Target 4.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) states that by 2030 “all girls and boys [will] complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education”. Quality education suggests children will be able to read. However, UNESCO reported that in 2019 86% of children in sub-
Saharan Africa (SSA) suffered from the inability to read well. Unicef’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) also found that children in SSA had poor foundational reading (FR) skills.
This research uses the FR module of the MICS to assess reading skills of children in SSA using both ability – reading 90% of a text; and comprehension – answering both literal and inferential questions related to the text. For several SSA countries, we will present some simple as well as multivariate analyses to explore home language, school language of instruction, consent to read, and reading skills, controlling for children’s background characteristics.

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