Editorial in the Herald Sun Monday February 12, 2024

It’s astounding to think, and completely unacceptable in a first-world nation such as Australia, that literacy standards remain a significant challenge.

According to the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth, one in three Australians have literacy skills low enough to make them vulnerable to unemployment and social exclusion. Getting the basics right from foundational years at school – and highlighting the benefits of parental or carer reading and literacy engagement even before a child begins their schooling – is crucial in bridging the gap to deliver universal life-literacy skills.

The Herald Sun today reports that Australian children who are up to five years behind their peers in reading would be helped by a return to an emphasis on phonics – the practice of sounding out letters and words.

The Grattan Institute research says one in three Australian children, and one in four Victorian kids, can’t read properly, costing the economy $40bn over their lifetime. And problems are especially high in remote and Indigenous communities. Of course, the cost is more sharply felt at a personal level, with employment and social opportunities curtailed.

Like many aspects of education, a return to foundation basics – phonics – is the answer to raise the nation’s literacy standard