Every child will be able to read by 2025, pledge the Lib Dems

Save the Children welcome the move

A fifth of children currently leave primary school unable to read or write properly (Getty) (Getty)

Child illiteracy will be eradicated within a decade, Nick Clegg pledges today as he starts to set out ambitious general election commitments from the Liberal Democrats. The target for 2025 has been set by the charity Save the Children; a fifth of children leave primary school unable to read or write properly.

The Lib Dems will back the charity’s Read On, Get On mission to get every 11-year-old reading and writing to the standard identified as crucial to achieving success in secondary school and later life – by 2025.

Mr Clegg said to achieve this target the Lib Dems would boost the early-years pupil premium and nursery staff qualifications. The Deputy PM added: “It’s pretty hard to get on in life without being able to read and write.”

Justin Forsyth, the head of Save the Children, welcomed the move, saying: “We now need to see every party follow suit. Our children’s futures, and our country’s future prosperity, depend upon it.”