USAID outlines effective responses to the COVID-19 pandemic that have enhanced learning outcomes and strengthened the resilience of education systems. It addresses immediate needs through improved remote learning technologies and robust educational policies, while utilizing local knowledge and partnerships with caregivers and government institutions. Ongoing reflection and learning are encouraged with an adaptive management approach throughout program implementation.
Key strategies focus on six priority areas: safely reopening schools, utilizing distance learning, providing psychosocial support, enhancing emergency preparedness, institutionalizing remedial education, and engaging youth as leaders. USAID highlights successful initiatives, such as the Population Council’s support for pregnant and parenting girls in Kenya and Geneva Global’s shift to home-based learning in Uganda. It emphasizes the importance of resilience capacities—absorptive, adaptive, and transformative—as crucial for mitigating the impacts of shocks and fostering systemic change within education systems.