The impact of the Covid19 pandemic on education has been devastating, as evidenced by the recently released Progress in International Reading and Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2021 results. South Africa experienced a 32point drop in its average PIRLS score, a concerning trend that demands swift action to address.
In 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa launched a “massive reading campaign” to ensure that every tenyearold in South Africa can read for meaning within a decade. Despite the Department of Basic Education’s claims of success, recent investigations reveal a different reality.
