Slow literacy progress shows need to invest in early years
Save the Children has responded to the publication of new child literacy figures showing a rise of two percentage points in the number of children reading well at age 11 (from 78% to 80%).
Gareth Jenkins, Director of UK Poverty Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns for Save the Children: “This further small improvement in children’s literacy is welcome, but the number of children without strong reading skills at age 11 remains stubbornly high, with one in five children still leaving primary school unable to read well. If we’re going to stand a chance of closing this gap we need urgent action in the early years to prevent children from falling behind in early language development, the building blocks for reading, before they even reach school. The poorest children are struggling the most – arriving, on average, over a year behind their better off classmates in these vital language skills.
To put us on course to get all children reading well, the government needs to take action to raise the quality of nurseries, particularly in the most disadvantaged areas. This must include committing to ensuring every nursery is led by an early years teacher - which has the most decisive impact on preventing children from falling behind in their early years.”
