By: Sthulile Mdletshe
The Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, has raised deep concern over the persistent and widespread reading challenges faced by young learners in South African schools.
Delivering the keynote address at the inaugural Dialogue on Entrepreneurship Education, Minister Gwarube stressed the foundational importance of literacy in the early years of schooling. Citing findings from the 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), she noted that a significant proportion of learners in Grades R to 3 are still unable to read for meaning, an alarming indication of the scale of the crisis.
“This is not just a reading problem,” Gwarube emphasised.
“It is an educational emergency. If our children cannot read with understanding by the time they reach Grade 4, they are effectively locked out of the learning process. Reading is the gateway to all other forms of learning.”
The PIRLS 2021 report revealed that 81% of South African Grade 4 learners could not read for meaning in any language, a statistic that places the country among the lowest performers globally. While the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted learning and worsened literacy rates worldwide, the Minister acknowledged that South Africa’s reading crisis predates the pandemic and reflects deeper systemic issues in the basic education sector.
The Minister called for a national, multi-sectoral effort to improve early-grade literacy, including investment in teacher training, improved access to age-appropriate reading materials, and parental involvement in home reading habits.
“Entrepreneurship education, which we are here to discuss today, starts with critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving,but none of that is possible without the foundational skill of reading,” she said.
The Dialogue on Entrepreneurship Education aims to explore how entrepreneurial thinking can be integrated into the curriculum from an early age. However, Minister Gwarube underscored that unless the literacy gap is urgently addressed, such innovations in the education system will be inaccessible to many learners.
