I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4481 

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide assistance for 

developing countries to promote quality basic education and to establish 

the goal of all children in school and learning as an objective of the 

United States foreign assistance policy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2016 

Mrs. LOWEY (for herself and Mr. REICHERT) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide 

assistance for developing countries to promote quality 

basic education and to establish the goal of all children 

in school and learning as an objective of the United 

States foreign assistance policy, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Education for All Act of 2016’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 4. Clarification of assistance to achieve quality universal basic education. 

Sec. 5. Comprehensive integrated United States strategy to promote universal 

basic education. 

Sec. 6. Improving coordination and oversight. 

Sec. 7. Monitoring and evaluation of programs. 

Sec. 8. Transparency and reporting to Congress. 

Sec. 9. Definitions. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) No country has reached sustained economic 

4 growth without achieving near universal primary 

5 education. Quality education reduces poverty and in6 equality, lays the foundation for sound governance, 

7 civic participation, strong institutions, and equips 

8 people with the knowledge, skills, and self-reliance 

9 they need to increase income and expand their op10 portunities for employment. 

11 (2) Approximately 59,000,000 primary-school12 aged children and 65,000,000 adolescents are out of 

13 school. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, the number of 

14 primary-age children out of school has remained at 

15 approximately 30,000,000 over the past five years. 

16 Half of the children in the world do not have access 

17 to preschool and more than 200,000,000 children 

18 under five years old are not reaching their full devel19 opment potential due to the absence of early child20 hood care and development. 


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1 (3) Millions of children are not learning in 

2 school. Among the world’s 650,000,000 children of 

3 primary school age, an estimated 250,000,000 chil4 dren are not learning basic skills in reading, writing, 

5 and math or are dropping out before the fourth 

6 grade. In addition, an estimated 103,000,000 youth 

7 cannot read or write. 

8 (4) Of the 120,000,000 to 150,000,000 children 

9 with disabilities under the age of 18 around the 

10 world, an estimated 98 percent do not attend school. 

11 (5) Gender discrimination continues to be a 

12 barrier to girls’ education in many parts of the 

13 world, and on average, girls in developing countries 

14 still receive significantly less schooling than boys. 

15 Nearly two-thirds of the world’s 751,000,000 illit16 erate adults are women. Global attacks on girls at 

17 school have increased, including the 2012 attack on 

18 education activist Malala Yousafzai by the Taliban 

19 in Pakistan and the kidnapping of hundreds of Nige20 rian girls by the terrorist organization Boko Haram 

21 in April 2014. 

22 (6) Roughly half, or 28,500,000, of the world’s 

23 out-of-school children live in countries affected by 

24 conflict and crisis. The proportion of children who 

25 are denied an education in conflict affected countries 


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1 has increased from 42 percent in 2008 to 50 percent 

2 in 2015. 

3 (7) In areas of conflict and fragility, education 

4 is often under attack. Attacks on education include 

5 damage or destruction of schools by arson, grenades, 

6 mines, and rockets, threats to teachers and officials, 

7 looting, and the killing of children and staff. In 

8 2014, the Taliban ambushed a school in Pakistan, 

9 killing 145 children and teachers. In Syria, militants 

10 waged at least 68 separate attacks on schools, killing 

11 over 160 children in 2014. The use of schools and 

12 universities for military purposes by armed groups 

13 or armed forces is one of the key factors that re14 duces enrollment and lowers rates of transition to 

15 higher levels of education. 

16 (8) In 2011, the United States Agency for 

17 International Development (USAID) announced the 

18 first 5-year strategy to strengthen United States 

19 basic education programming, centered around three 

20 goals— 

21 (A) improved reading skills for 

22 100,000,000 children in primary grades; 

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1 force skills relevant to a country’s development 

2 goals; and 

3 (C) increased equitable access to education 

4 in crisis and conflict environments for 

5 15,000,000 learners. 

6 (9) The United States partners with other 

7 major donors, nongovernmental organizations, the 

8 private sector and multilateral organizations, includ9 ing the Global Partnership for Education to help le10 verage success. The Global Partnership for Edu11 cation is the only multilateral partnership dedicated 

12 to getting all children into school and learning, 

13 working with developing country partners to develop 

14 and implement national education plans. 

15 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

16 It is the sense of Congress that— 

17 (1) it is in the national security interest of the 

18 United States to promote universal basic education 

19 in developing countries; 

20 (2) an educated citizenry contributes to sus21 tained economic growth, strengthened democratic in22 stitutions, the empowerment of women and girls, 

23 and decreased extremism; and 

24 (3) United States resources and leadership 

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1 ful international effort to provide children in devel2 oping countries with a quality basic education in 

3 order to achieve the goal of quality universal basic 

4 education. 

5 SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF ASSISTANCE TO ACHIEVE QUAL6 ITY UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION. 

7 Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act 

8 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

9 after section 105 the following new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 105A. CLARIFICATION OF ASSISTANCE TO ACHIEVE 

11 QUALITY UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION. 

12 ‘‘(a) POLICY.—In carrying out section 105, it is the 

13 policy of the United States to work with other countries, 

14 multilateral organizations, international and local civil so15 ciety organizations, and other major donors in order to 

16 achieve sustainable quality universal basic education in 

17 order to— 

18 ‘‘(1) work with other countries, multilateral or19 ganizations, international and local civil society orga20 nizations, and other major donors in order to 

21 achieve sustainable quality universal basic education; 

22 ‘‘(2) assist developing countries in ensuring all 

23 children have access to quality basic education, in24 cluding through strengthening developing countries’ 

25 educational systems; 


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1 ‘‘(3) improve the quality of basic education, 

2 which may include a focus on measurably improving 

3 learning outcomes and foundational skills in such 

4 areas as literacy and numeracy, critical thinking, 

5 and civic education, in order to increase the number 

6 of children completing and benefiting from a basic 

7 education; 

8 ‘‘(4) seek to expand access to quality schools 

9 and teachers, particularly for marginalized children 

10 and vulnerable groups; 

11 ‘‘(5) promote education as the foundation for 

12 communities’ development, leading to conflict and vi13 olence prevention and mitigation, improved health 

14 and disease prevention and treatment, greater gen15 der parity, increased economic growth and improved 

16 agricultural activities, early childhood development, 

17 improved entrepreneurial and leadership opportuni18 ties, disaster preparedness, democracy promotion, 

19 and holistic assistance programs; and 

20 ‘‘(6) monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and 

21 quality of basic education programs. 

22 ‘‘(b) PRINCIPLES.—In developing the policy referred 

23 to in subsection (a), the United States shall be guided by 

24 the following principles of coordination, sustainability, and 

25 aid effectiveness: 


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1 ‘‘(1) UNITED STATES RESOURCES.—United 

2 States resources shall be used to effectively engage 

3 in a global commitment to achieving quality uni4 versal basic education in developing countries, in5 cluding in countries affected by or emerging from 

6 armed conflict or humanitarian crises. 

7 ‘‘(2) INTEGRATED BILATERAL AND MULTILAT8 ERAL APPROACH TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.— 

9 United States assistance should integrate bilateral 

10 and multilateral assistance modalities within the 

11 strategy developed pursuant to section 5 of the Edu12 cation for All Act of 2016, to be directly responsive 

13 to recipient country needs, capacity, and commit14 ment, and lead to sustainable development. The 

15 United States shall engage on a multilateral basis in 

16 a manner that leverages overall impact and best re17 inforces United States bilateral aid efforts, which 

18 are central to United States efforts in basic edu19 cation. Bilateral and multilateral assistance should 

20 be undertaken in close partnership with nongovern21 mental organizations and other development part22 ners, including women-led groups. 

23 ‘‘(3) UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO MULTI24 LATERAL EDUCATION INITIATIVES.—The United 

25 States should support multilateral coordination and 


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1 financing education initiatives, including the Global 

2 Partnership for Education. United States assistance 

3 should build upon its comparative advantages and 

4 proficiencies in basic education programs, while 

5 leveraging the efforts of existing country-level devel6 opment partnerships. Multilateral mechanisms 

7 should be aligned with globally established aid effec8 tiveness principles, in coordination with recipient 

9 country priorities, and in a transparent manner that 

10 achieves measurable results in access, quality, and 

11 learning. 

12 ‘‘(4) COORDINATION AND MOBILIZATION OF RE13 SOURCES.—United States efforts should coordinate 

14 with other donors, the local and international private 

15 sector, local governments, and civil society, including 

16 organizations that represent teachers, students, and 

17 parents, interested in supporting quality universal 

18 basic education efforts. The United States should 

19 seek to mobilize and leverage resources from such 

20 parties in support of basic education. 

21 ‘‘(5) COORDINATION WITHIN THE UNITED

22 STATES GOVERNMENT.—The United States Govern23 ment, led by the United States Agency for Inter24 national Development, shall support improved co25 ordination and collaboration among all relevant execVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 Feb 06, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4481.IH H4481

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1 utive branch agencies and officials to efficiently and 

2 effectively use resources, including efforts to provide 

3 a continuity of assistance for basic education in hu4 manitarian and other emergency situations. 

5 ‘‘(6) COORDINATION WITH NATIONAL EDU6 CATION PLANS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PRO7 GRAMS.—United States assistance for basic edu8 cation in developing countries shall be provided in 

9 collaboration and coordination with, where possible, 

10 national education plans that promote the value of 

11 education, and increase community and family 

12 awareness of the positive impact of education to re13 ducing poverty and spurring sustained economic 

14 growth. The United States should seek to encourage 

15 developing countries to utilize schools as platforms 

16 for the development of communities. Such assistance 

17 should support programs and activities that are ap18 propriate for and meet the needs of the local and in19 digenous cultures and carry out programs and ac20 tivities through implementation by country-based 

21 civil society organizations that support national edu22 cation plans. 

23 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) BASIC EDUCATION.—The term ‘basic edu25 cation’ includes— 


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1 ‘‘(A) all program and policy efforts aimed 

2 at improving early childhood, preprimary edu3 cation, primary education, and secondary edu4 cation, which can be delivered in formal and 

5 nonformal education settings, and in programs 

6 promoting learning for out-of-school youth and 

7 adults; 

8 ‘‘(B) capacity building for teachers, admin9 istrators, counselors, and youth workers; and 

10 ‘‘(C) literacy, numeracy, and other basic 

11 skills development that prepare an individual to 

12 be an active, productive member of society and 

13 the workforce. 

14 ‘‘(2) RELEVANT EXECUTIVE BRANCH AGENCIES

15 AND OFFICIALS.—The term ‘relevant executive 

16 branch agencies and officials’ means— 

17 ‘‘(A) the Department of State, the United 

18 States Agency for International Development, 

19 the Department of the Treasury, the Depart20 ment of Labor, the Department of Education, 

21 the Department of Health and Human Services, 

22 the Department of Agriculture, and the Depart23 ment of Defense; 

24 ‘‘(B) the Chief Executive Officer of the 

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1 nator of United States Government Activities to 

2 Combat HIV/AIDS Globally, the National Secu3 rity Advisor, the Director of the Peace Corps, 

4 and the National Economic Advisor; and 

5 ‘‘(C) any other department, agency, or offi6 cial of the United States Government that par7 ticipates in activities to promote quality uni8 versal basic education pursuant to the authori9 ties of such department, agency, or official or 

10 pursuant to this Act. 

11 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL EDUCATION PLAN.—The term 

12 ‘national education plan’ means a comprehensive na13 tional education plan developed by recipient country 

14 governments in consultation with other stakeholders 

15 as a means for wide-scale improvement of the coun16 try’s education system, including explicit, credible 

17 strategies informed by effective practices and stand18 ards to achieve quality universal basic education. 

19 ‘‘(4) HIV/AIDS.—The term ‘HIV/AIDS’ has 

20 the meaning given that term in section 104A(h). 

