Commercial interests could unduly capture funding for a major shift in how children learn to read, experts warn.
Education minister Erica Stanford told BusinessDesk this month she was working at pace to implement her party’s election promise to mandate “structured literacy” amid declines in literacy rates in recent decades.
But the term “structured literacy” is beset with trademark issues and debates around what it means.
The government adopting a restrictive definition could put training providers out of business, experts say. Others fear a broad definition could lead to students not learning how to read properly.
The National party promised to invest $60.5 million over four years for primary schools to engage “an approved structured literacy provider and purchase the decodable texts and resources they need”.
