A damning new report into the reading and writing ability of New Zealand children has found many are struggling with the most basic of tasks.
By the age of 15, two out of five Kiwi children are either only just meeting or failing to meet literacy standards entirely.
"I was devastated," said Nina Hood, the lead author of the report titled Now I Don't Know My ABC.
"I knew we had an issue but just don't think I fully understood the magnitude of the issue.
"For the 19 percent that aren't even reaching the minimum benchmarks, that means they are really struggling to read even the most basic texts. They are, if not illiterate, pretty close to it," Dr Hood told Newshub.
The report found both primary and secondary school students have been declining in most reliable measures of reading achievement, especially since 2009.
Emma Nahna is a literacy coach and said in order to best help the children, we need to give teachers the best skills - which we're currently not doing.
"The research has been on the pages of journals but not in the hands of our teachers."
Dr Hood said we need to aim for literacy for all.
"Unless we have a belief that we can get as close to 100 percent of young people literate as possible, I think we're aiming to low."
To get to 100 percent, Dr Hood said New Zealand needs a national strategy and implementation plan - something she said Aotearoa hasn't had for two decades.
But Dr Hood's wishes may be granted on Friday when the Government unveils a new approach for literacy and numeracy.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins' office said the Government accepts the current programme isn't fit for purpose but strategies to lift both teaching and learning will be revealed this week.
