‘We are not a nation of readers,’ says education department

SIX libraries within the eThekwini Municipality have closed due to leasing problems and damages following the July 2021 unrest and floods in April last year.

And, for the 88 libraries that remain open, new reading material has not been procured since 2019.

This comes at a time when the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) found 81% of Grade 4 pupils in South Africa cannot read for meaning. This means pupils do not comprehend what they read in class.

Lindiwe Khuzwayo, the municipality’s head of communications, said: “The Reservoir Hills library closed in 2021 due to being burnt during looting. The uMzinyathi library closed in 2022 because of damage as a result of the April floods

“The uMhlanga library closed in 2020 due to lease-related challenges, which prevented it from being renewed. Our libraries in Windermere, Umbilo and Hillary closed in 2021 also due to lease-related challenges.

“The Amanzimtoti library is semiopen and offers a photocopying service. In 2021, the roof collapsed.”

She said the municipality planned to revamp libraries in eThekwini.

“Repairs are in progress in the uMzinyathi library. The library will be functional around September 2023 if everything goes as per our plan. The Reservoir Hills and uMhlanga libraries are both leased libraries.

“Lease agreements for both libraries had expired and we have started the tendering process for new premises to house the libraries in the respective areas.”

Khuwayo said the assessments were done at the Amanzimtoti library.

“We are looking at revamping the library in the 2023/2024 financial year. The Umbilo library will reopen on June 5 this year. Windermere and Hillary are in the process of readvertising for new spaces to lease.”

The PIRLS study was conducted by the Institute of Education Sciences. It is designed to measure reading achievement at the fourth-grade level, as well as school and teacher practices related to instruction. Sixty-five education systems participated in the 2021 PIRLS assessment.

The findings in South Africa affect children who go to schools where English or Afrikaans is not the medium of instruction.

Opposition parties said corruption and poor management were costing eThekwini’s poorest access to relevant free educational resources through municipal libraries.

Mazwi Blose, the EFF eThekwini regional spokesperson, said early childhood development was a key issue that delayed the progress of children who attend lower quintile schools.

“Most children don’t attend preschools that have resources that allow them to learn. This delays their progress significantly because they only start learning once they go to formal school. You will also find that most schools don’t even have the required syllabus textbooks for children.

“In their communities, they have libraries with outdated books and no meaningful resources. The facilities are rundown and the government does not hold itself accountable.

“Education is expensive and, at present, only those who can afford good schools are equipped with the proper literacy skills. Our children end up suffering when they shouldn’t be.”

Bradley Singh, the DA KZN spokesperson on Sports, Arts and Culture, said a drastic change in government was needed to deal with the poor maintenance of public libraries.

“In 2019, a tender was awarded to 17 companies to procure books for all districts in the province. It was found that 14 of the companies were non-existent, while the other three were linked to one family business under one address.

“The main supplier was not part of the South African Booksellers Association as they had been denied due to their illegal dealings. Once this was investigated, it rendered the tender null and void. No progress has been made since then to procure relevant materials that underprivileged learners need.

“Comrades do not care about anything more than filling their pockets with loot. The dilapidated state of libraries, the lack of foresight and planning, is squarely the responsibility of corrupt leaders.”

Elijah Mhlanga, the national spokesperson for the Department of Education, said the department was concerned about the findings of the study. He said the Covid pandemic hampered the progress that had been made.

“We already knew we had a reading challenge before the pandemic, but at least we were on an improving path. In fact, South Africa was one of the fastest-improving countries in the PIRLS assessment and other international assessments of learning quality.

“Within the PIRLS study, the percentage of children reading with meaning by Grade 4 had increased from 13% in 2006, to 18% in 2011 and 22% in 2016. The level of performance was grim, but the trend was upward.

"Sadly, this upward trend was dealt a blow by the extraordinary amount of schooling time that was lost in 2020 and 2021.

“By the time Grade 4 learners sat for the PIRLS reading test in September of 2021, they had lost about 60% of school days in 2020 and about 50% of their 2021 school days.

“Even after schools reopened, the regulations on social distancing forced most schools to use rotational timetables, meaning that learners would attend school on alternative days or weeks.”

Mhlanga said going forward, greater priority would be given to Home Language Literacy teaching.

“Children have to learn the skills of reading in a language they understand. We know that the reading results in Grade 4 reflect weak learning foundations in Grades 1 to 3, where we see not enough children learning to connect letters with sounds.

“Children also struggle to recognise words. These are the skills that will allow them to move on to the more advanced skills of reading with meaning. These skills are best learned in home language, and can then be transferred to a second language at a later stage.”

Mhlanga said: “The PIRLS results are an indication of deeper challenges. The truth is that we are not a nation of readers.”

He said in 2015, the department initiated the Read to Lead campaign to cultivate a culture of reading in society.