Most junior primary kids illiterate: study
Posted by Ingrid Thomson | 19 Jun, 2009SA Child Gauge 2008, released by UCT's Children's Institute, "paints a bleak picture of roughly two thirds of junior primary school children being functionally illiterate and innumerate, a statistic that grows to 73 percent innumerate when pupils reach Grade 4."
IOL reports that the report shows that while the country has a very high rate of enrolment in grades one to nine, they are often not receiving "meaningful access to education, or meaningful learning outcomes".
<snip>Meaningful access to education, said the Children's Institute's Shirley
Pendlebury, requires among other things access to well-conceived text
books and other learning materials; competent and prepared teachers who
are able to use a range of appropriate classroom practices; a
curriculum that builds a strong basis in the foundation phase; teaching
facilities and resources such as laboratories and well-stocked
libraries; and a safe and supportive environment.
"Ninety-six percent of children of compulsory school age are enrolled
in school, yet poor national averages for language and mathematics in
grades 3 and 6 show that most learners do not acquire the skills and
understanding that give substance to the right to education."
Only 36% of grade 3 pupils passed the literacy and 35% the numeracy assessments in 2007, according to the preliminary findings.