Covid 'cannot be blamed' for poor Grade 4 reading skills
UKZN education expert Wayne Hugo says the shocking results of a study on the quality of Grade 4s' reading skills cannot be blamed on Covid-19 alone.
The department released the latest findings of the International Reading Literacy Study this week.
More than 12 000 South African Grade 4 pupils were assessed.
READ: New stats on SA pupils’ reading skill ‘a catastrophe’
It was found that over 80% of them cannot read for meaning.
Hugo says South Africa's education system is weak compared to other countries.
"The problem in South Africa is that we are incredibly fragile in terms of our structures. So with all the issues we have had, not only with apartheid but with the way the current government and systems have been running, we are becoming increasingly fragile.
"So we are able to do stuff, but at the first indication of some kind of stress, what happens is there can be a danger of cracking and collapsing. We are not a robust system. So you can blame Covid on one level, but on another level, you have to respond and say other countries were able to take the brunt of it."
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Hugo says more privately-run schools, especially in rural communities, is also not the answer.
"You got to be very careful with these private school models because they are profit-driven and sometimes it is hard so you have to make profit out of the poorest of our communities."
