26 November 2025

Today’s debate on “Strengthening ongoing initiatives to improve the reading and learning of learners in public schools” invites us to reflect honestly, act decisively, and recommit ourselves to the historic mission of transforming education as the foundation of a just, equitable, and prosperous society.

Honourable Members, the ANC has always affirmed education as the apex priority of national development. From the earliest formulations of the Freedom Charter, our movement declared unequivocally that “The doors of learning and culture shall be opened.” This was not a slogan, it was a revolutionary commitment to dismantle apartheid’s machinery of exclusion, and to build an education system that empowers every child, regardless of race, class, or geography.

The Constitution of the Republic, in section 29, affirms the right of everyone to basic education. This right is immediately realisable precisely because the democratic state recognises education as both a transformation tool and the engine of empowerment for generations to come.

Today, as we focus on reading and learning outcomes, we reaffirm that literacy is not merely an academic skill. Reading proficiency is a gateway to equality, economic participation, and national development. A child who reads with understanding is a child who can learn, reason, innovate, and fully engage in the democratic and economic life of our nation. Literacy is therefore central to the broader project of building a capable, inclusive, and competitive South Africa.

Honourable Members, it is essential that we confront the data honestly. The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) results, and similar assessments by the Department of Basic Education, have highlighted deep challenges in reading comprehension among our learners. These outcomes must be understood within their context.

Firstly, the COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruptions. Learners in the foundation phase who rely on consistent contact learning, reading support, and guided classroom interaction lost significant instructional time. Numerous studies confirm that early grade learning loss was more severe in poorer communities, widening existing gaps.

Secondly, these literacy outcomes must be viewed through the lens of persistent historical inequities in education. The apartheid legacy, unequal school infrastructure, uneven teacher distribution, impoverished communities, and fragmented schooling systems continues to shape the terrain of teaching and learning.

However, Honourable Members, the ANC-led government has never shied away from confronting these systemic challenges head-on. What is required now is intensification, acceleration, and coherence across all literacy initiatives.

If we are to improve reading and learning outcomes, we must address the resource disparities that undermine teaching and learning. This includes ensuring that every school has adequate textbooks, reading material, libraries or library corners, and access to digital technologies.

We must also acknowledge the shortage of teachers, particularly in specialised areas such as African languages and foundation phase literacy. Recruitment, training, and retention of qualified educators remain essential.

Honourable Members, the government has made significant investments in resourcing our schools, but unevenness persists particularly in rural and township communities. Strengthening literacy outcomes requires targeted resource allocation, stronger district-level support, and clear accountability mechanisms for ensuring that materials reach schools timeously.

The ANC has long recognised that the foundation for learning is laid long before a child enters Grade 1. Early Childhood Development is not a peripheral service, it is critical for cognitive development, language acquisition, and the social foundations that support lifelong learning.

The recent relocation of ECD to the Department of Basic Education is a strategic victory for integrated planning. It allows for curriculum alignment, better monitoring, and coherent support from birth to the foundation phase. Strengthening ECD is therefore indispensable for improving reading readiness and ensuring that learners acquire the cognitive tools necessary for comprehension, reasoning, and expression.

Honourable Members, numerous global studies and our own experiences affirm that children learn to read and understand better when taught in their mother tongue during the early phases, with English or Afrikaans introduced gradually as additional languages.

Our Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education (MTBBE) pilot projects in provinces such as Limpopo, the Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal have shown positive outcomes:

• Improved reading comprehension
• Stronger cognitive development
• Increased learner confidence
• Better transition from learning-to-read to reading-to-learn

These successes are a testament to the importance of grounding literacy in the languages that children speak, understand, and use every day.

However, we must acknowledge challenges. In multilingual provinces like the Western Cape and Gauteng, there remains a strong bias toward English-only instruction, often at the expense of African languages. This is not aligned with educational research, constitutional language rights, or the broader goals of transformation. We must work with provincial departments, communities, and school governing bodies to ensure that language policy supports not undermines learning.

A strong literacy system requires strong teachers. The ANC-led government continues to invest in professional development, including:

• Strengthening foundation phase literacy training
• Providing ongoing in-service development
• Supporting schools through district curriculum specialists
• Expanding specialist teacher training for African languages

The Funza Lushaka Bursary Scheme plays a vital role in building this pipeline. This programme must continue to prioritise teachers who specialise in African languages, reading instruction, and early grade literacy because this is where the greatest impact is achieved.

Continuous professional development is not optional; it is essential. Teachers must be supported with training on evidence-based reading pedagogies, early intervention strategies, and multilingual literacy approaches.

