Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education and led to significant setbacks for millions of learners, we are entering a new phase for the education sector. Schools have largely reopened and children and youth are eager to continue learning.
While the road to recovery is long, the global community has come together with a renewed sense of urgency. We are committed to ensuring students acquire foundational skills that are critical to future success—including literacy, numeracy, and social-emotional learning skills. We also are committed to partnering with local stakeholders to reimagine education systems that better serve ALL students, with resourcefulness, resilience, and creativity.
From pre-primary education to the early grades, and through the transition to upper primary, secondary, and tertiary levels, the United States (USG) must continue to build on promising approaches and support educators to utilize evidence-based teaching practices. Educators should have the tools, resources, and materials they need for instruction—in the languages they and their students can read and understand—with support provided throughout the educational process, particularly in the transition to national or official languages of instruction, remediation, accelerated, and catch-up learning situations for students whose education has been disrupted. We also need to increase the use of cost analysis as well as evidence-based assessment tools at the classroom, national, and international levels so that all stakeholders can track progress and areas for action in real time and pivot and adjust programming as necessary.
In addition to ensuring that learners acquire foundational skills in the early grades, the USG must also engage youth and support them to gain meaningful work opportunities. Globally, there are approximately 2.4 billion young people under the age of 30, and their contributions and leadership are critical to every major challenge we face today. From bolstering democracy to inclusive economic growth, youth engagement and partnership offers the development community a chance to better understand and meet the needs of the next generation. Young people must be viewed as partners and agents of their own development.
While much work remains, USG departments and agencies continue to build on our strong technical expertise and deliver highly effective education assistance. We are grateful for the generous support of Congress in pursuing these important objectives. In FY 2022, we collectively reached more than 32.7 million learners through programs designed to improve measurable learning outcomes and expand access to high-quality education for all.
The challenge before us is monumental, and no single intervention, policy change, investment, approach, or method alone is sufficient. The USG is committed to building on our progress and working in partnership toward a world where education systems in partner countries enable all individuals to acquire the education and skills needed to reach their full potential.
