It is said that one-sixth of humanity is illiterate,   percentage most likely represents only alphabetical illiteracy, and not illiteracy in its more modern definition, which means the ability to read and write in addition to the ability to understand what is written, for example, understanding what is written in a popular newspaper. It is said that illiteracy is on the rise, something we have not been able to comprehend!! However, it is necessary to acknowledge its validity, and then answer the question… How did this happen???

The alphabet is essential in this age, and the alphabet is not a luxury. It is difficult for a person of the present age to manage the affairs of his life without his ability to read, write and then understand. Therefore, in all countries of the world, there are educational institutions that provide children with the alphabet, in addition to other known sciences. The alphabet has become a vital necessity, which has led to considering the ability to read, write and understand a relative human right, in order to be able to interact with others regarding politics, economics or other social issues. The ability is necessary for a person to obtain his rights, as human rights are linked to his duties, and duties cannot be performed without the ability to read and write.
Education is a fundamental human right, therefore all international charters and treaties have pledged to preserve and develop this right for the benefit of society. Therefore, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights were keen to preserve and support this right. The right to education has been known since the issuance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Since then, development plans have been put in place to preserve this right, which have collided primarily with economic difficulties. Providing education for all is expensive, and many countries in the world do not care about education, as this care should be!
Regarding the right to education, Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states the following:
1- Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and vocational education shall be made generally available. Admission to higher education shall be on an equal footing for all on the basis of merit.
2- Education must aim to fully develop the human personality, to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and to foster understanding and friendship among all peoples and groups.
International conventions, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, emphasize education and ensure a good standard of education. UNESCO, for example, is said to have warned Syria regarding the deterioration of the educational level in schools and universities. The continuation and increase of this deterioration will lead to the non-recognition of diplomas. Failure to address the male-female stereotype in education will lead to similar repercussions. The issue also concerns the qualification level of teachers and the quality of schools, such as religious schools, which have lost the ability to be internationally recognized, as is the case with the “Imam Hatip” schools where Erdogan received his lessons and is now keen to spread them in Turkey. Turkey has received an official warning in this regard.
We do not know in this era, or even in the past, any study that confirmed the contribution of memorization in eradicating illiteracy in its relatively new definition. There is no point in reading without understanding, and there is no point in memorization or canning, which does not recognize interactive methods and the role of criticism in the educational path. The goal of memorization and parrot-like repetition is to please God, serve religion, and obtain gains such as protection from every sin and then win good deeds regardless of understanding. For example, repeating Al-Kawthar, which consists of 39 letters, in seconds brings 390 good deeds, and repeating that brings 1170 good deeds immediately. Memorization and repetition do not contribute to building the self, and reading does not mean repeating words without understanding them, but rather realizing the meaning of the written material and absorbing it. This is what came in the Oxford Dictionary. There is no point in reading without knowledge and no benefit from knowledge without understanding. This is what Einstein confirmed when he said, “Any fool can obtain knowledge, it is a matter of understanding.” There were no computers in Einstein’s time, and today it is possible to obtain any Knowledge in seconds without straining the memory to memorize cognitive materials. Knowledge differs from culture, and culture differs greatly from thought.
At first glance, we did not realize the increase in the level of illiteracy in the world, but the development of the world after the end of the Cold War, the dominance of the globalization project, the spread of the concepts of the free economy, and the increasing control of financial institutions over all aspects of life, led to the deterioration of education in some regions of the world. Financial institutions such as the International Development Bank are only concerned with establishing a system that reduces the budget deficit in developing countries, which has even been reflected in the field of education, for example, by reducing spending in various fields such as health, educational education, and others. This is knowing that school and education are the best way to increase human capital, both quantitatively and qualitatively. There is no direct relationship between human capital and population growth. Population growth negatively affects human capital. The saying “Marry and multiply so that I may be proud of you in heaven” was a disaster even in its historical context, and now it has become an expression of suicide or death by starvation. For any society to advance, its level of economic growth must be higher than its level of human reproduction. The impact of hunger is inexpressible It’s not just about an empty stomach, but primarily about an empty mind. And from an empty mind come countless calamities such as violence, wars, moral decadence, selfishness, etc. We see with the naked eye and touch with our hands the collapse of societies in this region due to the impact of hunger and poverty, caused primarily by human rabbit reproduction! 
To understand and evaluate the problem of the spread and decline of illiteracy, it was necessary to get acquainted with the data of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. The numbers indicate that progress in providing education for all has stopped. The number of children not enrolled in school has not improved when comparing the results of 2008 with 2010 (61 million children), after this number declined in the fifteen years prior to 2008. The percentage of girls among children who did not attend school was 58% in 2000 compared to 53% in 2010. The improvement in the percentage of girls among those not enrolled in school was the only positive.