Global Learning Loss Assessment Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7911 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 learning and global basic education programs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 31, 2020 Ms. HOULAHAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 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 learning and 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Global Learning Loss 4 Assessment Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Aug 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7911.IH H7911 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7911 IH (1) Before the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (com- 1 monly referred to as ‘‘COVID-19’’) pandemic began, 2 258 million children were out of school, including 3 130 million girls. 4 (2) Students already at a disadvantage before 5 COVID-19 will experience greater learning loss, 6 thereby worsening inequity and inequality. 7 (3) Approximately 90 percent of the world’s 8 student population—over 1.7 billion children and 9 youth—have had their education disrupted by school 10 closure due to COVID-19. 11 (4) School closures lead to interrupted learning, 12 poor nutrition, gaps in childcare, increased dropout, 13 exposure to violence, and social isolation. 14 (5) Up to 9.7 million children are at risk of 15 dropping out of school due to rising levels of child 16 poverty associated with the pandemic. 17 (6) School closure and remote learning is espe- 18 cially burdensome on girls, who are frequently ex- 19 pected to shoulder more household chores and re- 20 sponsibilities, and are more vulnerable to gender- 21 based violence. 22 (7) During the Ebola epidemic, nationwide 23 school closures in Sierra Leone in 2014 led to in- 24 creased instances of sexual and gender-based vio- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Aug 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7911.IH H7911 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7911 IH lence, teenage pregnancy, school dropout, and child 1 labor for girls. 2 (8) Over 60 percent of national distance learn- 3 ing alternatives rely exclusively on online platforms 4 but as many as 465 million children and young peo- 5 ple in these countries do not have access to the 6 internet at home, with 80 percent of students in 7 sub-Saharan Africa without such access, and an 8 even higher rate for girls. 9 (9) Distance learning tools are not always ac- 10 cessible to learners with disabilities or those with 11 complex learning needs, especially in poorer and 12 rural households. 13 (10) The economic downturn caused by the 14 COVID-19 pandemic could lead to an education fi- 15 nancing gap of $77 billion in low- and middle-income 16 countries over the next two years. 17 (11) The economic cost of school closures could 18 be up to $1,337 per student, which on a global scale 19 equates to approximately $10 trillion in lost eco- 20 nomic output over the coming generation. 21 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 22 It is the policy of the United States— 23 (1) to provide inclusive learning opportunities 24 for students and teachers, especially for the most 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Aug 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7911.IH H7911 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7911 IH marginalized, including girls and children with dis- 1 abilities; 2 (2) to build local capacity and help countries 3 strengthen their education systems; 4 (3) to improve the delivery and quality of edu- 5 cation services; 6 (4) to improve equity and safety in education 7 services; and 8 (5) to support the return of children to school 9 who have experienced interruptions in their edu- 10 cation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other 11 causes. 12 SEC. 4. REPORT. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 15 the United States Agency for International Development, 16 acting through the Senior Coordinator for International 17 Basic Education Assistance and in consultation with the 18 Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s 19 Empowerment, shall submit to the appropriate congres- 20 sional committees a report on the impact of the COVID- 21 19 pandemic on learning and global basic education pro- 22 grams. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Aug 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7911.IH H7911 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7911 IH (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re- 1 quired by subsection (a) shall include, at a minimum, the 2 following: 3 (1) An assessment of the magnitude of global 4 learning loss that will result from protracted school 5 closures, including the specific effects of school clo- 6 sures on marginalized children and youth, including 7 girls, minority populations, and those with disabil- 8 ities. 9 (2) Evaluations of effectiveness, cost, accessi- 10 bility, and reach of the most commonly used forms 11 of distance learning in low resource contexts. 12 (3) An overview of existing Agency programs 13 being carried out to continue learning during the 14 COVID-19 pandemic, including data on funding and 15 programmatic focus disaggregated by gender, coun- 16 try, education level, and, when practicable and ap- 17 propriate, disability. 18 (4) Identification of any gaps in reaching 19 marginalized populations, such as girls, children 20 with disabilities, or children affected by conflict and 21 crisis. 22 (5) A description of the tools and resources 23 needed for the Agency to support continued distance 24 learning interventions, safe school reopening, reme- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Aug 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7911.IH H7911 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7911 IH dial and accelerated learning, and reenrollment cam- 1 paigns for out-of-school children and youth. 2 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The report required by 3 subsection (a) shall be made available to the public. 4 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES 5 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con- 6 gressional committees’’ means— 7 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 8 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep- 9 resentatives; and 10 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 11 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Aug 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7911.IH H7911 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS