Confronting the barriers to literacy

The ability to read and write is empowering, but equally so the inability to read and write causes feelings of unworthiness and exclusion from conversations, says education specialist Anette Steyn.

"The first thing I would do as a principal is to teach my parents how to write their own signature instead of a cross. The expression on someone's face who before was only able to write a cross yet now sign on documents is priceless,” says Ms Steyn, the owner of Seventh Heaven Training Academy.

She was speaking, last Friday at the Green Point Golf Club, about the barriers that illiterate people face and possible solutions to them.

“Illiteracy is one of the main reasons parents do not show up for meetings and progress discussions," she said, adding: "I don't think in our digital world, parents always understand how important it is to read stories or tell stories to your young children. It develops their aesthetic minds and improves seriation."

Also at the event, Natalie Cheketri, from the NGO Help the Rural Child, said reading was not only a necessary foundation for individual development but for a country’s progress.

“Societies who don’t read are bound to remain locked in underdevelopment. One of the major challenges facing education in South Africa is improving the literacy rate of learners. Educators know that to improve literacy it is vital that learners have access to books.

“We at Help the Rural Child invite businesses to donate money to fund the purchase of good quality second-hand books for libraries in under-resourced schools, thus enabling us to achieve our goal of helping towards improving literacy in our country,” said Ms Cheketri.

The speakers were invited to discuss the importance of literacy by Ma-eesha Innocent, the president of the Rotaract Club of Waterfront.

“The idea behind the event was to create awareness on literacy and to host a session of information," she said. "What's next for our club is to assist educators during the June/July holidays in Malmesbury to assist the borderline learners with literacy training.”