21 ‘‘(5) MARGINALIZED CHILDREN AND VULNER22 ABLE GROUPS.—The term ‘marginalized children 

23 and vulnerable groups’ includes girls, children af24 fected by or emerging from armed conflict or hu25 manitarian crises, children with disabilities, children 


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1 in remote or rural areas (including those who lack 

2 access to safe water and sanitation), religious or eth3 nic minorities, indigenous peoples, orphans and chil4 dren affected by HIV/AIDS, child laborers, married 

5 adolescents, and victims of trafficking. 

6 ‘‘(6) NONFORMAL EDUCATION.—The term ‘non7 formal education’— 

8 ‘‘(A) means organized educational activi9 ties outside the established formal system, 

10 whether operating separately or as an impor11 tant feature of a broader activity, that are in12 tended to serve identifiable learning clienteles 

13 and learning objectives; and 

14 ‘‘(B) includes youth programs and commu15 nity training offered by community groups and 

16 organizations. 

17 ‘‘(7) SUSTAINABILITY.—The term ‘sustain18 ability’ means, with respect to any basic education 

19 program that receives funding pursuant to section 

20 105, the ability of a service delivery system, commu21 nity, partner, or beneficiary to maintain, over time, 

22 such basic education program.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. COMPREHENSIVE INTEGRATED UNITED STATES 

2 STRATEGY TO PROMOTE UNIVERSAL BASIC 

3 EDUCATION. 

4 (a) STRATEGY REQUIRED.—Not later than October 

5 1, 2016, October 1, 2021, and October 1, 2026, the Presi6 dent, acting through the Administrator of the United 

7 States Agency for International Development and in co8 ordination with other relevant executive branch agencies 

9 and officials, shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

10 committees a comprehensive integrated United States 

11 strategy to promote quality universal basic education by— 

12 (1) seeking to equitably expand access to basic 

13 education for all children, particularly marginalized 

14 children and vulnerable groups; and 

15 (2) improving the quality of basic education, 

16 particularly as reflected in measurable learning out17 comes, as appropriate. 

18 (b) REQUIREMENT TO CONSULT.—In developing the 

19 strategy required by subsection (a), the President shall 

20 consult with— 

21 (1) the appropriate congressional committees; 

22 (2) relevant executive branch agencies and offi23 cials; 

24 (3) recipient country governments; and 

25 (4) local and international nongovernmental or26 ganizations, including organizations representing 


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1 students, teachers, and parents, and other develop2 ment partners and individuals who are involved in 

3 the promotion and implementation of education as4 sistance programs in developing countries. 

5 (c) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The President shall provide 

6 an opportunity for public comment on the strategy re7 quired by subsection (a). 

8 (d) INITIAL STRATEGY.—For the purposes of this 

9 section, the strategy entitled ‘‘USAID education strat10 egy’’, as in effect on the day before the date of the enact11 ment of this Act, shall be deemed to fulfill the initial re12 quirements of subsection (a). 

13 (e) PRIORITY AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—In pro14 viding assistance under section 105 of the Foreign Assist15 ance Act of 1961, the President shall give priority to for16 eign countries in which there is the greatest need and op17 portunity to expand universal access and to improve learn18 ing outcomes, and in which the assistance can produce a 

19 substantial, measurable impact on children and edu20 cational systems. Priority should also be considered in 

21 countries where there are chronically underserved and 

22 marginalized populations, or populations affected by con23 flict or crisis, which must be reached in order to achieve 

24 universal basic education. 


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1 (f) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required by subsection 

2 (a) shall be formulated and implemented in consideration 

3 of the principles set forth in section 105A(b) of the For4 eign Assistance Act of 1961 (as added by section 4 of this 

5 Act) and shall seek to— 

6 (1) support and coordinate with national edu7 cation plans and work to build capacity within devel8 oping countries, including governments and civil so9 ciety organizations, on public basic education sys10 tems; 

11 (2) identify and replicate successful interven12 tions that improve access to and quality of edu13 cation; 

14 (3) include specific objectives, and indicators, 

15 including indicators to measure learning outcomes, 

16 and approaches to increase access and quality of 

17 basic education in developing countries, and ensure 

18 such objectives have clear actionable targets, goals, 

19 and metrics, including annual interim targets in 

20 order to measure and show progress toward the 

21 overall goal as well as consistent metrics across 

22 agencies, toward the goal of all children in school 

23 and learning, as well as benchmarks and timeframes; 

