A recent national study by the Department of Basic Education has uncovered concerning levels of reading and numeracy skills among South African schoolchildren.
The South African Systemic Evaluation 2022 report highlighted that 37% of Grade 3 students require significant support with reading literacy, while another 43% need targeted assistance. Similarly, by Grade 9, 30% of students are at a similar level of need, with 49% requiring focused interventions in reading.
In total, nearly 140 000 pupils across Grades 3, 6 and 9 participated in the study, which showed a wide disparity in performance across different regions. Western Cape students emerged as the strongest performers, with the highest percentage of pupils achieving the required grade-level competencies in reading and numeracy.
The findings also indicated that girls outperform boys in both literacy and mathematics across all grades. Experts such as Dr Rituparno Goswami from the University of KwaZulu-Natal have called for urgent and effective interventions to address these gaps, particularly in lower-income schools. Goswami emphasised the importance of mother-tongue education and better access to learning resources, such as textbooks and workbooks in students’ home languages.
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