A report on the state of literacy teaching in the first few years of schooling has highlighted shortcomings in teaching kids to read.
|||Cape Town - A report on the state of literacy teaching in the first few years of schooling has highlighted shortcomings in teaching children to read.
The study by the National Education Evaluation and Development Unit, “The State of Literacy Teaching and Learning in the Foundation Phase”, sampled 134 schools last year.
The findings included that most classes had few reading books.
“In many such schools the state of the reading corner suggested general apathy and disinterest on the part of the teacher to encourage reading. Much of the responsibility for improving the situation must lie with the provinces where the budgets for learning and teaching support material do not provide for supplying schools at the required level,” the report said.
Norms for reading fluency had not been developed, the report said.
In terms of a provisional set of norms - where the top Grade 2 pupils read at an average of about 125 words a minute by mid-year, average pupils at about 70 words a minute, and slower pupils at an average of about 20 words a minute - 72 percent of the three best pupils in each class were reading below the average benchmark for Grade 2 learners, and 22 percent were on or below the poor benchmark.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said the report showed a lack of monitoring of pupil reading in school by school management teams.
ilse.fredericks@inl.co.za
Cape Argus