Education
(1) Whether her Department has measures in place to measure the literacy levels of all the grades at public ordinary schools; if not, why not; if so, (a) what are the relevant details and (b) what are the literacy levels and/or statistics of all the grades in the province, including a detailed breakdown according to education district;
(2) whether there are any measures in place to improve the literacy levels of learners in the province; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) whether there are any measures in place to improve the literacy level in the foundation phase in the province; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(4) whether her Department would consider bringing back reading periods and introducing other additional programmes to encourage reading in the province; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
(1) The WCED’s independently administered systemic tests measure the literacy levels of Grades 3, 6 and 9 in public ordinary schools. The Western Cape is the only province that conducts such testing.
- WCED systemic tests Grades 3,6 and 9 test Reading and Viewing. Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) diagnostic testing in Grades 1 – 3 takes place at the beginning of terms 2 – 4. All other grades make use of term performance.
Grade 3 Reading & Viewing 2019 Systemic Results | ||
District | Pass % | Average % |
Cape Winelands | 45.3 | 44.3 |
Eden & Central Karoo | 43.5 | 43.2 |
Overberg | 46.2 | 45.2 |
West Coast | 38.2 | 40.7 |
Metro Central | 56.3 | 51.9 |
Metro East | 58.3 | 52.1 |
Metro North | 56.4 | 51.4 |
Metro South | 60.0 | 53.4 |
Province | 53 | 49.2 |
Grade 6 Reading & Viewing 2019 Systemic Results | ||
District | Pass % | Average % |
Cape Winelands | 44.8 | 46.9 |
Eden & Central Karoo | 41.9 | 45.4 |
Overberg | 47.4 | 48.4 |
West Coast | 47.6 | 48.0 |
Metro Central | 55 | 51.2 |
Metro East | 46.7 | 47.9 |
Metro North | 57.5 | 52.9 |
Metro South | 55.3 | 51.3 |
Province | 50.3 | 49.3 |
Grade 6 Reading & Viewing 2019 Systemic Results | ||
District | PASS | AVERAGE % |
Cape Winelands | 54.9 | 52.7 |
Eden & Central Karoo | 53.4 | 51.6 |
Metro Central | 69.6 | 58.8 |
Metro East | 54.3 | 51.8 |
Metro North | 67.0 | 52.8 |
Metro South | 63.7 | 55.6 |
Overberg | 57.1 | 52.7 |
West Coast | 62.6 | 54.7 |
Province | 60.5 | 54.7 |
Grade 3 Language Results 2013 - 2019 | ||||||||
Areas tested | No of Learners in 2019 | Pass % | ||||||
2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | ||
Reading and Viewing | 95 452 | 37 | 43.2 | 42.6 | 43.4 | 46.7 | 49.4 | 53 |
Average % | ||||||||
43.7 | 45.5 | 45.2 | 46.2 | 47.6 | 48 | 49.2 | ||
Language of Learning and Teaching (LOLT) | Home Language | Nr of Learners 2019 | Reading and Phonics | |
Pass % | Average % | |||
Afrikaans | Afrikaans | 36 213 | 42.2 | 42.6 |
English | 137 | 36.5 | 40.3 | |
Xhosa | 573 | 23.6 | 32.5 | |
Afrikaans LOLT | 37 000 | 41.9 | 42.4 | |
English | Afrikaans | 565 | 56.1 | 51.1 |
| English | 30 574 | 63.8 | 56.4 |
| Xhosa | 4 095 | 51.6 | 48.5 |
English LOLT | 36 119 | 62.3 | 55.4 | |
Xhosa | Afrikaans | 121 | 19.8 | 31.9 |
| English | 29 | 24.1 | 39.4 |
| Xhosa | 21 988 | 56.8 | 50.6 |
Xhosa LOLT | 22 293 | 56.4 | 50.4 | |
Province | 95 462 | 53 | 49.2 | |
Grade 6 Language Results 2013 - 2019 | ||||||||
Areas tested | No of Learners in 2019 | Pass % | ||||||
2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | ||
Reading and Viewing | 88 834 | 29.5 | 37.9 | 36.8 | 44.1 | 43 | 41.9 | 50.3 |
Average % | ||||||||
39.3 | 43.2 | 43.4 | 46.3 | 46 | 46 | 49.3 | ||
Language of Learning and Teaching (LOLT) | Home Language | Nr of Learners 2019 | Reading and Viewing | |
Pass % | Average % | |||
Afrikaans | Afrikaans | 34 695 | 48.2 | 48.5 |
English | 172 | 41.3 | 46.2 | |
Xhosa | 496 | 34.5 | 42.3 | |
Afrikaans LOLT | 35 458 | 48 | 48.4 | |
English | Afrikaans | 882 | 44.7 | 45.9 |
