Most of us read without even thinking about it – WhatsApp messages, road signs, food labels. It’s a skill so ingrained that we forget it’s something we once had to learn. But for millions of South African children, reading isn’t effortless. In fact, 81% of children in South Africa can’t read for meaning by the end of Grade 4 (10 years old). That figure is really alarming, and demonstrates the crisis in early education. 

I take for granted every day that I can read, but in 2019, an estimated 4.4 million South African adults were deemed illiterate. For children growing up in under-resourced communities, the odds are stacked against them from the start. In many primary schools in South Africa, “reading instruction often focuses solely on oral performance, neglecting reading comprehension and making sense of written words” (BBC, 2023). Without comprehension, reading becomes little more than a mechanical exercise, and this is why South Africa ranked in last place out of the 57 countries assessed in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study in 2021.

This is where Book Village steps in. We are an NPC on a mission to change this reality, one child at a time. Book Village provides low-income schools with digital reading infrastructure and one-on-one support with volunteers from all walks of life. Our focus is simple: enabling children to read for meaning and enjoyment.

So, what exactly is the difference between reading and reading for meaning?

Reading typically refers to the ability to decode text: sounding out letters and syllables, recognising and pronouncing words correctly, and reading sentences fluently out loud. These skills are all vital to being able to read for meaning, but prioritising these skills alone can lead to children missing out on understanding what they are reading.

Reading for meaning is where actual comprehension comes in. It means that a child can do all of the above, as well as understand the meaning of the words, make sense of them in context, be able to connect ideas across sentences and infer meaning, even if it isn’t directly stated. Children should also be able to ask questions and form opinions about what they have read, and predict what could come next.

Take the sentence: “The dog ran to the gate.” A child might be able to read this aloud perfectly, but do they understand why the dog ran? What a gate is? What role the sentence plays in the wider story? A child who can read for meaning might say, “The dog ran to the gate because its owner was calling it home.” They have the ability to move beyond the words themselves and understand the story they tell.

This skill is critical. Children who can’t read for meaning by age 10 are far more likely to fall behind in school, repeat grades, and ultimately drop out. Over time, poor literacy can lead to long-term economic hardship and reduced life opportunities.

That’s why early support is everything. By offering one-on-one reading time with caring adults and providing access to books and digital tools, Book Village helps children build confidence and connection, both of which are essential to learning.

We don’t just want children to read. We want them to understand, question, wonder and – most importantly – enjoy reading. Because when a child reads for meaning, they’re not just learning how to read – they’re learning how to learn.

~ Written by Eleanor Payne