The 2030 Reading Panels 2026 Background Report which shockingly revealed – amongst a list of other horrifying findings – that some 15% of Grade 3s scored zero in reading assessments has sent shockwaves throughout the country. These numbers almost doubled for Grades 1 – 3 in home language literacy. Although much of the media have subsequently been severely scathing, is the situation truly as doomed as the reportage lets on?
The Reading Panel, comprised of some of the country’s most illustrious intellectuals is chaired by former deputy president Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, seeks to address SA’s reading crisis and asks the question: ‘What needs to change for us to ensure that all children learn to read by 2030?’
We thought we’d been here before. In 2021 a Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) report which found that a staggering 81% of Grade 4 learners could not read for meaning resulted in a national scandal. Five years prior, up to 78% of 4th Graders could not read for meaning in any language. These figures showed a stark regression to 2011 figures, placing the country amongst the lowest-performing globally.
Those findings seemed to effectively render as suspect President Cyril Ramaphosa’s 2019 announcement that all 10-year-olds should be able to read for meaning by 2030. Around the release of the PIRLS study, the Covid-19 pandemic was indeed a legitimate excuse. Its effects, which showed vast disparities between fee and non-fee paying schools, laid bare the deeper social determinants of education. This study has been cognisant enough to conduct a systemic assessment that is not simply confined to the classroom, not least of which is a compulsory national review of all initial teacher education – an evaluation last conducted in 2005.
In 2023, for example, the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI) Educator Assistant Programme which would take on nearly 30 000 ‘reading champions’ to improve reading in the foundation phase was lauded as one of the more visible government interventions. However, even this effort – which only required a 30% pass mark to qualify – was immediately met with scepticism from experts.
Despite the panel’s 2023 report’s author, Nick Spaull, had found that ‘to reach the 2030 goal, fundamental reforms are required in the ways that teachers are recruited, trained,
certified, supported and evaluated, as well as far-reaching reforms on education financing and the resourcing of schools,’ it seemed that government had still nog done much to apply the Panel’s the 2022. With exception of the Western Cape and Gauteng, Spaull’ s report found that ‘there is currently no National Reading Plan, no budget for reading and no reporting on reading.’ Even large-scale government-backed programs like the National Education and Training Council’s (NECT) Primary School Reading Improvement Program appeared to be hopelessly underfunded.
Fast forward to 2026 and there are slivers of promise. ‘Six of the nine provinces are implementing evidence-based reading
interventions,’ When not a single one was doing so just four years ago. There has also been the introduction of FUNS assessments ‘which has expanded insight into foundational skills and strengthened provincial assessment systems.’
Whilst the report laments the absence of a national literacy drive, in the 2026/27 financial year the Department of Basic Education is due to roll out an updated national foundation phase catalogue. Similar efforts will be made towards home language education.
In smaller trials, the report found that appointing visiting reading coaches as well as resourced and well-trained Educator Assistants showed to be an effective form of intervention. The study also made these recommendations: annual reading assessments at every school; the allocation of new national budgets for reading programs; equipping Foundation Phase classrooms with a standard minimum set of reading resources; and ensuring the auditing of teacher education programs prior to graduates entering the workplace. Although the uptake by government has been slow, as noted, there have been some areas of at least putting the foundation in place or minor improvements here and there.
Still, though, the country is faced with some unkind statistics. Mother tongue education, the importance of which is research-backed and enjoys government drives, seems to be coming up short in the actual classroom. Sepedi (11%), isiNdebele (14%) and Xitsonga (16%) learners were amongst the fewest to reach the required literacy targets by the end of Grade 3. At 48% English was the best performing language in this regard.
The Eastern Cape in particular is said to provide an extensive roll-out of materials to some 1 652 poorer schools. The Free State’s efforts are set to reach 433 schools, 588 in Gauteng, and Mpumalanga has its R100-million Grade R Capacity Building Programme and equipping 965 quintile 1-3 schools.
These small hopes notwithstanding, the research panel is unconvinced that the country will meet Ramaphosa’s 2030 goals. Looking at present data, they are quick to declare that perhaps the president’s announcement was a little ambitious because such drastic shifts, particularly in education do not occur overnight. They further go on to advise that interventions at provincial level tend to be highly effective as this is often where the necessary resources usually are. In a nutshell the panel then makes these recommendations: standardised reading assessments, funding specifically towards reading, minimum reading resources at foundation level and improving teacher preparation.
Given the flak from opposition parties as well as the general public directed at government in the wake of the PIRLS findings, one would’ve expected a swift, emergency vaccine-like interventions, not least because the findings affect the most vulnerable citizens – the children. But seemingly government has been in no particular rush to tackle the crisis. And, with only six provinces intently trying to turn the tide, we might be asking why the rest aren’t coming to the party. However, we forget that just a few years ago the programs that are currently being rolled out and the efforts to expand them did not exist to begin with. Not quite at the recommended national level, but perhaps we can appreciate the little shifts forward.
Featured image: Kids walking back from school. Source: eParkeni.