Western Cape schools are taking up the challenge to “Drop Everything And Read” (DEAR) this week as National Book Week is celebrated.

International Literacy Day

New Western Cape Education MEC Jaco Londt marked International Literacy Day by visiting Apex Primary School in Eerste River. “I saw learners in different grades not only confidently reading out loud, but also enthusiastically answering their teachers’ questions about what they were reading. Thank you to Principal Gino Overmeyer and his passionate staff for taking up the challenge and running with it,” says Londt. “I was pleased to see learners and staff alike taking up the challenge by the WCED to ‘Drop Everything And Read’ when I visited.”

The Western Cape Education Department’s (WCED) Reading Strategy 2026-2030 calls on schools, teachers, families and communities to work together. The aim is to develop confident readers who can read for meaning and learn successfully across all subjects.

Grow minds

“We want to grow readers and grow minds. During this week – and beyond – schools will be taking part in various activities to get learners excited about reading, while also strengthening literacy skills by getting them to reflect on and talk about what they are reading. But it is not just during this week that we are focused on literacy. The WCED has various interventions in place to improve literacy outcomes as a continued focus,” says Londt.

He says further the Department implemented a Home Language intervention in 2023. “For Afrikaans and English Home Language, teachers were trained on the Science of Reading, while a structured Home Language programme was implemented in IsiXhosa Home Language. The intervention targets all Foundation Phase grades, Languages of Learning and Teaching, and schools.

302 000

“Over 302 000 learners at 1 100 schools are benefiting from this measure. Our WCED systemic data indicates a steady increase in learner reading proficiency from year to year since 2021. Grade 3 Home Language results have increased by 14,3 percentage points from 2021 to 2025, while the specific reading component in the systemic assessments shows an increase of 16,6 percentage points from 2021 to 2025. While we are doing what we can to support learners in schools, I encourage parents and guardians to help their children read at home. Start with one page a day and take it from there.”

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