EVERY child deserves to be able to read and write. Indeed, it seems ridiculous that in this day and age – in a city globally renowned for its literary culture – that such a statement even needs to be made.

But the sad truth of the matter is that it does. And has done for some time.

The Oxford Mail makes no bones about our continued coverage of the city’s damning results, which saw Oxford’s seven-year-olds worst in the country at Key Stage One in 2010 with almost a quarter failing to reach expected levels in reading.

Oxfordshire as a whole was second from bottom of the 11 other most similar local authority areas.

And so it is with pleasure that we can report a plan to boost literacy across the county. Today’s announcement on the reading campaign is great news.

The £585,000 set aside may seem like a lot of money, but it is relatively small when compared to the county’s overall education budget.

Education chiefs need to spend it wisely and be sure not to rest on their laurels.

No matter how hard working or good intentioned, volunteers cannot single-handedly solve such a deeply entrenched and complex problem.