In South African secondary schools, critical reading is encouraged by the CAPS policy document, but still some learners, even at university level, find it difficult to utilise critical reading, a skill that is believed by scholars to promote critical thinking skills. This alternative, valuable kind of text study called critical reading escalates basic knowledge of the text to applying it to everyday life experiences. This, in turn, makes teaching and learning interesting, meaningful and ensures that the desirable educational goals such as preparing learners to become solutions to societal challenges are achievable when teachers use the concept of critical reading as a teaching strategy. This qualitative study used a critical reflective theory to explore how critical reading can equip secondary school Further Education and Training (FET) learners with critical, creative skills to be truly able to tackle life challenges. The article further shows that critical reading is an ideal teaching method that uses learner-centred teaching strategies to promote critical reading and critical thinking skills.