I can give you my anecdote from Brazil: there are people of my age (25-35) that have been through basic education (quite a big chunk of them through high school even) that can't express themselves, that can't do basic arithmetic most of the times.

It manifests in a lot of ways on a daily level, from people who can't explain what exactly they want from a store, from a hospital. Communication breaks down easily so they are used to be shouting all the time when talking to try to get a point across, etc.