1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Global Learning Loss Assessment Act of 2020 . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Before the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (commonly referred to as COVID-19 ) pandemic began, 258 million children were out of school, including 130 million girls. (2) Students already at a disadvantage before COVID-19 will experience greater learning loss, thereby worsening inequity and inequality. (3) Approximately 90 percent of the world’s student population—over 1.7 billion children and youth—have had their education disrupted by school closure due to COVID-19. (4) School closures lead to interrupted learning, poor nutrition, gaps in childcare, increased dropout, exposure to violence, and social isolation. (5) Up to 9.7 million children are at risk of dropping out of school due to rising levels of child poverty associated with the pandemic. (6) School closure and remote learning is especially burdensome on girls, who are frequently expected to shoulder more household chores and responsibilities, and are more vulnerable to gender-based violence. (7) During the Ebola epidemic, nationwide school closures in Sierra Leone in 2014 led to increased instances of sexual and gender-based violence, teenage pregnancy, school dropout, and child labor for girls. (8) Over 60 percent of national distance learning alternatives rely exclusively on online platforms but as many as 465 million children and young people in these countries do not have access to the internet at home, with 80 percent of students in sub-Saharan Africa without such access, and an even higher rate for girls. (9) Distance learning tools are not always accessible to learners with disabilities or those with complex learning needs, especially in poorer and rural households. (10) The economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to an education financing gap of $77 billion in low- and middle-income countries over the next two years. (11) The economic cost of school closures could be up to $1,337 per student, which