​The over-arching goal of the Department of Basic Education should be that every South African child learn to read for meaning by the end of Grade 3. 

That is the key message of two reports launched by the Research on Socioeconomic Policy (ReSEP) Group, situated in the Department of Economics at Stellenbosch University (SU), on Tuesday 24 May.

These reports are the culmination of two years of research on the South African education system. The first report – "Laying Firm Foundations: Getting Reading Right" investigated the causes of weak South African student performance in literacy and numeracy in the Foundation Phase (Grades 1–3). These weak foundations laid in Grades 1-3 constitute one of the major factors leading to poor learning outcomes in later grades.

In the second report – "Identifying Binding Constraints in Education" – the research team undertook work on identifying the binding constraints in school education in South Africa more broadly. This work has a wider focus in two ways: evaluating learning outcomes at all levels of the schooling system and identifying a broader set of limiting factors, including within the administrative core of the education system.

Although several binding constraints were identified, including weak institutional functionality, undue union influence, weak teacher content knowledge and pedagogical skill, and wasted learning time and insufficient opportunity to learn, both of these reports highlight the centrality of ensuring that all children learn to read for meaning by the end of Grade 3.

"At the moment in SA, about 60% of children cannot read at even a basic level at the end of Grade 4. These children will never fully engage with the curriculum and will fall further and further behind even as they are promoted to higher grades," states the report "Laying Firm Foundations: Getting Reading Right".

"Unless students have been given sufficient opportunity to 'learn to read' they cannot subsequently 'read to learn'. Irrespective of the subject, the South African curriculum assumes that children have learned how to read by the end of Grade 3, an assumption that is not supported by the evidence," it continues.

According to Prof Servaas van der Berg, lead researcher at ReSEP, learners' reading skills were identified as the single most influential binding constraint and that is why they recommended that education authorities should make it a priority.

"Ensuring that each child can read for meaning at the end of Grade 3 is a measurable, understandable and pedagogically sound goal. We need to get it right at the beginning and in doing so we could eliminate some of the problems that emerge later in the education system.

"The reports don't indicate that more resources or funds are needed, but rather that these resources and funds should be focused on formulating and implementing an effective early grade reading strategy."

The research has culminated in 10 journal articles, 12 policy briefs, one monograph, two reports and two policy engagement workshops. The researchers also created a "Roadmap for Action" with detailed suggestions and recommendations for how the Department of Basic Educations can ensure that all children learn to read for meaning. 

The roadmap includes the following action points: The establishment of a Directorate of Primary Literacy; An analysis of prior early grade reading and literacy strategies; A capacity audit of the education system to effectively teach reading to learners in early grades; A reformulation of the national early grade reading strategy and a comprehensive budget analysis of the cost of implementing the national early grade reading strategy.

The researchers involved are:

Laying Firm Foundations: Getting Reading Right: Nicholas Spaull, Servaas van der Berg, Gabrielle Wills, ​Martin Gustafsson & Janeli Kotzé​​

Identifying Binding Constraints in Education:​​ Servaas van der Berg, Nicholas Spaull, Gabrielle Wills, ​Martin Gustafsson & Janeli Kotzé​​​