Petition Make it compulsory for primary school children to read and be read to every day when in school.

The United Nations' main goal is to secure free, equal, and a good standard of primary and secondary education by 2030. To achieve this goal, one of their priorities is to ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve appropriate literacy skills. This will allow Wales to enable inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Estyn will focus on reading in September 2026 with the aim to try and stop children from not being able to read fluently by the time they leave school. Estyn discussed the link between low literacy skills, underachievement, poverty, and crime. Chief Inspector Owen Evans said, “Reading is a lifelong skill that opens doors to future opportunities, and through this targeted approach, we aim to better support learners to make progress across all areas of the curriculum and have better life chances.” Compulsory daily reading in primary school would help ensure that every child leaves primary school able to read.