[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 552 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 454
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 552
To direct the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development to submit to Congress a report on the impact
of the COVID-19 pandemic on global basic education programs.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 2 (legislative day, March 1), 2021
Mr. Cardin (for himself, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Booker, Mr.
Casey, Mr. Van Hollen, and Ms. Collins) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
July 21, 2022
Reported by Mr. Menendez, with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development to submit to Congress a report on the impact
of the COVID-19 pandemic on global basic education programs.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>
<DELETED> This Act may be cited as the ``Global Learning Loss
Assessment Act of 2021''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 2. FINDINGS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> Congress makes the following findings:</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) Before the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (commonly
referred to as ``COVID-19'') pandemic began, 258,000,000
children were out of school, including 130,000,000
girls.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Students already at a disadvantage before
COVID-19 will experience greater learning loss, thereby
worsening inequity and inequality.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) Approximately 90 percent of the world's
student population--over 1,600,000,000 children and youth--have
had their education disrupted by school closure due to COVID-
19.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) School closures lead to interrupted learning,
poor nutrition, gaps in childcare, increased dropout rates,
exposure to violence, and social isolation.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) Up to 24,000,000 children are at risk of
dropping out of school permanently due to rising levels of
child poverty associated with the pandemic.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (6) School closure and remote learning is
especially burdensome on girls, who are frequently expected to
shoulder more household chores and responsibilities and are
more vulnerable to gender-based violence.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (7) During the Ebola epidemic, nationwide school
closures in Sierra Leone in 2014 led to increased instances of
sexual- and gender-based violence, teenage pregnancy, school
dropout, and child labor for girls.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (8) More than 60 percent of national distance
learning alternatives rely exclusively on online platforms but
two-thirds of the world's school aged children, or
1,300,000,000 children aged 3 to 17, do not have internet
connection in their homes, and schools and local learning
centers also frequently have inadequate internet connectivity.
Eighty percent of students in sub-Saharan Africa lack such
access, with an even higher rate for girls.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (9) Children and youth with disabilities are
particularly vulnerable to the health, education, and
socioeconomic consequences of the pandemic. As a further
challenge, distance learning tools are not always accessible to
learners with disabilities or those with complex learning
needs, especially in poorer and rural households.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (10) Before the COVID-19 pandemic, refugee
children were twice as likely to be out of school as other
youth, and school closures and a lack of access to distance
learning tools threaten to make the education gap among refugee
children even more severe.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (11) The economic downturn caused by the COVID-19
pandemic could lead to an education financing gap of
$77,000,000,000 in low- and middle-income countries over the
next two years.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (12) The economic cost of school closures could be
up to $1,337 per student, which on a global scale equates to
approximately $10,000,000,000,000 in lost economic output over
the coming generation.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.</DELETED>
<DELETED> It is the policy of the United States that United States-
funded basic education programs operating in foreign countries should--
</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) provide inclusive learning opportunities for
students and teachers, especially for the most marginalized,
including girls and children with disabilities, and previously
out of school children;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) build local capacity and help countries
strengthen their education systems, including opportunities for
early childhood development;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) improve the availability, delivery, and
quality of education services from early childhood through
secondary education;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) improve equity and safety in education
services; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) support the return of children to school who
have experienced interruptions in their education due to the
COVID-19 pandemic and work to enroll previously out-of-school
children and youth, particularly the most
marginalized.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 4. REPORT.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development, acting through the Senior
Coordinator for International Basic Education Assistance and in
consultation with the Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and
Women's Empowerment, shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on USAID's
basic education programs.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Matters To Be Included.--The report required under
subsection (a) shall include, at a minimum, the following
elements:</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) An assessment of the magnitude of global
learning loss that will result from protracted school closures,
including the specific effects of school closures on
marginalized children and youth, including girls, minority
populations, and those with disabilities.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Descriptions of the effectiveness, cost,
accessibility, and reach of the most commonly used forms of
distance learning in low resource contexts.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) An overview of Agency programs being carried
out to continue learning during the COVID-19 pandemic,
including existing data on funding and programmatic focus
disaggregated by gender, country, education level, and
disability.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) Identification and description of any gaps in,
or barriers to, reaching and educating marginalized
populations, such as girls, children with disabilities,
displaced children, or other children adversely affected by the
COVID-19 pandemic with distance learning
interventions.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) A description of the Agency's plan and needed
tools and resources to support continued distance learning
interventions, safe school reopening, assessments of student
learning levels, remedial and accelerated learning,
reenrollment campaigns for out-of-school children and youth,
and education system strengthening and resilience building
efforts.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (6) An analysis of the efforts of other actors in
global basic education policy and programming to provide
education during COVID-19, including partner organizations,
donors, and bilateral and multilateral organizations, and the
role of USAID in those efforts.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (7) Opportunities to partner and support efforts
to expand access to digital infrastructure, internet
connectivity, and learning resources in areas that lack access
to digital and remote learning infrastructure and resources,
including rural and remote communities.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (c) Public Availability.--The report required by
subsection (a) shall be made available to the public.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (d) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this
section, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.</DELETED>
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Global Learning Loss Assessment Act
of 2022''.
SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States that United States-funded
basic education programs operating in low- and middle-income countries
should seek to--
(1) provide safe, inclusive learning opportunities for
students and teachers, especially for the most marginalized,
including girls, minority populations, displaced children,
children with disabilities, and previously out of school
children;
(2) build local capacity and help countries strengthen the
resilience of their education systems, including opportunities
for early childhood development;
(3) improve the availability, delivery, quality, and equity
of education services from early childhood through secondary
education, including in remote, home, and school-based learning
contexts; and
(4) support the safe return of children to school and work
to enroll previously out-of-school children and youth,
particularly the most marginalized.
SEC. 3. REPORT.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the United States Agency
for International Development shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report on the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on United States Agency for International Development basic
education programs.
(b) Matters To Be Included.--The report required under subsection
(a) shall include, at a minimum, the following elements:
(1) An assessment of--
(A) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on such
basic education programs, including existing data on
the magnitude of learning loss that has resulted from
protracted school closures, disaggregated by gender;
(B) the specific effects of school and learning
space closures on marginalized children and youth
served by USAID basic education programs, such as
girls, minority populations, displaced children, and
those with disabilities;
(C) the capacity constraints faced by partner
countries and affected communities in ensuring safe and
healthy in-person learning environments and delivering
effective remote learning alternatives, disaggregated
by urban versus rural communities and historically
underserved or marginalized communities;
(D) the impact on children's education beyond
school closures, particularly for girls who lost access
to education due to increased household and childcare
duties during the COVID-19 pandemic; and
(E) available data on the percentage of students
who are returning to school upon reopening,
disaggregated by gender.
(2) An overview of--
(A) how USAID, independently and in coordination
with partners, has adapted basic education programming
during the COVID-19 pandemic to support continued
learning;
(B) barriers that USAID has experienced or observed
to reaching students with effective and equitable
distance learning opportunities while schools have been
closed as a public health precaution during the COVID-
19 pandemic, including with respect to marginalized
populations such as girls, minority populations,
displaced children, and those with disabilities; and
(C) education interventions, best practices, and
innovations deployed in middle- and lower-income
countries that are enabling the continued delivery of
high quality and equitable basic education despite
challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
(3) A description of--
(A) USAID's plans to support, as safe and
practicable, high-quality distance learning
interventions, re-enrollment initiatives for out-of-
school children and youth, school reopening,
assessments of student learning levels, remedial and
accelerated learning, and education system
strengthening and resilience-building efforts;
(B) USAID's approach to addressing the social and
health risks stemming from school closures necessitated
by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly with respect to
marginalized children and youth such as girls, minority
populations, displaced children, and children with
disabilities;
(C) opportunities for USAID to partner with other
international development actors and organizations,
including other donors, the United States International
Development Finance Corporation, multilateral banks,
faith-based institutions, local and international
organizations, and the private sector, to enable
continued access to quality basic education in public
health emergencies, including through efforts to
support expanded access to digital infrastructure,
internet connectivity, and learning resources in areas
that lack access to such infrastructure and resources;
and
(D) any additional authorities and resources
required by USAID to execute the activities described
in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C).
(c) Public Availability.--The report required by subsection (a)
shall be made available to the public.
(d) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section,
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
Calendar No. 454
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 552
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development to submit to Congress a report on the impact
of the COVID-19 pandemic on global basic education programs.
_______________________________________________________________________
July 21, 2022
Reported with an amendment