II 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 Re- lations 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 21, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S552.RS S552 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 552 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Global Learning Loss 2 Assessment Act of 2021’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress makes the following findings: 5 (1) Before the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (com- 6 monly referred to as ‘‘COVID–19’’) pandemic began, 7 258,000,000 children were out of school, including 8 130,000,000 girls. 9 (2) Students already at a disadvantage before 10 COVID–19 will experience greater learning loss, 11 thereby worsening inequity and inequality. 12 (3) Approximately 90 percent of the world’s 13 student population—over 1,600,000,000 children 14 and youth—have had their education disrupted by 15 school closure due to COVID–19. 16 (4) School closures lead to interrupted learning, 17 poor nutrition, gaps in childcare, increased dropout 18 rates, exposure to violence, and social isolation. 19 (5) Up to 24,000,000 children are at risk of 20 dropping out of school permanently due to rising lev- 21 els of child poverty associated with the pandemic. 22 (6) School closure and remote learning is espe- 23 cially burdensome on girls, who are frequently ex- 24 pected to shoulder more household chores and re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 21, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S552.RS S552 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 552 RS 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 to 17, do not 11 have internet connection in their homes, and schools 12 and local learning centers also frequently have inad- 13 equate internet connectivity. Eighty percent of stu- 14 dents in sub-Saharan Africa lack such access, with 15 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 23:10 Jul 21, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S552.RS S552 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 552 RS other youth, and school closures and a lack of access 1 to distance learning tools threaten to make the edu- 2 cation gap among refugee children even more severe. 3 (11) The economic downturn caused by the 4 COVID–19 pandemic could lead to an education fi- 5 nancing gap of $77,000,000,000 in low- and middle- 6 income countries over the next two years. 7 (12) The economic cost of school closures could 8 be up to $1,337 per student, which on a global scale 9 equates to approximately $10,000,000,000,000 in 10 lost economic output over the coming generation. 11 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 12 It is the policy of the United States that United 13 States-funded basic education programs operating in for- 14 eign countries should— 15 (1) provide inclusive learning opportunities for 16 students and teachers, especially for the most mar- 17 ginalized, including girls and children with disabil- 18 ities, and previously out of school children; 19 (2) build local capacity and help countries 20 strengthen their education systems, including oppor- 21 tunities for early childhood development; 22 (3) improve the availability, delivery, and qual- 23 ity of education services from early childhood 24 through secondary education; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 21, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S552.RS S552 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 552 RS (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 USAID’s basic education programs. 17 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re- 18 quired under subsection (a) shall include, at a minimum, 19 the following elements: 20 (1) An assessment of the magnitude of global 21 learning loss that will result from protracted school 22 closures, including the specific effects of school clo- 23 sures on marginalized children and youth, including 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 21, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S552.RS S552 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 552 RS girls, minority populations, and those with disabil- 1 ities. 2 (2) Descriptions of the effectiveness, cost, ac- 3 cessibility, and reach of the most commonly used 4 forms of distance learning in low resource contexts. 5 (3) An overview of Agency programs being car- 6 ried out to continue learning during the COVID–19 7 pandemic, including existing data on funding and 8 programmatic focus disaggregated by gender, coun- 9 try, education level, and disability. 10 (4) Identification and description of any gaps 11 in, or barriers to, reaching and educating marginal- 12 ized populations, such as girls, children with disabil- 13 ities, displaced children, or other children adversely 14 affected by the COVID–19 pandemic with distance 15 learning interventions. 16 (5) A description of the Agency’s plan and 17 needed tools and resources to support continued dis- 18 tance learning interventions, safe school reopening, 19 assessments of student learning levels, remedial and 20 accelerated learning, reenrollment campaigns for 21 out-of-school children and youth, and education sys- 22 tem strengthening and resilience building efforts. 23 (6) An analysis of the efforts of other actors in 24 global basic education policy and programming to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 21, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S552.RS S552 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 552 RS provide education during COVID–19, including part- 1 ner organizations, donors, and bilateral and multilat- 2 eral organizations, and the role of USAID in those 3 efforts. 4 (7) Opportunities to partner and support ef- 5 forts to expand access to digital infrastructure, 6 internet connectivity, and learning resources in areas 7 that lack access to digital and remote learning infra- 8 structure and resources, including rural and remote 9 communities. 10 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The report required by 11 subsection (a) shall be made available to the public. 