HANDS-ON Experience Learning
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OPPORTUNITY
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SEPTEMBER 2022
Support young people to keep their grip on opportunity
Accelerated Learning Programmes
STRENGTHENING LINKS IN THE LEARNING CHAIN: THE VALUE OF ACCELERATED LEARNING PROGRAMMES
In South Africa, poor reading proficiency in schools has been compounded by pandemic-era learning losses. Accelerated Learning Programmes (ALPs), in various forms, can help address this deficit because they are designed to support children who are constantly falling behind. This learning brief explores how ALPs can help fill the gaps in our schooling system. Academic performance is influenced by a learner’s ability to read for meaning. But far too many children in South Africa’s schooling system lack this crucial skill. There are several reasons why; perhaps first and foremost is the long neglect of the early childhood development (ECD)1 sector – a topic that is explored on page 11. Many children start school without the foundational building blocks they need to be ready to learn to read.
Statistics tell us that even before the COVID-19 pandemic many children had weak foundational learning, particularly in literacy2 and maths3, but this does not mean there hasn’t been any progress in outcome trends since 20114. Nevertheless, the pandemic has set many children back. Due to disrupted schooling in 2020 and 2021, Grade 4 children lost 1.3 years5 of learning according to the Department of Basic Education (DBE).
Children in the foundation phase (Grade R to Grade 3), learn the mechanics of reading (phonetics, sentence structure and sense-making), so that from the intermediate phase (Grade 4 to Grade 6) onwards, they can use these skills to acquire knowledge. Lessons move from “learning to read” to “reading to learn”, with pupils using textbooks to understand new concepts in various subjects in their school curriculum. The curriculum is built on the assumption that learning is linear, yet this is not the reality for many learners.
Socio-economic factors such as overcrowding in classrooms, lack of parental support and minimal reading resources in schools also contribute to the fact that many learners find themselves without the basic foundational literacy and numeracy skills they need when they enter Grade 4. According to education policy, learners who are failing academically are only allowed to repeat one year per phase of their schooling6. Thus, children are progressed to the next grade regardless of their reading ability. Without effective remedial classes, the chain of learning is effectively broken. But the links can be reconnected.
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According to Ilifa Labantwana, a programme seeking to ensure all children get access to quality ECD, only 20% of the seven million children who need subsidised early learning are receiving it.
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https://nicspaull.com/2017/12/05/the-unfolding-reading-crisis-the-newpirls-2016-results/
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https://www.gov.za/speeches/minister-angie-motshekga-and-humansciences-research-council-release-timss-2019-grade-9
SUPPORT YOUNG PEOPLE TO KEEP THEIR GRIP ON OPPORTUNITY
https://resep.sun.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/wp022020.pdf
https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/south-africanchildren-have-lost-13-years-of-schooling-due-to-covid-19-20220203
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In 1998, the Admission Policy for Ordinary Public Schools was adopted which stipulates that the guideline for repetition is “one year per school phase where necessary”.
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