Honourable Members, the recently passed Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act is a milestone in strengthening multilingual literacy and preserving our indigenous languages.

By advancing multilingualism, the BELA Act supports both literacy development and cultural identity. It positions language not as a barrier, but as a resource for learning and national cohesion.

Improving reading and learning outcomes requires effective accountability mechanisms. The roles of the Department of Basic Education (DBE), Provincial Education Departments (PEDs), districts, and School Governing Bodies (SGBs) must be aligned and strengthened.

• The DBE must ensure rigorous national assessments, monitor provincial performance, and provide strategic oversight.
• Provincial Departments must allocate resources fairly, recruit educators effectively, and support districts to provide strong curriculum guidance.
• SGBs, as community governance structures, must champion mother tongue instruction, monitor availability of learning materials, and support teachers in building cultures of reading in schools.

A strengthened accountability framework ensures that literacy targets are not aspirational they are achievable, measurable, and enforceable.

Conclusion

Honourable Members, improving reading and learning outcomes is not the responsibility of the education sector alone. It is a societal mission one that involves parents, communities, civil society, business, and all spheres of government. The ANC remains unwavering in its commitment to building a transformative education system that opens doors of opportunity for every child.

Strengthening literacy is not only about improving test scores. It is about shaping citizens who can participate meaningfully in democracy, who can innovate, who can lead, and who can create a better future for themselves and for South Africa.

Let us therefore unite behind the call to reinforce ongoing initiatives, address systemic challenges, invest in our teachers, expand multilingualism, and give every learner the foundational tools they need to learn, grow, and succeed.

As the ANC, we reaffirm: Education remains the apex priority. Literacy remains the heartbeat of transformation. And our children remain the centre of our national project.

I thank you.

Rebut

Remarks by the DA suggest that the progress we are seeing today in the reading and learning outcomes of our learners is the product of their leadership. It is important, Honourable Speaker, that this House and the nation is reminded of the historical truth: the foundation, momentum, and measurable gains that South Africa celebrates today in basic education were built under the leadership, policies, and long-term investment of the African National Congress.

Honourable Members, the Democratic Party-led department is operating today on a foundation firmly built over decades through ANC policy direction, national planning frameworks, and evidence-based interventions. It was the ANC-led administration that developed, funded, and implemented the very initiatives that are now showing impact. The Minister cannot selectively erase history in order to claim ownership of progress they did not initiate.

The systemic improvement in early-grade reading did not begin last year, nor with the new political leadership. It began with the ANC’s strategic recognition that literacy is the cornerstone of national development, particularly for children in public schools in historically disadvantaged communities. It was the ANC government that:

1. Introduced the Early Grade Reading Programme (EGRP) — the largest coordinated reading intervention in democratic South Africa, supported by rigorous monitoring and implemented in provinces long before the Democratic Party entered the national executive.

2. Strengthened teacher development, providing structured learning materials, CAPS-aligned reading resources, and coaching programmes that have contributed significantly to improvements in decoding, fluency, and comprehension levels.

3. Expanded participation in PIRLS and other international assessments, ensuring that South Africa’s progress would be measured transparently and against global benchmarks. The Democratic Party cannot claim credit for results from frameworks they did not design, fund, or champion.

4. Established the foundation for mother-tongue based multilingual education, promoting reading in indigenous languages a policy the DP previously criticised but now relies on to claim success.

5. Invested billions in school infrastructure through programmes such as ASIDI and SAFE, improving the learning environment and ensuring that schools in rural, township, and farming communities could support literacy development.

These gains did not emerge spontaneously. They are the result of strategic continuity, evidence-driven planning, and long-term investment all under the ANC’s stewardship. The Democratic Party is inheriting a system that has been stabilised, expanded, and strengthened by the ANC. What they present today as their “achievements” are in fact the outcomes of policy foundations laid years before.

Honourable Speaker, the Minister alway speaks as though innovation in reading, digital learning, and assessment frameworks began under the current administration. Yet it was the ANC that:

• Rolled out ICT integration in schools,
• Introduced digital content platforms and educator training,
• Strengthened partnerships with universities and NGOs on literacy research,
• Advanced blended learning long before it was fashionable.

The ANC designed the roadmap. The Democratic Party is merely walking on it.

Honourable Members, we will not allow political opportunism to distort the narrative of progress. The ANC remains the architect of the advances we are witnessing today and the champion of continued improvement in reading and learning outcomes. We will continue strengthening these initiatives with vision, consistency, and commitment to the people.

I thank you.