12 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES 13 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con- 14 gressional committees’’ means— 15 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 16 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and 17 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 18 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep- 19 resentatives. 20 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 21 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Global Learning Loss 22 Assessment Act of 2022’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 21, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S552.RS S552 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 552 RS SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 1 It is the policy of the United States that United States- 2 funded basic education programs operating in low- and 3 middle-income countries should seek to— 4 (1) provide safe, inclusive learning opportunities 5 for students and teachers, especially for the most 6 marginalized, including girls, minority populations, 7 displaced children, children with disabilities, and pre- 8 viously out of school children; 9 (2) build local capacity and help countries 10 strengthen the resilience of their education systems, 11 including opportunities for early childhood develop- 12 ment; 13 (3) improve the availability, delivery, quality, 14 and equity of education services from early childhood 15 through secondary education, including in remote, 16 home, and school-based learning contexts; and 17 (4) support the safe return of children to school 18 and work to enroll previously out-of-school children 19 and youth, particularly the most marginalized. 20 SEC. 3. REPORT. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 22 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 23 United States Agency for International Development shall 24 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 25 on the impact of the COVID–19 pandemic on United States 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 21, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S552.RS S552 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 552 RS Agency for International Development basic education pro- 1 grams. 2 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report required 3 under subsection (a) shall include, at a minimum, the fol- 4 lowing elements: 5 (1) An assessment of— 6 (A) the impact of the COVID–19 pandemic 7 on such basic education programs, including ex- 8 isting data on the magnitude of learning loss 9 that has resulted from protracted school closures, 10 disaggregated by gender; 11 (B) the specific effects of school and learn- 12 ing space closures on marginalized children and 13 youth served by USAID basic education pro- 14 grams, such as girls, minority populations, dis- 15 placed children, and those with disabilities; 16 (C) the capacity constraints faced by part- 17 ner countries and affected communities in ensur- 18 ing safe and healthy in-person learning environ- 19 ments and delivering effective remote learning 20 alternatives, disaggregated by urban versus rural 21 communities and historically underserved or 22 marginalized communities; 23 (D) the impact on children’s education be- 24 yond school closures, particularly for girls who 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 21, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S552.RS S552 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 552 RS lost access to education due to increased house- 1 hold and childcare duties during the COVID–19 2 pandemic; and 3 (E) available data on the percentage of stu- 4 dents who are returning to school upon reopen- 5 ing, disaggregated by gender. 6 (2) An overview of— 7 (A) how USAID, independently and in co- 8 ordination with partners, has adapted basic edu- 9 cation programming during the COVID–19 pan- 10 demic to support continued learning; 11 (B) barriers that USAID has experienced or 12 observed to reaching students with effective and 13 equitable distance learning opportunities while 14 schools have been closed as a public health pre- 15 caution during the COVID–19 pandemic, includ- 16 ing with respect to marginalized populations 17 such as girls, minority populations, displaced 18 children, and those with disabilities; and 19 (C) education interventions, best practices, 20 and innovations deployed in middle- and lower- 21 income countries that are enabling the continued 22 delivery of high quality and equitable basic edu- 23 cation despite challenges caused by the COVID– 24 19 pandemic. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 21, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S552.RS S552 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 552 RS (3) A description of— 1 (A) USAID’s plans to support, as safe and 2 practicable, high-quality distance learning inter- 3 ventions, re-enrollment initiatives for out-of- 4 school children and youth, school reopening, as- 5 sessments of student learning levels, remedial 6 and accelerated learning, and education system 7 strengthening and resilience-building efforts; 8 (B) USAID’s approach to addressing the so- 9 cial and health risks stemming from school clo- 10 sures necessitated by the COVID–19 pandemic, 11 particularly with respect to marginalized chil- 12 dren and youth such as girls, minority popu- 13 lations, displaced children, and children with 14 disabilities; 15 (C) opportunities for USAID to partner 16 with other international development actors and 17 organizations, including other donors, the United 18 States International Development Finance Cor- 19 poration, multilateral banks, faith-based institu- 20 tions, local and international organizations, and 21 the private sector, to enable continued access to 22 quality basic education in public health emer- 23 gencies, including through efforts to support ex- 24 panded access to digital infrastructure, internet 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 21, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S552.RS S552 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 552 RS connectivity, and learning resources in areas 1 that lack access to such infrastructure and re- 2 sources; and 3 (D) any additional authorities and re- 4 sources required by USAID to execute the activi- 5 ties described in subparagraphs (A), (B), and 6 ( [Text truncated for display. 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