unique to South Africa, so what explains its poor outcomes?

It is a (less than) perfect storm of problems. COVID was just part of it. There are also issues with how teachers are being trained to teach languages; parents not instilling a love of reading in their children from a young age, or being involved as they are taught to read at school; and inadequate school and classroom resources, especially in poorer schools.

The country’s school language policy also likely plays a role. In South Africa, the language of learning and teaching in the early grades is meant to be the language that the pupils speak at home. However, this is not always the case; classrooms, especially in urban areas, are full of pupils speaking diverse languages – not just isiXhosa or isiZulu, for instance, but these and other African languages.

Then, just as the pupils are getting the hang of the language used in the early grades, they switch to English in grade 4. The foundation is not yet laid for one language before this shift happens, so the pupils struggle with the new language (English).

Language acquisition theories suggest that before mastering a second language, the child must first have a solid foundation in their first, or home, language.

Can this crisis be turned around?

It’s been done elsewhere. Brazil, which like South Africa is classified as an upper-middle class income country, has been working hard on improving education. One of its poorest states, Ceará, has made huge strides in boosting literacy and numeracy. In a report about the process, the World Bank writes: It began with political leadership. Ceará’s government placed learning at the center of the education policy with a series of reforms under three categories.

These three categories were: (1) incentives for municipalities to better their education outcomes; (2) extensive support from the state’s literacy programme for municipally run schools and (3) regular results monitoring.

As this approach shows, there’s no one solution to solve any country’s reading crisis.

But political will is key. So, too, is ensuring the equitable provision of reading resources to South African schools – developed in African languages and grade appropriate. African language experts and storytellers should be the key source here.

Another thing that should be considered is a revision of the current curriculum policy for the early grades, introduced in 2012. The amount of time available for the skill of reading is extremely limited.

Only six hours per week are allocated for home language, but this is divided into the different skills that learners must be competent in: listening and speaking, reading and viewing, writing and presenting, as well as language structures and conventions.

That leaves pupils with about five hours in a two-week period to work on reading.

This time should be extended.

THE CONVERSATION

STAFF REPORTER

MINISTER of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, says skills development and training remains crucial in redressing the skewed trajectory of the past characterised through racist policies.

Addressing delegates during a breakfasting hosting the National Skills Fund (NSF) bursary beneficiaries during breakfast in Cape Town, the Minister said education and skills development is important because it promotes economic growth and social inclusion by creating a more skilled and diverse workforce.

“In our South African context, by providing training and education opportunities to Black South Africans, these skills development initiatives will help to level the playing field and reduce inequality in the economy. As President Nelson Mandela said: “The power of education extends beyond the development of skills we need for economic success. It can contribute to nation-building and reconciliation.”

Nzimande pledged to intensify efforts towards addressing the imbalances of skills supply and demand in South Africa through the process of developing a country wide Master Skills Plan under the theme ‘One Country One Skills Development Plan’.

This ground-breaking initiative will provide strategic direction to the country’s skills system, bring about coherence in skills provisioning and clarify institutional arrangements and ensure that skills development in South Africa is relevant and responsive to the needs of the economy and society.

He said the Department of Higher Education and Training, together with the 21 sector education and training authorities (SETAs) and entities under the department, has been mandated a leadership role in the skills development of the country, in rebuilding the economy and in leading the reconstruction efforts of the government post-Covid-19.

Half a billion rand will also be allocated to the SETAs for scarce skills development in the current financial year.

The Minister said that the NSF is in the process of finalising the issuing of skills development funding Request for Proposals (RFPs) which include:

a) Postgraduate studies in natural sciences at Masters, Medical Doctors, PHD and Post PHD
level;
b) Artisan Recognition of Prior Learning (ARPL); Studies in Wellness and Sports, Rural Development; Information and Communication Technology (Skills in 4IR); TVET College Placement programmes; and
c) Expansion of Centres of Specialisation

He urged South Africans to look for these opportunities, while urging greater collaboration of all PSET institutions with industry, mostly importantly, TVET and Community Colleges.

“This will ensure that we create more job and training opportunities for our students in these sectors. I have said it several times to our colleges principals, that our TVET college will not be called colleges if they do not have well established relations with industry and workplaces within their areas,” he said.

INSIDE EDUCATION

STAFF REPORTER

THE politicisation of top governance in South African universities is an entrée to corruption, and if left unchecked, the “growing swamp” will destroy higher education and snuff out the lamp of learning for generations to come, said Professor Jonathan Jansen.

Jansen is Distinguished Professor of Education at Stellenbosch University and the president of the Academy of Science of South Africa. His research is concerned with the politics of knowledge in schools and universities.

He was speaking at a University of Cape Town (UCT) Summer School Extension Series event earlier this month, in conversation with UCT’s Anwar Mall.

Mall is a medical biochemist and an Emeritus Professor of Surgical Research in the Faculty of Health Sciences.

The discussion, “Why universities are not exempt from corruption”, explored themes from Jansen’s recent hard-hitting book, Corrupted: A study of chronic dysfunction in South African universities.

