Global Learning Loss Assessment Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8220 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 Ms. HOULAHAN (for herself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mr. QUIGLEY) 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 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 makes the following findings: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Sep 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8220.IH H8220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8220 IH (1) Before the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (com- 1 monly referred to as ‘‘COVID–19’’) pandemic began, 2 258,000,000 children were out of school, including 3 130,000,000 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 1,700,000,000 children 9 and youth—have had their education disrupted by 10 school closure due to COVID–19. 11 (4) School closures lead to interrupted learning, 12 poor nutrition, gaps in childcare, increased dropout 13 rates, exposure to violence, and social isolation. 14 (5) Up to 9,700,000 children are at risk of 15 dropping out of school permanently due to rising lev- 16 els of child 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 23:37 Sep 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8220.IH H8220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8220 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 465,000,000 children and young 5 people 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) Before the COVID–19 pandemic, refugee 14 children were twice as likely to be out of school as 15 other youth, and school closures and a lack of access 16 to distance learning tools threaten to make the edu- 17 cation gap among refugee children even more severe. 18 (11) The economic downturn caused by the 19 COVID–19 pandemic could lead to an education fi- 20 nancing gap of $77,000,000,000 in low- and middle- 21 income countries over the next two years. 22 (12) The economic cost of school closures could 23 be up to $1,337 per student, which on a global scale 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Sep 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8220.IH H8220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8220 IH equates to approximately $10,000,000,000,000 in 1 lost economic output over the coming generation. 2 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 3 It is the policy of the United States that United 4 States-funded basic education programs operating in for- 5 eign countries should— 6 (1) provide inclusive learning opportunities for 7 students and teachers, especially for the most 8 marginalized, including girls and children with dis- 9 abilities; 10 (2) build local capacity and help countries 11 strengthen their education systems; 12 (3) improve the delivery and quality of edu- 13 cation services; 14 (4) improve equity and safety in education serv- 15 ices; and 16 (5) support the return of children to school who 17 have experienced interruptions in their education 18 due to the COVID–19 pandemic and other causes. 19 SEC. 4. REPORT. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 21 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 22 the United States Agency for International Development, 23 acting through the Senior Coordinator for International 24 Basic Education Assistance and in consultation with the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Sep 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8220.IH H8220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8220 IH Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s 1 Empowerment, shall submit to the appropriate congres- 2 sional committees a report on the impact of the COVID– 3 19 pandemic on global learning and basic education pro- 4 grams. 5 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re- 6 quired under subsection (a) shall include, at a minimum, 7 the following elements: 8 (1) An assessment of the magnitude of global 9 learning loss that will result from protracted school 10 closures, including the specific effects of school clo- 11 sures on marginalized children and youth, including 12 girls, minority populations, and those with disabil- 13 ities. 14 (2) Descriptions of the effectiveness, cost, ac- 15 cessibility, and reach of the most commonly used 16 forms of distance learning in low resource contexts. 17 (3) An overview of existing Agency programs 18 being carried out to continue learning during the 19 COVID–19 pandemic, including data on funding and 20 programmatic focus disaggregated by gender, coun- 21 try, education level, and, when practicable and ap- 22 propriate, disability. 23 (4) Identification of any gaps in reaching 24 marginalized populations, such as girls, children 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Sep 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8220.IH H8220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8220 IH with disabilities, or children affected by conflict and 1 crisis. 2 (5) A description of the tools and resources 3 needed for the Agency to support continued distance 4 learning interventions, safe school reopening, reme- 5 dial and accelerated learning, and reenrollment cam- 6 paigns for out-of-school children and youth. 7 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The report required by 8 subsection (a) shall be made available to the public. 9 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES 10 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con- 11 gressional committees’’ means— 12 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 13 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and 14 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 15 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep- 16 resentatives. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Sep 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8220.IH H8220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS