Teachers and KwaMashu Municipality Library with pupils who participated in the spelling bee. Picture: Supplied
Durban — In an effort to revive the love for reading among pupils, the teachers and KwaMashu Library organised a spelling bee event at Dr BW Vilakazi Primary School on Monday.
BW Vilakazi Primary School departmental head Buhle Gumede, said that the day aimed to prepare pupils for the District Spelling Bee Competition and encourage them to read and improve their vocabulary.
She also sighted the University of Pretoria (UP) study shows 81% of Grade 4 pupils in South Africa have reading difficulties and that the South African portion of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2021 (Pirls 2021) conducted by the UP has found that 81% of South African Grade 4 pupils are struggling to read for comprehension at age 10.
“Reading is done at school daily since there was an outcry that most learners in high schools are not able to read with understanding.”
“As a school, we took this initiative and try to encourage our learners to go to the library to borrow books and read to improve on their knowledge and be able to be competitive with other schools that are doing English as a home language,” she said.
In third position was Lethokuhle Zulu in Grade 5, in second place was Simtholile Sibisi in Grade 7 and number one was Mawande Sibiya in Grade 6.
She said the school worked with the KwaMashu Library team in organising the spelling bee. She also said the spelling bee was not only fun but a great way for pupils to learn.
“We want our learners to be sharp in preparation for the District Spelling Bee to take place soon. In those competitions, they compete with pupils who take English as a home language, therefore, it is important for the pupils to have such events as a practice run and for them to gain confidence,” she said.
She said that the school teachers played a huge role in assisting the pupils with the spelling bee preparations.
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