The conference was held at Pridwin Preparatory School, Melrose in Johannesburg, and was opened on the 25^th  of October 2013 by the Minister of Basic Education, Ms Angie Motshekga. An informative and thought provoking panel discussion by Prof Hilary Janks (Wits), Prof Brahm Fleisch (Wits), Prof Kgomotso Masemola (UNISA), Ms Marion Joseph (NAPTOSA) and Ms Kate Nkwane (Patogeng Primary) was held on the same evening to address the following issues:

•  Why do we continue to face huge literacy challenges in (South) Africa? 

• How should we unite expertise from different stakeholders to solve these challenges?

Three keynote speakers, Prof. John Guthrie from the University of Maryland, Dr Surette van Staden from the University of Pretoria and Ms Loy Tumusiime from Fountain Publishers in Uganda, presented papers on ‘solving the literacy challenges in (South) Africa’.

This year’s national RASA conference will be held at Rhodes  University from 12 to 14 September 2014.