International Literacy Day

Sunday is International Literacy Day, celebrated an opportunity for Governments, civil society and stakeholders to highlight improvements in world literacy rates. According to data released by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation or UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics, literacy rates for adults and youth continue to rise. Meanwhile South Africa is facing what some may call a reading crisis. 78% of pupils in their fourth year of primary school cannot read for meaning. Earlier I spoke to Lorato Trok an early literacy consultant and expert in developing reading for pleasure books for young children especially in African languages. I started by asking her when her love for reading began.