ON average, suburban children’s performance at school is two years ahead of their township counterparts, Read Organisation national director Cynthia Hugo said on Friday.
This means that reading abilities of a Grade 4 pupil at a suburban school were the same as those of a Grade 6 at a township school.
However, these differences should take the pupils’ historical context into account, she told reporters at the launch of Readathon 2002 in Johannesburg.
At rural schools, the differences between a suburban child and those who attend school on remote farms was about five years, she said.
”Getting on that taxi (to a suburban school), makes up the gap because there are books and teachers were trained. They have books to read.”
Hugo said her organisation was trying to solve the problem by training teachers, and the project aims to reach about 27 000 classrooms in the country.
Readathon 2002 is a year-long reading awareness campaign. Started 14 years ago, the Readathon encourages people, especially children, to read.
The launch of the campaign was attended by Education Minister Kader Asmal, author Nadine Gordimer and former boxing champ Jacob Matlala. Asmal is the campaign’s patron.
Readathon 2002 activities have already begun, and will culminate with the Readathon Week from September 9 to 13.
Gordimer said people with an interest in writing, and curious about the world in general, should start by reading widely.
”If you want to become a writer, you must read,” she said, adding that she has a number of honorary degrees but she did not go to university to acquire all of them: ”South Africa needs libraries”.
Asmal told a packed Nedcor auditorium – where the launch took place -that there has been great stability in education over the past two years.
”You cannot, without stability, have intellectual development,” he said.
The minister made a special appeal at the function for cheaper books and more libraries in South Africa’s townships this year.
”We need cheaper books in the townships. We want to push for municipal libraries in the townships,” he said. – Sapa