Nicky Morgan, the Education Secretary Photo: Reuters
The Education Secretary says it is a “national mission” to improve levels of literacy levels of young children and says every junior school student in the country will be enrolled in a local library.Every junior school student in the country will be enrolled in a local library,Nicky Morgan will pledge today as she vows to make English pupils "the most literate children in Europe".
The Education Secretary said it is a “national mission” to improve levels of literacy levels of young children.
Officials will work with schools in a bid to get every eight-year-old in the country enrolled at their local library, Mrs Morgan said.
The Government drive to improve literacy comes after the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2013 found that England was 22nd for literacy and 21st for numeracy out of 24 countries, behind countries including Estonia, Poland and Slovakia.
Writing in the Telegraph alongside comedian David Walliams, who is supporting the project, Mrs Morgan warmed that “for some children, reading is, quite literally, a closed book”.
“Improving children’s literacy should be a national mission,” they said. “Whether that means teachers running book clubs, schools enrolling pupils in libraries, publishers donating books, or simply parents reading with their children.”
Officials in the education department hope that the drive could stop closures of libraries across the country.
Local authorities often close libraries and justify their decision by saying that there are not enough members to warrant continued funding.
However, with hundreds of children being signed up, it will be increasingly difficult for councils to close libraries.
Mrs Morgan and Mr Walliams added: “One in five children still leaves primary school unable to read well enough to succeed at secondary school – a figure that rises to one in three of our poorest children. And, if we don’t address illiteracy, it’s the disadvantaged who miss out most of all.
“This is a question of social justice. People with strong reading skills are overwhelmingly more likely to succeed at school, achieve good qualifications, and find a rewarding and enjoyable career. They are even more likely to enjoy good health. By contrast, those who don’t master reading in school suffer the consequences for the rest of their lives, where they may struggle to get good jobs or achieve their full potential.
“No matter where they live or what their background, every single child in this country deserves the opportunity to read, to read widely, and to read well.”
A survey in June revealed that British school leavers are the worst in Europe for the “essential skills” needed to complete entry-level jobs in business.
Four in ten of firms polled in the UK felt that candidates for junior jobs lacked "functional skills, basic literacy and numeracy", compared to 18 per cent of European firms.
From: The Telegraph
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