24 (4) project general levels of resources needed to 

25 achieve the stated program objectives; 


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1 (5) leverage United States capabilities, includ2 ing through technical assistance, training, and re3 search; 

4 (6) improve coordination and reduce duplication 

5 among relevant executive branch agencies and offi6 cials, foreign donor governments, and international 

7 organizations at the global and country levels; 

8 (7) target the activities of the United States to 

9 leverage contributions from other bilateral donors to 

10 provide quality universal basic education; 

11 (8) focus on the marginalized and hardest-to12 reach children who remain out of school, including 

13 those in conflict and crisis situations; 

14 (9) outline how the United States Government 

15 will ensure a transition and continuity of educational 

16 activities in countries affected by or emerging from 

17 armed conflict or humanitarian crises; and 

18 (10) adopt a ‘‘communities of learning’’ ap19 proach that integrates, where appropriate and to the 

20 extent practicable, school and educational programs 

21 with health and development programs, nutrition 

22 and school feeding programs, sanitation and hygiene 

23 education, adult literacy, leadership development, 

24 prevention of school-related violence, entrepreneurial 


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1 training, agricultural extension work, civic edu2 cation, and housing programs. 

3 (g) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Assistance provided 

4 under section 105 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

5 should be prioritized based on the goals articulated in the 

6 strategy required by subsection (a) and may be used to 

7 support efforts to expand access to and improve the qual8 ity of basic education, including to— 

9 (1) ensure an adequate supply of trained, effec10 tive teachers and to build systems to provide con11 tinuing support, training, and professional develop12 ment for all educators; 

13 (2) support the design and implementation of 

14 relevant curricula, standards, and sufficient teaching 

15 and learning materials; 

16 (3) support country systems, including to— 

17 (A) build systems to ensure continuing in18 formation collection, monitoring, and evaluation 

19 of education services and financing; 

20 (B) assist education authorities to improve 

21 education management practices and systems, 

22 including at the community, school, sub23 national, and national levels; and 

24 (C) promote the development and effective 

25 use of partner countries’ assessment systems 


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1 for monitoring and evaluating student-learning 

2 outcomes; 

3 (4) mobilize domestic resources to eliminate 

4 fees for public educational services, including fees 

5 for tuition, uniforms, and materials; 

6 (5) ensure that schools are not incubators for 

7 violent extremism; 

8 (6) provide human rights, gender parity, and 

9 conflict-resolution education; 

10 (7) work with communities to achieve parity in 

11 schools and build support for girls’ education; 

12 (8) provide adequate school and system infra13 structure, including constructing separate latrines 

14 for boys and girls; 

15 (9) ensure access to school and relevant learn16 ing outcomes for children with disabilities, including 

17 adequate teacher training, and infrastructure; 

18 (10) provide programs that enable schools to 

19 continue providing education for the most poor or 

20 marginalized children, particularly adolescent girls, 

21 which includes flexible learning opportunities, accel22 erated and second-chance classes, and opportunities 

23 that support leadership development; 

24 (11) take steps to make schools safe and secure 

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1 logical, and sexual violence such as bullying, corporal 

2 punishment, sexual harassment, or exploitation, in3 cluding working to ensure the safe passage to and 

4 from schools and on school grounds, adopt and sup5 port community-owned protective measures, pro6 moting efforts to establish and enforce strong laws 

7 and policies against school-related gender-based vio8 lence and providing counseling and support systems 

9 for students affected by school-related, gender-based 

10 violence; and 

11 (12) support other initiatives that have dem12 onstrated success in increasing access, improving 

13 learning outcomes, and increasing educational oppor14 tunities for the most marginalized children and vul15 nerable groups. 

