Global Learning Loss Assessment Act of 2021

IIB 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1500 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 12, 2021 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations AN ACT 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 United States Agency for International Development basic education programs. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1500.RFS H1500 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 1500 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Global Learning Loss 2 Assessment Act of 2021’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress finds the following: 5 (1) Before the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (com- 6 monly referred to as ‘‘COVID–19’’) pandemic began, 7 258,000,000 children were out of school globally, in- 8 cluding 130,000,000 girls. 9 (2) Students already at a disadvantage before 10 COVID–19 will experience greater learning loss, 11 thereby worsening inequity and inequality. 12 (3) Approximately 90 percent of the world’s 13 student population—over 1,600,000,000 children 14 and youth—have had their education disrupted by 15 school closure due to COVID–19. 16 (4) School closures lead to interrupted learning, 17 poor nutrition, gaps in childcare, increased dropout 18 rates, exposure to violence, and social isolation. 19 (5) Up to 24,000,000 children are at risk of 20 dropping out of school permanently due to rising lev- 21 els of child poverty associated with the pandemic. 22 (6) School closure and remote learning is espe- 23 cially burdensome on girls, who are frequently ex- 24 pected to shoulder more household chores and re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1500.RFS H1500 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 1500 RFS sponsibilities and are more vulnerable to gender- 1 based violence. 2 (7) During the Ebola epidemic, nationwide 3 school closures in Sierra Leone in 2014 led to in- 4 creased instances of sexual- and gender-based vio- 5 lence, teenage pregnancy, school dropout, and child 6 labor for girls. 7 (8) More than 60 percent of national distance 8 learning alternatives rely exclusively on online plat- 9 forms but two-thirds of the world’s school aged chil- 10 dren, or 1,300,000,000 children aged 3 through 17, 11 do not have internet connection in their homes, and 12 schools and local learning centers also frequently 13 have inadequate internet connectivity. Eighty per- 14 cent of students in sub-Saharan Africa lack such ac- 15 cess, with an even higher rate for girls. 16 (9) Children and youth with disabilities are par- 17 ticularly vulnerable to the health, education, and so- 18 cioeconomic consequences of the pandemic. As a fur- 19 ther challenge, distance learning tools are not always 20 accessible to learners with disabilities or those with 21 complex learning needs, especially in poorer and 22 rural households. 23 (10) Before the COVID–19 pandemic, refugee 24 children were twice as likely to be out of school as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1500.RFS H1500 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 1500 RFS other youth, and school closures and a lack of access 1 to distance learning tools threaten to make the edu- 2 cation gap among refugee children even more severe. 3 (11) The economic downturn caused by the 4 COVID–19 pandemic could lead to an education fi- 5 nancing gap of $77,000,000,000 in low- and middle- 6 income countries over the next 2 years. 7 (12) The economic cost of school closures could 8 be up to $1,337 per student, which on a global scale 9 equates to approximately $10,000,000,000,000 in 10 lost economic output over the coming generation. 11 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 12 It is the policy of the United States that United 13 States-funded basic education programs operating in low- 14 and middle-income countries should seek to— 15 (1) provide inclusive learning opportunities for 16 students and teachers, especially for the most 17 marginalized, including girls, children with disabil- 18 ities, and previously out of school children; 19 (2) build local capacity and help countries 20 strengthen their education systems, including oppor- 21 tunities for early childhood development; 22 (3) improve the availability, delivery, and qual- 23 ity of education services from early childhood 24 through secondary education; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1500.RFS H1500 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 1500 RFS (4) improve equity and safety in education serv- 1 ices; and 2 (5) support the return of children to school who 3 have experienced interruptions in their education 4 due to the COVID–19 pandemic and work to enroll 5 previously out-of-school children and youth, particu- 6 larly the most marginalized. 7 SEC. 4. REPORT. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 10 the United States Agency for International Development, 11 acting through the Senior Coordinator for International 12 Basic Education Assistance and in consultation with the 13 Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s 14 Empowerment, shall submit to the appropriate congres- 15 sional committees a report on the impact of the COVID– 16 19 pandemic on United States Agency for International 17 Development basic education programs. 18 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re- 19 quired under subsection (a) shall include, at a minimum, 20 the following elements: 21 (1) An assessment of the impact of COVID–19 22 on such basic education programs, including the 23 magnitude of learning loss that will result from pro- 24 tracted school closures and the specific effects of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1500.RFS H1500 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 1500 RFS school and learning space closures on marginalized 1 children and youth, including girls, minority popu- 2 lations, displaced children, and those with disabil- 3 ities. 4 (2) An assessment comparing academic out- 5 comes of beneficiaries of United States Agency for 6 International Development basic education pro- 7 grams, as practical and appropriate, between those 8 that attend schools that remain closed or continue to 9 operate remotely since the start of the COVID–19 10 pandemic and schools that have resumed in-person 11 instruction. 12 (3) A description of the effectiveness, cost, ac- 13 cessibility, and reach of the most commonly used 14 forms of distance learning in low- and middle-income 15 countries and low-resource contexts. 16 (4) A description of efforts to pivot and adapt 17 such basic education programs during the COVID– 18 19 pandemic, including an overview of existing data 19 on funding and programmatic focus disaggregated 20 by gender, country, education level, and disability. 21 (5) An identification and description of any 22 gaps in, or barriers to, reaching and educating 23 marginalized populations, such as girls, children 24 with disabilities, displaced children, or other children 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1500.RFS H1500 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 1500 RFS adversely affected by the COVID–19 pandemic with 1 distance learning interventions. 2 (6) A description of the United States Agency 3 for International Development’s plan and needed au- 4 thorities and resources to prevent degradation of 5 such basic education programs and to support, as 6 necessary and appropriate, continued distance learn- 7 ing interventions, safe school reopenings, assess- 8 ments of student learning levels, remedial and accel- 9 erated learning, re-enrollment campaigns for out-of- 10 school children and youth, and education system 11 strengthening and resilience-building efforts. 12 (7) An analysis of the coordination between the 13 United States Agency for International Development 14 and other actors in global basic education policy and 15 programming to provide education during the 16 COVID–19 pandemic, including partner organiza- 17 tions, faith based-organizations, donors, and multi- 18 lateral organizations. 19 (8) A description of opportunities to partner 20 and support efforts to expand access to digital infra- 21 structure, internet connectivity, and learning re- 22 sources in areas that lack access to digital and re- 23 mote learning infrastructure and resources, includ- 24 ing rural and remote communities. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1500.RFS H1500 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 HR 1500 RFS (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The report required by 1 subsection (a) shall be made available to the public. 2 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES 3 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con- 4 gressional committees’’ means— 5 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 6 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep- 7 resentatives; and 8 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 9 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 10 Passed the House of Representatives June 29, 2021. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1500.RFS H1500 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS