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. 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Global Learning Loss 

5 Assessment Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Before the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (com2 monly referred to as ‘‘COVID-19’’) pandemic began, 

3 258 million children were out of school, including 

4 130 million girls. 

5 (2) Students already at a disadvantage before 

6 COVID-19 will experience greater learning loss, 

7 thereby worsening inequity and inequality. 

8 (3) Approximately 90 percent of the world’s 

9 student population—over 1.7 billion children and 

10 youth—have had their education disrupted by school 

11 closure due to COVID-19. 

12 (4) School closures lead to interrupted learning, 

13 poor nutrition, gaps in childcare, increased dropout, 

14 exposure to violence, and social isolation. 

15 (5) Up to 9.7 million children are at risk of 

16 dropping out of school due to rising levels of child 

17 poverty associated with the pandemic. 

18 (6) School closure and remote learning is espe19 cially burdensome on girls, who are frequently ex20 pected to shoulder more household chores and re21 sponsibilities, and are more vulnerable to gender22 based violence. 

23 (7) During the Ebola epidemic, nationwide 

24 school closures in Sierra Leone in 2014 led to in25 creased instances of sexual and gender-based vioVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Aug 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7911.IH H7911

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1 lence, teenage pregnancy, school dropout, and child 

2 labor for girls. 

3 (8) Over 60 percent of national distance learn4 ing alternatives rely exclusively on online platforms 

5 but as many as 465 million children and young peo6 ple in these countries do not have access to the 

7 internet at home, with 80 percent of students in 

8 sub-Saharan Africa without such access, and an 

9 even higher rate for girls. 

10 (9) Distance learning tools are not always ac11 cessible to learners with disabilities or those with 

12 complex learning needs, especially in poorer and 

13 rural households. 

14 (10) The economic downturn caused by the 

15 COVID-19 pandemic could lead to an education fi16 nancing gap of $77 billion in low- and middle-income 

17 countries over the next two years. 

18 (11) The economic cost of school closures could 

19 be up to $1,337 per student, which on a global scale 

20 equates to approximately $10 trillion in lost eco21 nomic output over the coming generation. 

22 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

23 It is the policy of the United States— 

24 (1) to provide inclusive learning opportunities 

25 for students and teachers, especially for the most 


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1 marginalized, including girls and children with dis2 abilities; 

3 (2) to build local capacity and help countries 

4 strengthen their education systems; 

5 (3) to improve the delivery and quality of edu6 cation services; 

7 (4) to improve equity and safety in education 

8 services; and 

9 (5) to support the return of children to school 

10 who have experienced interruptions in their edu11 cation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other 

12 causes. 

13 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

15 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

16 the United States Agency for International Development, 

17 acting through the Senior Coordinator for International 

18 Basic Education Assistance and in consultation with the 

19 Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s 

20 Empowerment, shall submit to the appropriate congres21 sional committees a report on the impact of the COVID22 19 pandemic on learning and global basic education pro23 grams. 


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1 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re2 quired by subsection (a) shall include, at a minimum, the 

3 following: 

4 (1) An assessment of the magnitude of global 

5 learning loss that will result from protracted school 

6 closures, including the specific effects of school clo7 sures on marginalized children and youth, including 

8 girls, minority populations, and those with disabil9 ities. 

10 (2) Evaluations of effectiveness, cost, accessi11 bility, and reach of the most commonly used forms 

12 of distance learning in low resource contexts. 

13 (3) An overview of existing Agency programs 

14 being carried out to continue learning during the 

15 COVID-19 pandemic, including data on funding and 

16 programmatic focus disaggregated by gender, coun17 try, education level, and, when practicable and ap18 propriate, disability. 

19 (4) Identification of any gaps in reaching 

20 marginalized populations, such as girls, children 

21 with disabilities, or children affected by conflict and 

22 crisis. 

23 (5) A description of the tools and resources 

24 needed for the Agency to support continued distance 

25 learning interventions, safe school reopening, remeVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Aug 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7911.IH H7911

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1 dial and accelerated learning, and reenrollment cam2 paigns for out-of-school children and youth. 

3 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The report required by 

4 subsection (a) shall be made available to the public. 

5 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

6 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con7 gressional committees’’ means— 

8 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

9 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep10 resentatives; and 

11 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

12 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 

Æ 


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