By April 2020, school closures due to COVID-19 affected 1.5 billion children and youth globally, resulting in significant learning loss and increased risks of child labor, marriage, and abuse, particularly among vulnerable groups. In response, USAID and partners adapted educational programming to help learners return to school, mitigate learning loss, and support overall well-being. This included initiatives like the Catch-Up Program by World Vision in Cambodia, Ghana, and Zimbabwe, aimed at improving foundational literacy and numeracy for children aged 6 to 9, and the Speed School initiative by Geneva Global in Uganda, which shifted to home-based learning and extended its curriculum to help out-of-school children transition into formal education.
These programs demonstrate a commitment to addressing the needs of marginalized learners, especially those impacted by the pandemic. They have evolved from merely mitigating negative effects to fostering systemic change by generating evidence and enhancing government capacity to meet educational needs. By prioritizing out-of-school and marginalized children, these interventions aim to create more inclusive and effective educational systems, ensuring that all learners can succeed in the long term.