Accelerated Education

Recently, ten country teams from throughout Africa gathered in Uganda to attend a hands-on Accelerated Education (AE) training developed by the Accelerated Education Working Group (AEWG) with support from ECCN and USAID. Teams consisted of representatives from Ministries of Education, USAID, the UN, and implementing partners. Organizers carefully selected attendees to ensure that the training would translate into concrete improvements in AE design and delivery in Burundi, DRC, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, and Uganda. The workshop was built around AEWG’s Accelerated Education: 10 Principles for Effective Practice, which are divided into four areas: learners, teachers, program management, and alignment with Ministry of Education policy and frameworks—and which provide concrete action points under each principle to guide and improve program quality. Attendees participated in activities dedicated to each principle to get an in-depth understanding of each area. In addition, each country team presented on its unique AE situation. Participants learned about AE research in Uganda from researchers from the Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO), and Pincer Research, and then used that knowledge to improve their AE learning agendas.