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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Education for All Act of 2016’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
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. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) No country has reached sustained economic 
growth without achieving near universal primary 
education. Quality education reduces poverty and in-
equality, lays the foundation for sound governance, 
civic participation, strong institutions, and equips 
people with the knowledge, skills, and self-reliance 
they need to increase income and expand their op-
portunities for employment. 
(2) Approximately 59,000,000 primary-school- 
aged children and 65,000,000 adolescents are out of 
school. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, the number of 
primary-age children out of school has remained at 
approximately 30,000,000 over the past five years. 
Half of the children in the world do not have access 
to preschool and more than 200,000,000 children 
under five years old are not reaching their full devel-
opment potential due to the absence of early child-
hood care and development. 
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(3) Millions of children are not learning in 
school. Among the world’s 650,000,000 children of 
primary school age, an estimated 250,000,000 chil-
dren are not learning basic skills in reading, writing, 
and math or are dropping out before the fourth 
grade. In addition, an estimated 103,000,000 youth 
cannot read or write. 
(4) Of the 120,000,000 to 150,000,000 children 
with disabilities under the age of 18 around the 
world, an estimated 98 percent do not attend school. 
(5) Gender discrimination continues to be a 
barrier to girls’ education in many parts of the 
world, and on average, girls in developing countries 
still receive significantly less schooling than boys. 
Nearly two-thirds of the world’s 751,000,000 illit-
erate adults are women. Global attacks on girls at 
school have increased, including the 2012 attack on 
education activist Malala Yousafzai by the Taliban 
in Pakistan and the kidnapping of hundreds of Nige-
rian girls by the terrorist organization Boko Haram 
in April 2014. 
(6) Roughly half, or 28,500,000, of the world’s 
out-of-school children live in countries affected by 
conflict and crisis. The proportion of children who 
are denied an education in conflict affected countries 
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has increased from 42 percent in 2008 to 50 percent 
in 2015. 
(7) In areas of conflict and fragility, education 
is often under attack. Attacks on education include 
damage or destruction of schools by arson, grenades, 
mines, and rockets, threats to teachers and officials, 
looting, and the killing of children and staff. In 
2014, the Taliban ambushed a school in Pakistan, 
killing 145 children and teachers. In Syria, militants 
waged at least 68 separate attacks on schools, killing 
over 160 children in 2014. The use of schools and 
universities for military purposes by armed groups 
or armed forces is one of the key factors that re-
duces enrollment and lowers rates of transition to 
higher levels of education. 
(8) In 2011, the United States Agency for 
International Development (USAID) announced the 
first 5-year strategy to strengthen United States 
basic education programming, centered around three 
goals— 
(A) 
improved 
reading 
skills 
for 
100,000,000 children in primary grades; 
(B) improved ability of tertiary and work-
force development programs to generate work-
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force skills relevant to a country’s development 
goals; and 
(C) increased equitable access to education 
in 
crisis 
and 
conflict 
environments 
for 
15,000,000 learners. 
(9) The United States partners with other 
major donors, nongovernmental organizations, the 
private sector and multilateral organizations, includ-
ing the Global Partnership for Education to help le-
verage success. The Global Partnership for Edu-
cation is the only multilateral partnership dedicated 
to getting all children into school and learning, 
working with developing country partners to develop 
and implement national education plans. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) it is in the national security interest of the 
United States to promote universal basic education 
in developing countries; 
(2) an educated citizenry contributes to sus-
tained economic growth, strengthened democratic in-
stitutions, the empowerment of women and girls, 
and decreased extremism; and 
(3) United States resources and leadership 
should be utilized in a way to best ensure a success-
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ful international effort to provide children in devel-
oping countries with a quality basic education in 
order to achieve the goal of quality universal basic 
education. 
SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF ASSISTANCE TO ACHIEVE QUAL-
ITY UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION. 
Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act 
of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended by inserting 
after section 105 the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 105A. CLARIFICATION OF ASSISTANCE TO ACHIEVE 
QUALITY UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION. 
‘‘(a) POLICY.—In carrying out section 105, it is the 
policy of the United States to work with other countries, 
multilateral organizations, international and local civil so-
ciety organizations, and other major donors in order to 
achieve sustainable quality universal basic education in 
order to— 
‘‘(1) work with other countries, multilateral or-
ganizations, international and local civil society orga-
nizations, and other major donors in order to 
achieve sustainable quality universal basic education; 
‘‘(2) assist developing countries in ensuring all 
children have access to quality basic education, in-
cluding through strengthening developing countries’ 
educational systems; 
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‘‘(3) improve the quality of basic education, 
which may include a focus on measurably improving 
learning outcomes and foundational skills in such 
areas as literacy and numeracy, critical thinking, 
and civic education, in order to increase the number 
of children completing and benefiting from a basic 
education; 
‘‘(4) seek to expand access to quality schools 
and teachers, particularly for marginalized children 
and vulnerable groups; 
‘‘(5) promote education as the foundation for 
communities’ development, leading to conflict and vi-
olence prevention and mitigation, improved health 
and disease prevention and treatment, greater gen-
der parity, increased economic growth and improved 
agricultural activities, early childhood development, 
improved entrepreneurial and leadership opportuni-
ties, disaster preparedness, democracy promotion, 
and holistic assistance programs; and 
‘‘(6) monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and 
quality of basic education programs. 
‘‘(b) PRINCIPLES.—In developing the policy referred 
to in subsection (a), the United States shall be guided by 
the following principles of coordination, sustainability, and 
aid effectiveness: 
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