Insights-in-action

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.

Accelerated education programmes in Ghana and Sierra Leone are helping out-of-school children - especially girls - gain literacy, numeracy, and life skills, with most transitioning successfully into formal schools. Ghana’s Complementary Basic Education has reached over 533,000 learners since 1995, while Sierra Leone’s programmes support young mothers and overage learners through flexible, community-led models. Both approaches show high transition and retention rates, reduce early marriage and child labour, and highlight the power of inclusive teaching methods and strong government leadership.

Luminos uses data as a driver of learning, not just measurement. Through culturally relevant assessments and teacher-led tools, results are analysed and shared to improve instruction and adapt programme design. This feedback loop strengthens teaching, supports learner progress in literacy and numeracy, and secures government buy-in by making impact visible. Monitoring thus becomes an engine for joyful learning and sustained education outcomes

Speed School in Ethiopia and Uganda shows how accelerated learning can spark change beyond non-formal classrooms. Its holistic teacher development model - rooted in practice-based training, peer collaboration, and supportive supervision - empowers facilitators to use play-based, learner-centred methods that foster creativity, confidence, and deeper learning. Crucially, there are systems and processes in place to enable these practices to spread into formal schools, improving education outcomes for all students.

In Kenya’s refugee camps, Accelerated Education Programmes (AEP) run by the Norwegian Refugee Council and Save the Children are helping over-age out-of-school learners catch up and transition into formal schools. Success goes beyond academics - daily psychosocial support, teacher wellbeing, and cross-sector coordination build confidence, resilience, and smoother transitions. By training both AEP and formal school teachers, supporting peer integration, and linking education with health and protection services, these models improve retention and wellbeing. Kenya’s experience shows how practical, holistic strategies can transform refugee education in crisis and low-resource settings.

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.

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