Umdloti resident Jacqui Haddow has big plans for improving South African children’s alarmingly poor reading capabilities as shown in a recent study.

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) assesses reading comprehension and monitors trends and indicators of growth in reading literacy at five-year intervals.

The last assessment was done in 2021 and the preliminary results released last year.

Falling under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), the PIRLS international scale has a range set from 0 to 1 000, with 500 being the centre point.

“For South Africa, the 2021 study reveals very low performance levels of learners’ ability to read for meaning as they turn 10,” the PIRLS 2021 preliminary highlights report compiled by the Department of Basic Education in 2023 read.

It stated that 81% of South African Grade 4 pupils were unable to reach the lowest benchmark (400-474) of being able to “read to locate and retrieve explicit information.”

They scored an average of 288, just over half the international average of 500. Only one percent of South African Grade 4 pupils tested were able to achieve the advanced international benchmark of 625 and above and able to “integrate ideas, as well as appreciate overall themes across a text, understand the author’s stance, and interpret significant events.”

With 12 426 pupils across the 11 official languages assessed, the test appears to be representative of the demographic of our country.

For Haddow this is of grave concern and she is determined to help turn the tide, starting in her own community.

A qualified teacher with an honours degree in psycho educational support and experience in remedial teaching, Haddow wants to expand on the supplementary work she is already doing with Umhloti Primary School’s reading programme.

As reported in the Courier a few weeks ago, the school’s reading programme has made great strides with the addition of reading corners for the foundation phase classes and the implementation of the Read for Africa’s Phono-Graphix Reading Method.

Now Haddow wants to use the school as a base from which to make a difference on a wider scale.

Through her non-profit organisation, Gumballs of Love, Haddow has been assisting underprivileged communities in Waterloo and Verulam with donations of food and clothing, as well as a small jungle gym for Umhloti Primary School procured with the assistance of Africa Anchor of Hope.

Now she is looking for funding to train two people through the Read for Africa’s Phono-Graphix Reading Method to be permanently stationed to boost the school’s reading programme.

She lists five basic skills that, if mastered, would enable pupils to read any words.

1. Word construction: writing words.

2. Segmenting: breaking bigger words apart to discover the basic words they originate from.

3. Letter-sound correlation: the relationships of the letters in the alphabet to the sounds they produce.

4. Phoneme manipulation: the ability to substitute, delete or change sounds in words.

5. Blending: putting words together to build bigger words.

Should you wish to assist Gumballs of Love in any way, contact Haddow at 084 600 9997 or e-mail at info@readandlearn.co.za

Stay in the loop with The North Coast Courier on Facebook, X, Instagram & YouTube for the latest news.

Mobile users can join our WhatsApp Broadcast Service here or if you’re on desktop, scan the QR code below.