Reading crisis blood bath: Only 1 in 5 grade 4s in SA can read for meaning
16 May 2023
Results from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) that was released today show that 81% of South African learners in grade 4 cannot read for meaning.
In fact, South Africa scored significantly lower than the center point of the PIRLS scale – 288 compared to 500.
What is possibly more concerning is that 56% of South African grade 6 learners cannot read for meaning when tested on the same grade 4 PIRLS evaluation.
Although 21 of 57 participating countries showed a decline in results due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, South Africa scored significantly lower than all compared countries in the grade 4 tests. In fact, South Africa had the largest decline in reading outcomes, with our learners lagging more than 3 years behind Brazilian children.