A reading crisis we can no longer ignore

As if we needed more evidence that, matric celebrations notwithstanding, South Africa’s education system has problems: now we hear that 1 in 7 Grade 3 pupils can’t read even one word.

That is correct – not that they can’t read fluently, or that they can’t read for meaning, or can’t read sentences… they cannot distinguish a single word.

The 2030 Reading Panel’s 2026 report, released yesterday, reveals also that “currently [2025], 81% of Grade 4 pupils cannot read for meaning in any language and only 30% of Grade 1-3 pupils perform at grade level”.

However, we must salute Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube for confirming what many see as the root problem of ills in our schooling system: “learning gaps begin in the early grades, not in matric, not in the intermediate or senior phase, but in the foundation phase itself.”

ALSO READ: Poor kids pay the price of cadre looting

She said ECD (early childhood development) must play a pivotal role in preparing children for school, adding that her department had exceeded its target of registering 10 000 ECD centres by 2025, by bringing 13 300 centres into the official fold.

That’s a good start.

Unless this issue is rectified, its negative effects will multiply as pupils go through the system.