Improving access to material written in African languages would encourage kids to discover more about their history and culture
Nearly 20 years ago Nelson Mandela said: “One of the sad realities today is that very few people, especially young people, read books. Unless we can find imaginative ways of addressing this reality, future generations are in danger of losing their history.” This statement is as relevant today as it was two decades ago and demands that we address some of the barriers preventing children from reading.
Allow me to explain.
If you wanted to teach a child how to ride a bicycle, you could explain how to pedal and how to use the brakes but, at the end of the day, the child needs to climb on a bike and ride. Similarly, if we want to build a culture, or more specifically, develop a habit of reading, we need to get people reading. This might sound simple, but there are several factors that must be acknowledged and remedied before reading becomes a national pastime among children and adults.
Let’s start by looking at the numbers. South Africa’s National Reading Barometer 2023 outlines that the number of books in homes is increasing, but 63% of households still do not have access to a single fiction or nonfiction book. Drilling down further, some 65% of homes with children under the age of 10 do not have a single picture book and only 10% have more than 10 picture books. The barometer also found that most South African children arrive at school without ever having read books at home. In addition to this, findings from the 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) showcase the effect of this, with a staggering 81% of grade four learners (children aged between nine and 10) struggling to read for meaning.
Local research shows that one of the most important factors in building reading cultures is actively encouraging people to read. And a big part of this is about making books available to read. This starts with changing perceptions around reading and promoting the idea of reading for pleasure. Reading for pleasure is all about freedom and choosing to spend time reading — be it a book, a comic or a magazine — because it’s something you like doing. We cannot use reading as a form of punishment and “force” children to read and then expect them to want to read. We also cannot expect children to spend their leisure time reading if we don’t teach them how enjoyable this can be.
This requires some effort from parents, who need to model positive reading habits, because when children see their parents reading for pleasure, they’re more inclined to do so too. And remember that just because the goal is to get children to love reading, doesn’t mean that they will love every book they read. When promoting reading for fun, it’s critical to teach children that some styles and genres will appeal to them, and others won’t and that a “bad book” shouldn’t discourage them from reading. Various studies have found that children who begin reading for pleasure early in life excel at cognitive tests, have superior comprehension skills, are more focused and have better mental health when they enter adolescence. But, as the findings outlined above reveal, access remains a major issue.
And here, I come back to my bicycle analogy. In the same way that having a bicycle is a must for someone who wants to learn to ride a bicycle; if we want to promote reading for pleasure, we must make books more readily available. And I’m not just talking about textbooks and setwork texts. I’m talking about books from a range of genres, of different lengths, by different authors with different perspectives and about a wide variety of topics. To do this, we can start by building more traditional libraries. Where this isn’t possible, we must use mobile libraries and book wagons and promote digital reading platforms, as a viable alternative to physical books. These interventions are particularly effective in deep rural communities where resources are limited. Beyond this, we also need to expand the types of reading materials that are currently available. For example, the limited availability of reading material in African languages, particularly material that is fun and appealing to young children, is a major contributor to the South African reading crisis.
And yet, demand for this material is high. According to the Reading Barometer, more than three quarters (76%) of African language speakers who read for enjoyment want to read in African languages. This suggests that improving access to African language materials can encourage less prolific readers to read more. By enabling children to read books on topics they love — from space and dinosaurs to princesses and animals — and in the language they speak at home, we are laying the right foundations for them to want to read at home and for reading to be something they share with others. And just because they are reading for enjoyment, doesn’t mean that they can’t learn something too. If a child were to pick up a biography about Bapedi King Sekhukhune or legendary singer and songwriter, Mirriam Makeba, they would learn a great deal about our history, our culture and about life and leadership.
Time and time again, the government has highlighted the value of reading and stressed the incredible need to improve literacy among our young people. But policies and pronouncements mean very little without action and without budgets being allocated to address this issue. We need funds to boost existing libraries, to build new libraries, to deploy mobile libraries. We also need to break down the traditional access barriers and enable children to read in the comfort of their own home, anytime, anywhere, using digital tools and technologies. In doing so, we will give more children the opportunity to experience the joy and escapism that reading can bring.
Masennya Dikotla is a director at Qualibooks Group, a publishing house that makes physical and digital library resources available across South Africa.