Literacy trends in Britain

I read this on a blog post and am trying to find out whether it's true:
"According to a government survey 95% of children in 1860 had between five
and seven years education - not five to ten per cent as they guessed. The
rate of functional illiteracy now is far worse at 20% now, not 1% to 5% as
they guessed." The quote appeared on
http://www.thewelfarestatewerein.com/archives/education/index.php, and
appears to apply to Britain, or possibly England.

Does anyone have a source that will confirm or refute the literacy claim?
Regards, Ronnie Horesh
--
Policy as if outcomes mattered
http://SocialGoals.com
http://SocialGoals.com/blog/blog.html


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