16 (h) ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED FOR COUN17 TRIES AFFECTED BY CONFLICT AND CRISES.—In addi18 tion to the activities supported under subsection (g), as19 sistance provided under section 105 of the Foreign Assist20 ance Act of 1961 to foreign countries or those parts of 

21 the territories of foreign countries that are affected by or 

22 emerging from armed conflict, humanitarian crises, or 

23 other emergency situations may be used to support ef24 forts— 


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1 (1) to ensure a continuity of educational activi2 ties for all children as an essential humanitarian 

3 need and that all relevant executive branch agencies 

4 and officials collaborate and coordinate to help pro5 vide this continuity; 

6 (2) to ensure that education assistance of the 

7 United States to countries in emergency settings, in8 cluding countries affected by or emerging from 

9 armed conflict or humanitarian crises, shall be in10 formed by the Minimum Standards of the Inter11 Agency Network for Education in Emergencies 

12 (‘‘INEE Minimum Standards’’); 

13 (3) wherever possible, to establish formal or 

14 provide support for formal and nonformal education 

15 services, or to complement services that are available 

16 to ensure that children are able to continue their 

17 education and to protect children from physical 

18 harm, psychological and social distress, recruitment 

19 into armed groups, family separation, and abuses re20 lated to their displacement; 

21 (4) to provide assistance for temporary and per22 manent education facility construction and minor re23 habilitation and equipping of educational structures; 

24 (5) to provide essential educational services and 

25 materials that assist in building systems to support, 


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1 train, and provide professional development for edu2 cators; 

3 (6) to build national capacity to coordinate and 

4 manage education during emergency response and 

5 through recovery; 

6 (7) to promote efforts to ensure the reintegra7 tion of teachers and students affected by conflict, 

8 whether refugees or internally displaced, into edu9 cational systems, including regional approaches 

10 where appropriate to coordinate and recognize the 

11 educational efforts of these teachers and students 

12 and other school systems; and 

13 (8) to promote efforts to ensure the safety of 

14 children in school, including— 

15 (A) safe learning environments, especially 

16 for girls, with such facilities providing access to 

17 water, sanitation, health-related education, psy18 chosocial support (as defined in section 

19 135(b)(5) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

20 1961), and landmine awareness; 

21 (B) safe passage to and from school, des22 ignate schools as conflict-free zones respected 

23 by all parties, protect schools and universities 

24 from military use during armed conflict and 

25 adopt and support community-owned protective 


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1 measures to reduce the incidence of attack on 

2 education by local actors, armed groups, and 

3 armed forces; 

4 (C) out-of-school programs and flexible5 hour schooling in areas in which security pre6 vents students from attending regular schools; 

7 (D) community-based initiatives for safe 

8 schools, including community watch programs, 

9 religious leader engagement and community 

10 education committees; 

11 (E) safety plans in case of emergency with 

12 clearly defined roles for school personnel; and 

13 (F) adequate infrastructure, including 

14 emergency communication systems and access 

15 to mobile telecommunications with local police 

16 and security personnel. 

17 SEC. 6. IMPROVING COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF COORDINATOR POSITION.— 

19 The Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter20 national Development shall designate an individual to 

21 serve as the Senior Coordinator of United States Govern22 ment Actions to Provide Basic Education Assistance 

23 (hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘‘Senior Co24 ordinator’’). The Senior Coordinator shall be an employee 

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1 ment and serving in a career or noncareer position in the 

2 Senior Executive Service, or Senior Foreign Service, or at 

3 the level of a Deputy Assistant Administrator or higher. 

4 (b) GENERAL AUTHORITIES.—The Senior Coordi5 nator shall coordinate the development and implementa6 tion of this Act and the amendments made by this Act, 

7 in consultation with such nongovernmental organizations 

8 (including organizations representing parents, teachers, 

9 and students, faith-based and community-based organiza10 tions) and relevant executive branch agencies and officials 

11 as may be necessary and appropriate to affect the pur12 poses of this section, and is authorized to coordinate the 

13 promotion of quality universal basic education. 

14 (c) DUTIES.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Senior Coordinator 

16 shall have primary responsibility for the oversight 

17 and coordination of all resources and international 

18 activities of the United States Government to pro19 mote quality universal basic education under section 

20 105A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (as 

21 added by section 4 of this Act) or any other provi22 sion of law. 

23 (2) SPECIFIC DUTIES.—The duties of the Sen24 ior Coordinator should specifically include the fol25 lowing: 


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1 (A) Ensuring program and policy coordina2 tion among relevant executive branch agencies 

3 and officials and nongovernmental organiza4 tions. 

5 (B) Ensuring, through the strategy out6 lined in section 5, that relevant executive 

7 branch agencies and officials undertake pro8 grams primarily in those areas in which the 

9 agencies and officials have the greatest exper10 tise, technical capabilities, and potential for 

11 success. 

12 (C) Ensuring coordination of activities of 

13 relevant executive branch agencies and officials 

14 in the field in order to eliminate duplication. 

15 (D) Pursuing coordination with other 

16 countries and multilateral and international or17 ganizations. 

18 (E) Convening meetings, as appropriate, of 

19 relevant executive branch agencies and officials 

20 to evaluate progress in carrying out the United 

21 States strategy developed pursuant to section 5 

22 and recommend future changes to the strategy 

23 based upon such evaluation. 


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1 SEC. 7. MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF PROGRAMS. 

2 The President, acting through the Administrator of 

3 the United States Agency for International Development, 

4 the Senior Coordinator, and relevant executive branch 

5 agencies and officials, as appropriate, shall seek to ensure 

6 that programs carried out under the strategy required 

7 under section 5 shall— 

8 (1) apply rigorous monitoring and evaluation 

9 methodologies to focus on learning and account10 ability; 

11 (2) when feasible and appropriate, include 

12 methodological guidance in the implementation plan, 

13 disaggregate data by age, disability, and gender, and 

14 support systemic data collection using internation15 ally comparable indicators, norms, and methodolo16 gies; 

17 (3) be planned and budgeted to include funding 

18 for both short- and long-term monitoring and eval19 uation to enable assessment of the sustainability and 

20 scalability of assistance programs; and 

21 (4) support the increased use and public avail22 ability of education data for improved decision23 making, program effectiveness, and monitoring of 

24 global progress. 


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1 SEC. 8. TRANSPARENCY AND REPORTING TO CONGRESS. 

2 (a) ANNUAL REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF

3 STRATEGY.—Not later than March 31 of each year 

4 through 2031, the President, acting through the Adminis5 trator of the United States Agency for International De6 velopment, the Senior Coordinator, and the relevant execu7 tive branch agencies and officials, as appropriate, shall 

8 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re9 port on the implementation of the strategy and make the 

10 report available to the public. 

11 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re12 quired under subsection (a) shall include— 

13 (1) a description of efforts made by relevant ex14 ecutive branch agencies and officials to implement 

15 the strategy developed pursuant to section 5 with a 

16 particular focus on the activities carried out; 

17 (2) a description of the programs established to 

18 implement the strategy developed pursuant to sec19 tion 5 that provides a detailed explanation of the ex20 tent to which the strategy is contributing to the goal 

21 of quality universal basic education; 

22 (3) a description of the extent to which each 

23 foreign country selected to receive assistance for 

24 basic education meets the priority criteria specified 

25 in subsection (c); and 


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1 (4) a description of progress on the quantitative 

2 and qualitative indicators and interim targets used 

3 to evaluate the progress toward meeting the goals 

4 and objectives, benchmarks, and timeframes speci5 fied in the strategy developed pursuant to section 5 

6 at the program level as developed pursuant to moni7 toring and evaluation specified in section 6. 

8 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

9 (a) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 

10 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional commit11 tees’’ means— 

12 (1) the Committee on Appropriations and the 

13 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and 

14 (2) the Committee on Appropriations and the 

15 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep16 resentatives. 

17 (b) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this Act, the terms 

18 ‘‘basic education’’, ‘‘relevant executive branch agencies 

19 and officials’’, ‘‘national education plan’’, and 

20 ‘‘marginalized children and vulnerable groups’’ have the 

21 meanings given such terms in section 105A(d) of the For22 eign Assistance Act of 1961 (as added by section 4 of this 

23 Act). 

Æ 


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