A new Grattan Institute report shows that one in three Australian children can’t read proficiently.
The report calculates that for students today who struggle with reading, the cost to Australia is $40 billion over their lifetimes.
Grattan’s calculations are based on loss of potential earnings and government tax revenue, and the added costs of public welfare, health and justice.
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“Australia is failing these children,” says Dr Jordana Hunter, Grattan Institute’s Education Program Director.
“It’s a preventable tragedy. The reason most of those students can’t read well enough is that we aren’t teaching them well enough,” Hunter said.
A key cause of Australia’s reading problem is a decades-long debate on how to teach reading. The report claims that all students should use a ‘structured literacy’ approach throughout school, and focus on phonics in early years.
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