Mlambo-Ngcuka: Urgent solutions needed to resolve SA literacy crisis
Former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka says South Africa’s literacy crisis can only be resolved by children reading more often when they are young.
Mlambo-Ngcuka's remarks come ahead of International Literacy Day on Friday.
Earlier this year, the International Reading Literacy Study report found that over 80% of South African Grade 4 pupils cannot read for meaning.
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Mlambo-Ngcuka, who chairs the education-focused Umlambo Foundation, will engage the Education Department, experts and parents in Durban on Friday in an effort to find solutions to the problem.
She says efforts to improve literacy levels will have a positive impact on pupils throughout their academic careers.
"The promotion of literacy in South Africa and all over the world is about building a foundation for all learners to have a successful learning career, to have grasped the content that is presented to them so that they older and go to tertiary."
