[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 19, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S3367]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  GLOBAL LEARNING LOSS ASSESSMENT ACT

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the bipartisan 
Global Learning Loss Assessment Act, S. 552, which I introduced along 
with Senator Boozman last year. This bill requires the U.S. Agency for 
International Development, or USAID, to submit a report to Congress 
that assesses learning loss, identifies gaps in access to education, 
and outlines the response that is needed to help students recover from 
COVID-19 and reach their full potential. I applaud the advancement of 
this bill, which was voted on favorably in the Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee earlier today and will now move to the Senate floor for 
consideration. I should note that the House companion bill passed the 
House in June 2021. So it is time for the Senate to act.
  The COVID-19 pandemic has forced schools around the world to suspend 
in-person learning as a measure to contain the spread of the virus and 
safeguard public health. Even before the pandemic began, UNESCO 
reported that 258 million children were out of school globally, 
including 130 million girls. Now, the pandemic has disrupted the 
education of an estimated 90 percent of the world's student 
population--over 1.6 billion children and youth--who saw their schools 
close at some point due to COVID-19.
  We already know that school closures lead to interrupted learning, 
poor nutrition, gaps in childcare, increased dropout rates, exposure to 
violence, and social isolation. What is more, students already at a 
disadvantage before COVID-19 will experience greater learning loss, 
thereby worsening inequity and inequality in education.
  School closures are especially burdensome for girls, who are 
frequently expected to shoulder more household responsibilities and are 
more vulnerable to gender-based violence--GBV. For example, according 
to a study by the United Nations Development Program, school closures 
in Sierra Leone necessitated by the Ebola pandemic led to increased 
instances of sexual- and gender-based violence, teenage pregnancy, 
school dropout, and child labor for girls.
  Restrictions associated with COVID-19 have also made girls more 
vulnerable to child and early forced marriage. The United Nations 
Population Fund--UNFPA--estimates that 13,000,000 more child marriages 
could take place by 2030 than would have without the pandemic, and when 
a girl gets married, her education almost always stops.
  When school closures occur, a significant percentage of distance 
learning alternatives rely exclusively on online platforms. However, 
according to UNICEF, two-thirds of the world's school-aged children do 
not have an internet connection in their homes, with that number rising 
to about 90 percent of students in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, 
schools and local learning centers frequently have inadequate internet 
connectivity.
  The Global Learning Loss Assessment Act will help improve the quality 
and reach of international education assistance by giving Congress the 
information we need to assess the status of education worldwide. The 
critical information included in the report produced by USAID will be 
used to inform future policy, oversight, and programmatic decisions by 
Congress and USAID, and will help ensure that our partner countries are 
better prepared to respond to future crises that could disrupt the 
education system.
  Specifically, the USAID report shall include: an assessment of 
learning loss globally and of the impact on U.S. basic education 
programs; an overview of distance learning in low resource contexts; a 
description of the barriers to education or distance learning for 
marginalized children; data on USAID programs that have been supporting 
learning during the pandemic; an overview of how USAID has, 
independently and in coordination with partners, adapted basic 
education programming during the COVID-19 pandemic to support continued 
learning; and a description of the authorities and resources USAID 
needs to continue to support education programs during and after the 
pandemic to mitigate learning loss and help students get back on track.
  The Global Learning Loss Assessment Act has been endorsed by several 
important NGOs, including the Basic Education Coalition, Cambridge 
Education, Catholic Relief Services, Chemonics International, Childhood 
Education International, Food for the Hungry, Global Campaign for 
Education-US, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, Luminos Fund, RESULTS, RISE 
Institute, RTI International, Save the Children, Unbounded Associates, 
UNICEF USA, World Education, and World Learning.
  I look forward to the opportunity for this important bill supporting 
education worldwide to be adopted by the Senate.

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