Education

Education is a force-multiplier for international development, critical for educating the world’s next generations of learners and leaders, and for economic growth and security at the individual, community, and national levels. Yet, the World Bank reports that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the learning poverty rate was already at an estimated 57% in LMICs, and 86% in Sub-Saharan Africa. Recent World Bank data suggest that global learning poverty in LMICs has surged to an estimated 70%, disproportionately impacting South Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. According to UNESCO, nearly 153 million children missed more than half of their in-person schooling in 2020-2021. USG-funded international basic education programs focus on increasing equitable access to quality education, advancing learning outcomes, improving early grade reading, and providing youth with skills for future employment.

Fast Facts

According to USAID, in F.Y. 2020, U.S. assistance helped:

• Over 25.4 million learners in 57 countries.
• Implement distance learning programming through more than 30 USAID Missions.
• Deliver tertiary, vocational, and other workforce training to more than one million individuals in 48 countries.
• Provide more than 2.9 million children in 21 countries with nutrition assistance and provide education support to more than 20,000 children in pre-primary programs.
• Train and provide professional development to nearly 315,000 teachers and educators in 45 countries, improving their instruction in literacy, numeracy, and other basic skills.
• Distribute more than 32.3 million textbooks and other teaching and learning materials.
• Engage with more than 22,000 parent-teacher associations or community-based school-governance structures in 35 countries.
• Build or repair more than 6,400 educational facilities in 31 countries that provide safe, accessible, and supportive learning environments for students and teachers.
• Provide education interventions to at least 12.1 million women and girls.
• Governments and parliaments in 15 countries to adopt 57 new or reformed education-related public-sector laws, policies, regulations, and/or administrative procedures.

Key U.S. Legislation & Strategies

Legislation:

• Reinforcing Education Accountability in Development (READ) Act

Strategies:

• U.S. Government Strategy on International Basic Education
• USAID Education Policy
• U.S. Global Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls