Study: 70% of children from Grade 1 to 3 can't recognise letters or read words quickly enough to understand them

A survey by the Basic Education Department has revealed that 70% of children from Grade 1 to 3 cannot recognise letters or read words quickly enough to understand them.

The revelation is in the Funda Uphumelele national survey, a first of its kind document compiling early grade reading outcomes across all official languages in the first three grades. 

Minister Siviwe Gwarube launched the study in Pretoria on Momday and said that there needs to be a new focus on early learning and comprehension.

For the past seven years the department has been working on creating a reading benchmark in all 11 officials languages.

This is to mark specific reading skills that children need to get to by the end of Grade 1, 2 and 3 in order to be on track with comprehension by the time they reach Grade 4.

Speaking at the launch, the department's director for reading Nompumelelo Nyathi Mohohlwane said that only 3 out of 10 learners in Grade 1 to 3 can read at the level expected for their age.

She explains why this study exists.

"We want to clarify key milestones in early reading development. We want to enable early identification of children at risk. We want to support timely and targeted remediation. We want to have teachers guide differentiated instruction. And we also want to measure progress towards system goals."

She added that by Grade 4 only 46% of learners reach their grade 3 language landmark.