Better Reading
07-12-2023
The following message appeared on Teletext on Dec. 5, 2023:
«15-year-olds read worse and worse»
15-year-olds in the Netherlands score poorly in reading and their level has deteriorated sharply compared to four years ago. That's according to the periodic PISA study.
There are six reading proficiency levels and to function well in school and society, at least level 2 must be achieved. A third of 15-year-old schoolchildren in the Netherlands do not achieve this.
15-year-olds in many other countries are also performing significantly lower than in 2018. The declines are probably partly due to the corona pandemic, when educational institutions around the world were partially closed.
Get it?
We will explain it in understandable language.
Today's children read worse than those of the past. There is even a periodic PISA study to measure that.
Unfortunately, the task is only to measure, not to draw conclusions (the declines are probably partly due to...), and there is absolutely no focus on solving the problem. If this is incomprehensible to you, it is not because of your reading skills.
In our opinion, it is better to make reading more fun for children. If you like something, you automatically start doing it more often, so you’ll get better at it, which makes you like it even more. For example, read the Super Granny books; they are so much fun that you can't wait for the next part. And for older readers, there is a complete series of LSD spy novels. All these fun and educational books are free to download, which only adds to the pleasure of reading.
It is not the government's job to write fun books, but it is Teletext's job to provide information that actually benefits their readers. So instead of vague conclusions about likely co-causes, Teletext would have been better off, posting a message that you can download fun books for free at www.editorialperdido.eu. Then you help solve the problem.
Clear language.
Spread the word.
After all, nobody listens to us.