Benchmarking the future: Using FUNS to secure the Right to Read
It was in the 2019 State of the Nation Address that President Cyril Ramaphosa first promised that every ten-year-old in South Africa would read for meaning by 2030. It was a bold commitment, one that, at the time, had little by way of a plan to achieve it. Six years later, the first-ever Funda Uphumelele National Survey (FUNS) has shown us just how far we still have to go.
FUNS, released in November 2025 by the Department of Basic Education (DBE), gives South Africa its first comprehensive picture of early-grade reading outcomes in Grades 1 to 4 across all 11 official languages. For the first time, we can understand children’s reading abilities from the first letters they sound out in Grade 1 to the comprehension expected by Grade 4. Reporting against the DBE’s language specific reading benchmarks, FUNS bridges the gap between early-childhood readiness (measured in the Thrive by Five Index) and later performance in the South African Systemic Evaluation (SASE) and PIRLS.
The results are sobering. Only about 30% of grade 3 learners are reading at the expected level in home language. By Grade 4, fewer than half have reached the Grade 3 Home Language benchmark. Similar to the findings in PIRLS and SASE, language and socio-economic background continue to be a determining factor, with learners form wealthier backgrounds, and those tested in Afrikaans and English outperforming their peers.
What FUNS Makes Possible
The value of FUNS, and the assessment tools it will make available, lies not only in the data it provides, but in the decisions it can now inform. For the first time, provinces have a clear view of how learners perform, in the early skills necessary for comprehension, before the end of the Foundation Phase. And because the FUNS team will develop instruments that provinces and teachers can use in classrooms, these could be used to identify specific grades, languages, and districts that require targeted support.
But the lesson from other assessments such as PIRLS and SASE is clear: measurement without follow-through changes little. South Africa has produced numerous valuable reports and participated in several international and regional studies on reading outcomes, yet few have shifted, at scale, the system’s response to our persistent reading crisis. The launch of FUNS should therefore mark the end of data collection for its own sake, and the beginning of data-driven action and accountability.
We know what works, we’re just not implementing it
The task before the DBE and provincial education departments now is to use these results and those of future international, regional and national assessments, to ensure that all children, across all language groups and socio-economic backgrounds, build the foundational reading skills that enable them to read for meaning by age ten.
As Minister Siviwe Gwarube emphasised:
“We are not measuring for the sake of measuring. The value of good data: it gives us the power to act intelligently, not blindly.”
Data alone will not teach a child to read, nor will it change how the story ends by 2030. Our challenge now is not a lack of information, it is a lack of follow-through. As a country, we are not short of plans, but too many remain weak, uncoordinated, and unfunded, with limited accountability for implementation.
From data to accountability
That is why the Right to Read Campaign, a broad-based alliance of civil society organisations, education experts, and literacy advocates, is calling for the development and adoption of binding national reading regulations for the Foundation Phase. These regulations would clarify the state’s obligations and establish clear minimum standards for the four Ts that are key in supporting children learning to read. They would guarantee the availability of a minimum set of quality texts and learner support materials for every learner and teacher; set minimum time that must be devoted to literacy instruction, along with the support needed to make it effective; ensure a minimum level of quality pre-service and in-service training for all Foundation Phase teachers in the teaching of reading; and establish consistent testing systems to track progress, identify learning gaps, and direct additional support where it is most needed.
Change how the story ends
If FUNS tells us where we are, regulations can assist in determining where we go next. The evidence is clear; what’s missing is the resolve to act on it. Binding reading regulations can turn the President’s promise into practice, ensuring that the commitment to reading for meaning is not dependent on political cycles or good intentions, but protected by law. The story must end with accountability, where reading for meaning is not treated as an aspiration, but as a right owed to every child.
