We're back with the literacy showdown. As Hunter pushes structured literacy to rescue Australia's readers, Luqman tags her from the trenches. Can policy catch up to practice?
October 2024: Hunter escalated with her Grattan manifesto, slamming the 1970s "whole-language" hangover – where kids guess words from context – for leaving a third of Year 5s unable to decode proficiently.
Picture a class of 24: Eight kids adrift, their shame fueling disruptions. "This is a failure of the education system," Hunter argues, prescribing a pivot to phonics-first decoding, teacher-led read-alouds of rich texts, and explicit vocabulary drills for true comprehension.
Her fix? A six-step "Reading Guarantee": Governments commit to 90% proficiency nationwide; equip principals with evidence-based playbooks; overhaul instruction so every kid gets a fair shot – plus monitoring, training, and accountability to boot.
It's a nod to global wins, but Luqman, dissecting it on DyslexiaFriend.com, cheers the intent while skewering the gaps. "How can someone in educational leadership overlook these basic concepts?" he asks, spotlighting the "extraneous sounds" plague: Teachers blending "cuh-ah-tuh" for "cat," muddling natural speech and stalling progress – a flaw persisting across phonics and whole-language eras.
Luqman's outreach? Persistent but one-sided: Two ignored 2018 emails to Grattan; repeated X tags to @hunter_jordana
One landed in July 2023, replying to a Pamela Snow thread quoting Hunter on disengagement: "Get a copy of my book Shut Down Kids to learn why kids disengage from learning to read."
Jordana Hunter get a copy of 'Teach Your Child to Read' and be informed. LINK
No reply – yet. He proposes a simple starter: Master the first rung of reading (pure consonant sounds) to vaporize gaps, misbehavior, and pricey interventions. As he told Evening News sources, "Some may view my comments as harsh, but I am frustrated with the prevailing attitudes among many Australian educators."
Today, December 2025, with teacher burnout raging and illiteracy stubborn, Hunter's guarantee teeters on adoption. Will it evolve with Luqman's tweaks, or echo Austin's casualty cry unanswered? One advocate's plea: Nail the basics, and watch the transformation.
Anchor Close (Studio):
A tale of data, debate, and determination. For the full blogs and tweets, visit our site. That's Evening News – because every word counts. Good night.
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