Did you know that Sweden (which included Finland) had effectively 100% reading ability as early as the first part of 18th century? This was due to a decree (Ch

Did you know that Sweden (which included Finland) had effectively 100% reading ability as early as the first part of 18th century? This was due to a decree (Church law of 1686) by Charles XI which required reading skill in order to be allowed to wed. There are complete parochial records ("church examination registers") to study this progress up to level of single individuals. Surprisingly enough these documents prove that writing ability and reading ability don't need to go hand in hand which has often been thought as self-evident. tl;dr What you don't see immediately in Finnish/Swedish education is hundreds of years of reading tradition and deep historical commitment to literacy (ability to read), quite unconnected to industrialization (unlike elsewhere), which happened rather late in Sweden and Finland. More: Understanding Literacy in Its Historical Context, pg. 28 "The history of literacy in Sweden" http://www.google.fi/books?id=WBLOVq4ocLEC&printsec=frontcover&hl=fi#v=onepage&q&f=false http://www.google.fi/books?id=WBLOVq4ocLEC&printsec=fron... "The reading ability campaign in Sweden was carried through almost completely without the aid of proper schools." (pg. 42) Thus there has always been a strong component of household education.