| English | 26 439 | 67.7 | 56.9 |
| Xhosa | 25 911 | 35.4 | 42.7 |
English LOLT | 54 911 | 51.8 | 49.9 | |
Province | 89 83.4 | 50.3 | 49.3 | |
Grade 9 Language Results 2013 - 2019 | ||||||||
Areas tested | No of Learners in 2019 | Pass % | ||||||
2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | ||
Reading and Viewing | 70 551 | 81 | 80 | 88.6 | 89.7 | 91.5 | 90.9 | 60.5 |
Average % | ||||||||
65.0 | 64.4 | 71.5 | 72.5 | 72.9 | 73.7 | 54.7 | ||
Language of Learning and Teaching (LOLT) | Home Language | Nr of Learners 2019 | Reading and Viewing | |
Pass % | Average % | |||
Afrikaans | Afrikaans | 26 168 | 56.4 | 52.7 |
English | 129 | 57.4 | 52.9 | |
Xhosa | 339 | 31.9 | 42.5 | |
Afrikaans LOLT | 26 692 | 56.1 | 52.6 | |
English | Afrikaans | 1 019 | 71.3 | 58.7 |
| English | 20 302 | 84.6 | 66 |
| Xhosa | 21 686 | 42.6 | 46.4 |
English LOLT | 43 859 | 63.2 | 56 | |
Province | 70 551 | 60.5 | 54. | |
(b) The Western Cape Reading Strategy was launched on 14 March 2020. All language objectives are linked to the Reading Strategy with the aim of improving literacy levels in the province. The following interventions are implemented in each phase:
Foundation Phase:
- English Home Language – Jolly Phonics programme
- Afrikaans Home Language – Funda Wande programme
- Xhosa Home Language – Funda Wande online course; Funda Wande pilot
- English First Additional Language – PRSIP NECT programme
- Weekly lesson plans and activities with the focus on reading
- Virtual library
- Radio Broadcasts
Intermediate Phase:
- Sounds in Focus
- Growsmart
- Schools of Skills – Reading to learn
- Weekly lesson plans and activities
- Radio broadcasts
- PSRIP NECT EFAL Programme
Senior Phase:
- Weekly lesson plans and activities
- Radio broadcasts
FET Phase:
In FET the measurement of literacy levels is based on the learner performances in languages. Below is the performance of learners in the National Senior Certificate examinations:
2020 | Wrote | Pass % | Subject average % |
Afrikaans HL | 18 198 | 95.3 | 55.8 |
English HL | 21 100 | 94.9 | 58.7 |
Xhosa HL | 13 722 | 99.3 | 63.2 |
SASL HL | 21 | 100 | 57.5 |
Sesotho HL | 91 | 96.7 | 54.1 |
Wrote | Pass % | Subject average | |
Afrikaans FAL | 19 093 | 97.1 | 62.3 |
English FAL | 31 098 | 99.7 | 57.8 |
Xhosa FAL | 832 | 99.6 | 63.8 |
Afrikaans SAL | 291 | 96.6 | 45.6 |
Xhosa SAL | 48 | 100 | 76. |
The general trend is that the English and Afrikaans HL performance in most provinces including the WCED is lower than the performance in African languages at Home Language level. We are addressing this challenge with the national department in terms of the parity across languages.
The provincial performance in languages at Home Language level contributes to almost 5% of the failure rate in the province. The language policy of the schools is not always benefiting the learner population of the respective schools.
(3) Foundation phase follows a differentiated approach to cater for each of the different Home Languages.
Afrikaans Home Language:
Funda Wande pilot in 40 schools with the intention to rollout to all Afrikaans Home Language schools from 2022 – 2024.
English Home Language:
Jolly phonics – A synthetic phonics approach to teach reading. All Grade 1 teachers have been trained in 2020. All grade 2 teachers are currently being trained. 418 schools on the programme.
Xhosa Home Language:
African Language Reading – all 600 Grade 1 teachers trained in 2019
Funda Wande pilot in 10 schools in 2021.
Funda Wande online course will commence in May to train 1200 Grade 2 & 3 teachers.
English FAL:
PSRIP NECT programme – 1998 teachers trained on the programme.
Other interventions:
- Weekly lesson plans and activities
- Radio broadcasts
- Virtual Library
(4) The above-mentioned interventions are part of a five-year strategy to improve reading levels of learners. Reading times are built into the existing programmes.
