Global study reveals NSW kids’ literacy falling behind Victoria, ACT

A new global study has revealed more than one in five kids are failing to meet basic literacy standards. SEE WHERE AUSTRALIA RANKS

Parents are being urged to pick up a paperback for their kids with new global testing data revealing NSW 10-year-olds’ reading skills have not significantly improved over the last decade, and more than one in five are failing to meet basic literacy standards.

The 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) shows Year 4 kids in Australia have remained steady in their reading ability since 2016, but 20 per cent nationwide are still failing to meet the proficiency threshold.

NSW schoolkids are also several points on average behind their peers in the ACT and Victoria, with 21 per cent of Year 4s at the low or below low international benchmarks, a slight increase from 2016. In the ACT meanwhile, the number of underperforming students has fallen from 18 per cent in 2016 to 11 per cent in 2021.

Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) Senior Research Fellow Kylie Hillman said the highest performing and most improved countries and jurisdictions, such as Singapore, have robust systems in place to assist students who might fall behind.

“They tend to identify students who need extra support quite early on in their education, and then ensure that those needs are met, so that there’s additional support available for students from various equity groups, for example,” Ms Hillman said.

The PIRLS report also found more than one in four students “do not like reading”, up from just a figure federal Education Minister Jason Clare described as “worrying”.

“The better you read, the better you learn. That’s why it’s worrying to see a drop in the number of children who enjoying reading,” he said.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare with students from Telopea Park School. The Minister says it’s “worrying” that kids are enjoying reading less. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“It is good news we didn’t go backwards through Covid, when this report shows 21 other countries did … however, [it] also confirms what I have been saying about the gap in reading skills between children from wealthy and poor families. This is serious and shows why real reform is needed.”

NSW Education Minister Prue Car said “it’s concerning that children are falling out of love of reading”.

“Reading opened a world of learning for me, and this report confirms that students who like reading score better and students who … have access to lots of books at home do best,” she said.

“We can and will do more to address this by tutoring small groups of children who are struggling with reading, however, if we are to turn this around, we need a whole of community response.”

Robbie Egan, CEO of booksellers’ association BookPeople, said a national campaign and greater public investment in school libraries is needed to “make reading cool again”.

“If we can normalise reading again, and normalise the buying of books … I think we’d go towards re-establishing our ability to focus.

“We’ve lost the ability to think and concentrate in long form and that’s got to be devastating for educational outcomes long term.”