Britain is fretting about its literacy test scores as well, especially given that it’s a point BEHIND the U.S.! Canada has four provinces above them both. Ahem. But it’s not so much the rank that’s scary, as the change in rank. The UK went from 3rd to 19th. That’s like the Leafs post-Dougie and -’93, eh? What happened?

A generation of 10-year-olds are losing confidence in books, spending fewer hours a week reading at home and enjoying it less than five years ago, the study published yesterday found.

Ministers immediately announced a £5m scheme to make more books available in nurseries and promised more radical reforms to the controversial literacy strategy. They also called on parents to read with their children.

Headteachers said that the government’s literacy strategies – under fire after a series of critical reports – were to blame for taking the “buzz” out of reading and putting children off.