Reading Crisis

In 2021, international literacy statistics showed that roughly 80 percent of South African ten-year-olds could not read for meaning. The country’s Department of Basic Education (DBE) touted its National Reading Plan as a way to arrest the literacy crisis in the country. But, the plan was not published and no one knew what it actually entailed and what results it actually had.

Through exclusive access to this National Reading Plan and implementation reports from the provincial departments of education, Viewfinder exposed deep shortcomings in the government's response to the reading crisis. This exposé prompted the DBE to commit to improved planning and monitoring and evaluation measures.

Read the project’s main exposé here.

April 30, 2023June 19, 2025

Reading Crisis

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