Yes, we can improve literacy

SEVEN million adults can't read or write properly. Such statistics would shame any country. And for those with reading problems, the door is closed to many jobs, and to everyday activities such as reading magazines or emailing friends.

Many people were let down at school. Until recently, children were expected to pick up reading by looking at books, rather than being taught it.

Classroom lessons have improved and the Government is doing more to address adult illiteracy. But it will take time before the initiatives make a lasting difference.

The daily literacy hour, introduced in 1998, has meant that primary schoolchildren are taught to read phonetically, learning the sounds of letters (such as CAT). They learn grammar and spelling rules, too. And their teachers are better trained.

At first, the literacy hour scored notable successes. The proportion of 11-year-olds reading and writing well in national tests rose from 63 per cent in 1997 to 75 per cent in 2000. Children in deprived areas improved the most: Tower Hamlets saw its results rise twice as fast as the national average. And one recent international study ranked English 10-year-olds as the third-best readers in the world.

But national results have stalled since 2000. And, while writing has become better, reading scores have slipped. The Government missed its national target last year as a result.

Further improvements in reading may depend on strengthening phonics for younger children.

However, researchers argue that the Government is going about it the wrong way. The literacy hour mixes synthetic phonics, where children make words after learning the sounds of letters, with analytic phonics, where they see the word on a page and break it up.

But compelling evidence from Scotland and Basildon shows that when younger children are taught purely through synthetic phonics, they become better readers. If the Government encouraged schools to use this more traditional approach, results could improve and fewer children would need catch-up classes.

In secondary school, the Government's key-stage-three strategy has introduced a faster pace and better planning to English lessons. The jury is still out on this.

More is now being done to tackle illiteracy at all ages. But only with a much clearer focus, particularly in schools, will illiteracy become a thing of the past.

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