groups’’, ‘‘national education plan’’, ‘‘partner country’’, 
and ‘‘relevant Executive branch agencies and officials’’ have 
the meanings given such terms in section 105(c) of the For-
eign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by section 3. 
SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE, QUALITY 
BASIC EDUCATION. 
Section 105 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2151c) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(c) ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE, QUAL-
ITY BASIC EDUCATION.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) BASIC EDUCATION.—The term ‘basic 
education’ includes— 
‘‘(i) measurable improvements in lit-
eracy, numeracy, and other basic skills de-
velopment that prepare an individual to be 
an active, productive member of society and 
the workforce; 
‘‘(ii) workforce development, vocational 
training, and digital literacy informed by 
real market needs and opportunities and 
that results in measurable improvements in 
employment; 
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‘‘(iii) programs and activities designed 
to demonstrably improve— 
‘‘(I) early childhood, preprimary 
education, primary education, and sec-
ondary education, which can be deliv-
ered in formal or nonformal education 
settings; and 
‘‘(II) learning for out-of-school 
youth and adults; and 
‘‘(iv) capacity building for teachers, 
administrators, counselors, and youth work-
ers that results in measurable improvements 
in student literacy, numeracy, or employ-
ment. 
‘‘(B) COMMUNITIES
OF
LEARNING.—The 
term ‘communities of learning’ means a holistic 
approach to education and community engage-
ment in which schools act as the primary re-
source center for delivery of a service to the com-
munity at large, leveraging and maximizing the 
impact of other development efforts and reducing 
duplication and waste. 
‘‘(C) GENDER
PARITY
IN
BASIC
EDU-
CATION.—The term ‘gender parity in basic edu-
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cation’ means that girls and boys have equal ac-
cess to quality basic education. 
‘‘(D) MARGINALIZED CHILDREN AND VUL-
NERABLE
GROUPS.—The term ‘marginalized 
children and vulnerable groups’ includes girls, 
children affected by or emerging from armed con-
flict or humanitarian crises, children with dis-
abilities, children in remote or rural areas (in-
cluding those who lack access to safe water and 
sanitation), religious or ethnic minorities, indig-
enous peoples, orphans and children affected by 
HIV/AIDS, child laborers, married adolescents, 
and victims of trafficking. 
‘‘(E) NATIONAL
EDUCATION
PLAN.—The 
term ‘national education plan’ means a com-
prehensive national education plan developed by 
partner country governments in consultation 
with other stakeholders as a means for wide-scale 
improvement of the country’s education system, 
including explicit, credible strategies informed by 
effective practices and standards to achieve qual-
ity universal basic education. 
‘‘(F) NONFORMAL
EDUCATION.—The term 
‘nonformal education’ means organized edu-
cational activities outside the established formal 
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system, whether operating separately or as an 
important feature of a broader activity, that are 
intended to provide students with measurable 
improvements in literacy, numeracy, and other 
basic skills development that prepare an indi-
vidual to be an active, productive member of so-
ciety and the workforce. 
‘‘(G) PARTNER COUNTRY.—The term ‘part-
ner country’ means a developing country that 
participates in or benefits from basic education 
programs under this subsection pursuant to the 
prioritization criteria described in paragraph 
(4), including level of need, opportunity for im-
pact, and the availability of resources. 
‘‘(H) RELEVANT EXECUTIVE BRANCH AGEN-
CIES AND OFFICIALS.—The term ‘relevant Execu-
tive branch agencies and officials’ means the De-
partment of State, the United States Agency for 
International Development, the Department of 
the Treasury, the Department of Labor, the De-
partment of Education, the Department of Agri-
culture, and the Department of Defense, the Chief 
Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge 
Corporation, the National Security Advisor, and 
the Director of the Peace Corps. 
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‘‘(I) SUSTAINABILITY.—The term ‘sustain-
ability’ means, with respect to any basic edu-
cation program that receives funding pursuant 
to this section, the ability of a service delivery 
system, community, partner, or beneficiary to 
maintain, over time, such basic education pro-
gram without the use of foreign assistance. 
‘‘(2) POLICY.—In carrying out this section, it 
shall be the policy of the United States to work with 
partner countries, as appropriate, other donors, mul-
tilateral institutions, the private sector, and non-
governmental and civil society organizations, includ-
ing faith-based organizations and organizations that 
represent teachers, students, and parents, to promote 
sustainable, quality basic education through programs 
and activities that— 
‘‘(A) take into consideration and help re-
spond to the needs, capacities, and commitment 
of developing countries to achieve measurable im-
provements in literacy, numeracy, and other 
basic skills development that prepare an indi-
vidual to be an active, productive member of so-
ciety and the workforce; 
‘‘(B) strengthen educational systems, pro-
mote communities of learning, as appropriate, 
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