By Destine Nde
It’s a well-known fact that the South Africans schools system is underperforming, both in terms of international standards as well as comparisons with other developing countries. This has far-reaching consequences, for young people’s prospects as well as the economy.
In an interview last year, George Ferreira, principal of Willowmore Secondary School, confirmed that the central problem was a lack of functional literacy and numeracy – among others, due to a lack of involvement of caregivers in the development of their children.
Indeed, he insisted that the road to functional literacy should start during the first nine months of a child’s life. ‘This is where we already start losing the battle. It’s far too late to perform miracles in Grade 12. If a country gets it right between ages 0—2, the population will be competent enough. Everything has to do with early childhood development.’
According to Mr Ferreira, functional literacy has to be developed by Grade 3, and learners who can’t read or write should not be promoted to Grade 4. This shortcoming was partly due to caregivers not playing their required developmental role. In fact, he said, statistics showed that only 14% of South Africans were book readers, and a mere 5% read to their children.
Given all of this, I was elated when I heard about National Book Week being celebrated in our schools from 8—12 September. An initiative of the South African Book Development Council, in collaboration with the Department of Arts and Culture, National Book Week is commemorated in the first week of every September. This coincides with International Literacy Day, which falls on 8 September.
According to this year’s theme, ‘The Books of Our Lives’, National Book Week is a ‘creative campaign which reveals to South Africans the many ways in which books remain our faithful companions on the road of life’.
A letter from the Office of the Circuit Management Centre in Graaff-Reinet, sent to all principals in the Sarah Baartman District, read: ‘The purpose of Literacy Week is to develop the habit of reading and to foster critical thinking and creativity … to see books as companions that guide, inspire and connect to experiences throughout life’.
On Friday 12 September, I visited Willowmore Primary School to learn about the event from teachers themselves. I spoke to Herschel Smit, a dedicated and friendly teacher, who introduced me to two ‘Reading Champs’ active at the school, Immonay Wilschut and Melodin Tarentaal.
Herschel Smit, Immonay Wilschut and Melodin Tarentaal.
The Reading Champions Programme is a Presidential Employment Initiative, managed by the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) on behalf of the Department of Basic Education, to employ young adults in teacher support roles. They are trained in learner-centred processes and how to how to promote a reading culture in schools.
According to Immonay and Melodin, one of the main reasons for poor reading in public schools is overcrowding in classrooms. It is impossible for a teacher in a class of 50 learners to pay attention to every learner. And children often have different strengths and weaknesses.
This is the reasons for the appointment of Reading Champs in every school — to encourage reading by getting learners to see it as a fun and pleasurable activity, and give them individual attention. They are meant to come up with creative ideas and fun activities around reading.
Immonay explained: ‘We have been reading with the children, from class to class, inviting them to the library, discovering each learner’s weaknesses. In fact, there is now a reading period every day. It’s called the Drop-all-and-read period. During this time, the whole school is put in a reading atmosphere.
‘We’ve also been renovating the library, making it more attractive and pleasant to use. We’ve also held a spelling competition. There will be a book hunt game later today, and a prize for the best reader.’
Two learners in the refurbished library.
In the meantime, learners were dressed in costumes, and dancing to music. Melody explained that this was part of the process. ‘We want the kids to associate reading with fun and pleasure, so we’ve asked everyone to dress like their favourite book character. For example I’m Liewe Heksie, Immonay is Rooikappie, Mr Smit is Zorro, the Principal is Batman, and so on.’
At the same time, major challenges remain. Immonay. ‘You’d be shocked at the number of learners who can’t read and write. These need special attention, and parents must help with the basics. There’re also a lot of old books in the library. We’re in great need of new reading material. Donations of any kind are welcome, even newspapers.’
At this stage, their contracts are temporary – they began in late June and are due to expire at the end of November. One can only hope that this remarkable programme and the roles of Reading Champs will be further consolidated in the future.
FEATURED IMAGE: National Book Week event in progress at the Willowmore Primary School. All images: the author.