Why reading and writing is not enough

While any attempts to stymie the current decline must be commended, the fact that it is necessary in the first place is a major cause for concern.

While politicians have spent the past few years bickering about the 11-plus and school buildings, an ‘unacceptably high proportion’ of local primary school pupils have been found to have levels of reading and writing that mean they will struggle with secondary education.

How has this been allowed to happen?

Literacy is the foundation of all learning and forms the heart of any academic curriculum. After all, if pupils are unable to read and write effectively, their ability to access the rest of the school syllabus is severely curtailed.

But it’s not just about exam results and employability, important though that is.

Literacy affects every area of a person’s life, including the ability to communicate effectively, to navigate daily tasks and even to make sense of the world around them.

It’s not good enough just to be able to read words – we need to be able to fully understand what we are reading, to be able to evaluate the source and veracity of information, to recognise biases and understand context.

According to a report published last year by the Commission on Fake News and the Teaching of Critical Literary Skills in Schools, only 2% of young people in the UK ‘have the critical literacy skills they need to identify fake news’.

This was not such a problem when the bulk of people’s knowledge was gleaned from newspapers, books, TV and radio, all of which, while not perfect, are bound by legal and professional standards. But all that changed once the Pandora’s Box of the internet and social media was opened. What once might have been dismissed as rumour now has an equal platform with, and to many is indecipherable from, reports from bonafide media outlets.

So while it is crucial that action is taken to raise our children’s reading and writing skills, we must also recognise the increasing importance of information and digital literacy and properly equip the island’s youngsters for the modern world.