2.3 THE GLOBAL AND REGIONAL TRENDS OF LITERACY LEVELS
2.3.3 THE STATE OF THE READING CULTURE AND LITERACY IN THE SOUTH
Lehulere (2010:1) argues that it is now generally believed that there is a serious crisis with regard to the culture of reading in South Africa, given the fact only a very small portion of the South African public buys and reads books, public library services are virtually collapsing while at the same time publishing in the previously marginalised indigenous languages remains a challenge. Xaba (2015: 2) concurs with this view when he maintains that reading statistics reflect that a mere fourteen percent (14%) of the South African populace are ardent book readers while only five percent (5%) of parents make time to read to their children. There is thus a need for initiatives to encourage the nation to value reading as a fun and pleasurable activity, and to showcase how reading can easily be incorporated into one’s daily lifestyle.
Xaba (2015:2) further alluded to the fact that official figures reveal that approximately 4.7 million adults in South Africa are illiterate while nearly 4.9 million adults are functionally illiterate. The General Household Survey (2012:74) found that about 2.643 million South Africans have a difficulty in reading, or cannot write. In percentage terms, this translates to about seven percent (7%) of the adult South African citizens (Huebler, 2013:18).
Systemic evaluations commissioned by the national and provincial DoE as well as international organisations in 2001 and 2004 respectively, indicated that pupils in South African schools performed poorly when tested for their ability to read at age-appropriate level, with only 51%
of pupils being able to read (DoE, 2008:5).
27
Figure 3 below depicts the language competence of intermediate phase learners in South Africa in the year 2005.
Figure 3: Language competence of Intermediate Phase learners in South Africa, 2005 (Source: Department of Education, 2008)
The above figure illustrates the results of the systemic evaluation conducted with regard to intermediate phase learners in 2005 and revealed that a big majority, 63% of the learners, were below the required competence for their age level.
The fact that a massive 63% of learners did not achieve; a paltry 14% achieved outstandingly;
14% achieved; and 9% partially achieved, is a result of the fact that South Africa faces many challenges in promoting literacy. For example, it is rare to find schools with well-used general libraries, many households have no books and books in African languages are scarce; therefore, children do not have the opportunity to read in their home language (DoE, 2008:6).
The findings of the study conducted by the South African Book Development Council (SABDC) in 2007 on the reading habits of adult South Africans from age sixteen, which was commissioned by the national DAC, confirmed the following (Mahala, 2010:12):
that only one in seven South Africans frequently reads in their spare time;
that South Africans are not a nation of ardent readers; and
that more than half of our households have no leisure books.
28
Mahala (2010:13) further argues that this prevailing non-existence of a culture of reading finds expression in a number of aspects of our lives, and more specifically in socio-economic conditions such as unemployment and poverty. A number of initiatives embarked upon over the years by numerous bodies such as the government, NPOs, NGOs and other civil society organisations with the aim of enhancing the culture of reading as well as eradicating illiteracy in South Africa, have not produced any noticeable outcomes owing to the following (Mahala, 2010:13):
the initiatives are in most cases so far detached from the people on the ground that most people only read or hear about them in the newspapers or on television;
they are often fragmented and not properly coordinated; and
they tend to focus on certain sections of the society and leave others out.
In order to overcome the above-mentioned challenges, Mahala (2010:13) proposed the following interventions to cultivate the culture of reading in communities:
developing a consolidated national reading programme;
establishment of writers’ groups and a national writers’ association;
promotion of children’s literature; and
stocking content in community and public libraries.
The above-mentioned interventions are in line with the DoE’s introduction of the National Reading Strategy aimed at promoting lifelong learning (DoE, 2008:5). The National Reading Strategy assists in the role that could be played by the HRD Unit of the KZN-DAC through public libraries in addressing South Africa’s challenge of the lack of a culture of reading so that the literacy objectives of the SDGs could be achieved. These SDG objectives include the commitment of ensuring that all young people and a substantial percentage of adults, women and men, can read and write by the year 2030. The involvement of the HRD Unit of the KZN- DAC could yield some fresh and more sustainable ideas and a vision for inculcating a culture of reading so that citizens can acquire knowledge to make a meaningful contribution to the national and global economy. In order for the KZN-DAC public librarians to attain this goal, HRD Units in relevant institutions, such as the KZN-DAC, must have deliberate plans aimed at equipping public librarians with the required knowledge, skills and training necessary for promoting a culture of reading in communities.
29
To accomplish the aforesaid, Issak (2012:83) suggests that public libraries must be vigorous and dynamic and have to consider involving the prospective user-communities, which could be school learners, adult people, the literate and the non-literate in pursuit of improving public library services and by extension, instituting alternative services. These alternative services could be community information centres and striking the balance between the library services provided in rural communities and urban communities, ensuring that everyone in the community knows about the public library programmes and setting up long-terms strategic plans with regard to the development of public libraries for purposes of promoting a culture of reading in communities.
2.4 HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT POLICIES IN SOUTH AFRICA IN THE