Out-of-school children and youth (OOSCY)

Pakistan has expanded Accelerated Learning Programmes more than tenfold since 2021, helping thousands of out-of-school children - especially girls - re-enter formal education. This case study explores how strong policy frameworks, provincial adaptation, community participation, and smarter data systems are sustaining progress in a decentralised system. Discover what’s driving transition rates as high as 90%, and what challenges remain to make every learner’s second chance a lasting one.

Whether children are out of school, at risk of dropping out, or struggling to stay engaged in formal classrooms, the challenge of keeping every learner in education is widespread. For the millions of children and youth who are not in school, accelerated education programmes (AEPs) have proven to be an effective approach to catch learners up on foundational skills and integrate them into formal education. Education.org’s (2022) AEP synthesis identified nine characteristics of effective AEPs, centring on government ownership and the need to embed AEP policies and guidelines into the formal school architecture. This (2025) Transitions synthesis completes the story, adding a tenth characteristic that is a crucial lever of success for all AEP models and transition pathways, especially those to formal schooling: close collaboration between AEPs, formal schools, and communities. It presents the STEP Framework, for Supporting Learners Through Evidence-based Planning (STEP), which follows the AEP learner on their transition journey, not just until they enter formal school, but ensuring they thrive within it (see image below).

Colombia’s flexible education models reintegrate out-of-school children and youth through school-based, accelerated curriculum which includes core subjects and social-emotional learning (SEL). Recognising that SEL depends on motivated, emotionally supported teachers, efforts to support teacher wellbeing are integrated into the programme through training, mentoring, and psychosocial support. This approach—supported by national frameworks and partnerships with NGOs—helps create more inclusive classrooms and strengthens student-teacher relationships, especially in contexts affected by conflict or displacement. Colombia’s experience shows that investing in teacher wellbeing is a critical strategy for improving students’ social-emotional development, engagement, and learning.

By embedding multiple transition pathways into national policy, Nigeria’s Accelerated Basic Education Programme recognises the diverse needs of overage out-of-school children and youth, and the communities where they come from, ensuring a more inclusive, context-responsive option for learners.

Routed in evidence and deep stakeholder engagement, Sierra Leone embarked on a project to co-develop new National Guidelines for Accelerated Education with Education.org. The guidelines provide benchmarks for AEP providers nationwide, including pre-requisites for clear pathways back into formal education, appropriate training, or employment.

Despite significant efforts, the global out-of-school rate has dropped by just 1% in the past decade. 122 million girls are still out of school today. With population growth, the number of girls missing out on education will rise unless we take urgent action. The question is not just how to get millions of girls back in school but how to accelerate their learning. Accelerated Education Programmes (AEPs) offer a proven solution, regularly achieving stronger learning outcomes in less time and at lower cost than formal education, while reaching the most marginalised. AEPs also offer lessons applicable to both non-formal and formal education.

As education systems worldwide are under intense pressure from conflict, climate change, displacement, Accelerated Education Programmes provide a crucial, adaptable pathway for reaching out-of-school and displaced learners, offering policymakers evidence-based strategies to expand inclusive, resilient education.

This High-Level Policy Guidance offers evidence-based recommendations and practical examples to help policymakers design, strengthen, and scale Accelerated Education Programmes as inclusive solutions for out-of-school and displaced children and youth.

Faced with unprecedented challenges from escalating conflicts, climate change, population movements and the COVID-19 pandemic, global education systems are struggling to meet the needs of two billion children. Accelerated Education Programmes (AEPs) have become a key tool for providing education to out-of-school children and youth (OOSCY), including those displaced or left behind by formal systems.

How Luminos is delivering a second chance at learning after civil war, Ebola, & COVID-19