An alarmingly high number of the country’s 26 higher education institutions are already at risk, Jansen said.

The example of politically motivated assassinations and attempts on the lives of vice-chancellors and senior staff at institutions such as the University of Fort Hare had illuminated the reality of criminal syndicates operating with impunity.

Governance bodies had been infiltrated by individuals’ intent only on bleeding these institutions dry, Jansen said.

The conversation was part of the Summer School Extension Series.

Jansen said that while the threats to higher education were considerable, he doesn’t believe “the game is over with respect to a love of learning”.

“UCT [for example] is lucky to have those values in place and has some of the world’s leading scholars, some of the most productive laboratories for science and medicine with great thinkers in philosophy, literature and so on. But there’s a worldwide problem of reducing teaching and learning to ‘best outcomes’.”

Universities across the world are in constant struggle with what social scientists call the neoliberal university, he said.

“Get as many students across the line as possible, turn research into production units and ensure we
optimise the publication subsidy of the university.”

“We must train the next generation of professors so that they can step into a classroom and engage students to come to love the intellectual property. Because if you don’t, the swamp is going to grow.”

In this endeavour, universities need strong academic leaders at the helm, with a clear vision of their task, Jansen said.

“Take Fort Hare, where vice-chancellor Professor Sakhela Buhlungu understands the value of learning. We forgot what universities are called for … It’s a particular kind of institution set up for an enduring purpose.”

“As I said to a group of vice-chancellors I met with recently, ‘How many of you have stood up at orientation or graduation and told the students what a university is for?’ South Africans equate a degree with getting a job.”

Therein lies a problem, Jansen noted. The goal of higher education is to provide students with a skill set, not prepare them for a specific job, except for the narrowest of professions.

But when it comes to good leadership, the cupboard is bare, Jansen noted. The crisis has impacted on councils, senates and other university governance bodies. And if avoided, problems “at the top” create havoc within the institution.

“A vice-chancellor is only as good as their second tier,” Jansen said. “And we’re dealing with a set of very serious issues about where the next generation of leaders will come from.”

Jansen said that while universities train emerging professors, introducing new, young blood to the academic corps for continuity, similar advancement programmes should be in place for university leadership roles.

INSIDE EDUCATION

STAFF REPORTER

THE Portfolio Committee on Basic Education has received a comprehensive briefing from the Department of Basic Education (DBE) on the recently released Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) for 2021.
 
Committee Chairperson Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba indicated that the committee noted media reports on the outcome of the study and requested a detailed, official briefing from the DBE on its implications. 

The PIRLS 2021 study reveals very low performance levels for learners’ ability to read for meaning as they turn 10 years old. Reading comprehension is the ability to read text, process it and understand its meaning.

It relies on two interconnected abilities: word reading (being able to decode the symbols on the page) and language comprehension (being able to understand the meaning of the words and sentences). Readers who have a strong understanding can draw conclusions after reading a text.
 
The committee heard that the DBE uses three different national assessments to generate data: Early and emergent literacy skills (ELNA); Foundational reading comprehension (Systemic evaluation) and international reading comprehension benchmarks. The results of the ELNA and the Systematic evaluation assessments are better than the International reading comprehension assessment results, the DBE said.
 
The committee heard that South Africa has participated in PIRLS since 2006, with subsequent cycles in 2011, 2016, and most recently in 2021. 12 426 Grade 4 learners in 321 schools and 9 317 Grade 6 learners in 253 schools were assessed. Grade 4 learners were representative of the 11 official languages and nine provinces, while the Grade 6 learners only represented Afrikaans and English.

South Africa’s Grade 4 and 6 participation rate was 97% and 98% respectively (after replacements).
 
South Africa’s trend score from 2016 dropped significantly from 320 to 288 (difference of 32 points).

81% of Grade 4s and 56% of Grade 6 learners did not reach the low benchmark of 400 points. Grade 6 learners scored 384 points, with Afrikaans learners scoring an average of 456. The best performing language was Afrikaans (387) and lowest Setswana (211).

The Western Cape had the highest scores:

Grade 4 at 363 and Grade 6 at 460, almost 131 points above North West in Grade 4, which achieved
232.

At 317 score points nationally, Grade 4 girls achieved 57 score points higher than Grade 4 boys (260).
 
Some of the challenges with reading for comprehension highlighted by the DBE are the lack of a
culture of reading in many households in South Africa, along with poorly resourced schools and a
lack of emphasis on reading during the early childhood development phase.  The DBE indicated that
it will now study and analyse the results in order to improve in these areas.
 
Ms Mbinqo-Gigaba said the committee is concerned about the results, but noted the societal issues that impact on South Africa’s results, including the days of learning lost during Covid-19. Furthermore, the committee noted that the PIRLS assessments are done in English and some learners do not have English as a language of learning in the developmental phase. “We took to heart some of the suggestions and strategies mentioned, like placing more emphasis on access to books and reading corners in classrooms, thereby inculcating a love for reading and being able to
read with meaning and understanding.”

INSIDE EDUCATION