The call comes as part of a comprehensive series of recommendations from the Literacy Commission, established by the Scottish Labour Party and comprising leading figures from education, academia, business and culture.
The commission found that almost one million Scots have problems with literacy in their everyday lives and has put forward 11 key recommendations.
However, it said one of the most important lessons was to focus on school pupils, because there was still time to address their poor literacy.
Judith Gillespie, chairwoman of the commission and development manager of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, said: “The commission studied a number of literacy projects across
Scottish local authority areas and, from these, identified common principles and practices that we recommend should be applied throughout the country to enable all children to gain basic literacy skills.
“There needs to be a zero-tolerance approach to tackling poor literacy and it’s time that this problem was effectively addressed.”
She said that at the heart of the commission’s findings was the need to address the problems caused by social and economic disadvantage at an early age.
The commission also recommended that children should be assessed to see what help and support they need in order to flourish.
Professor Tommy MacKay, an educational psychologist who led a successful literacy programme in West Dunbartonshire, said: “Scotland has the opportunity to do something that has not been done in the world before -- to eradicate illiteracy from its school-leavers.
“This is not only visionary -- it is achievable.”
Author Ian Rankin added: “There is no magic bullet solution, but that’s not to say we can’t become a more literate nation with effort, resources and resolve.”
The Literacy Commission said there should be a sustained policy commitment from all levels of government and educational management to address the issue of improving standards of literacy at all levels with appropriate allocation of resources.
In particular, there should be a focus on the early years to address the negative effects of socio-economic disadvantage on learning.
This should include pilot schemes in a number of local authorities to provide “continuous and systematic support” for families with children up to the age of three.
The commission said there should also be support for parents in assisting their children’s early learning, and
sustained efforts by nurseries and schools to help those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
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