Across the globe, the negative impact of conflict and crisis on children's education is well established in the literature (UNICEF, 2009; 2016). Children living in contexts marked by armed conflict, war, and natural disasters experience significant challenges including displacement, exposure to violence, loss of family members, or recruitment to armed groups (Alexander et al, 2010). In turn, these challenges may lead to disruptions to children's education, with youth falling months or years behind in their school curriculum (UNICEF, 2016). Every year, it is estimated that 75 million children living in contexts of conflict or crisis experience interruptions to their education (Nicolai et al, 2016; United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 2019). When children are displaced or drop out of school, they are at an increased risk for various forms of exploitation (sexual trafficking, child soldiering, and so on) and may never return to formal school, resulting in limited skills, competencies, and autonomy (Nicolai et al, 2016). Consequently, these youth are at an increased risk of future unemployment, low wages, stigmatization, and other social or economic disadvantages (IASC Reference Group for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, 2010).

One way to provide conflict-or crisis-affected children with opportunities to continue their education while out of school is through accelerated education programmes (AEPs). AEPs provide learners with a flexible and age-appropriate alternative to formal school over an accelerated time frame. AEPs are designed specifically for disadvantaged, overaged children and adolescents who have never enrolled in school or whose education was interrupted due to conflict, crisis, or displacement (Accelerated Education Working Group, 2017). The primary goals of AEPs are to provide learners with equivalent basic education to formal school and, upon completion of the AEP, aim to prepare students to re-enter formal school or have the necessary competencies to secure employment (Shah and Choo, 2020).

During initial Building Resilience in Crisis through Education research consultations, policy makers and practitioners expressed keen interest in understanding how AEPs are progressing towards their goals, whether they are the right policy tool for a particular context, which components of an AEP are integral to success, and how to better programme them to optimize access, learning, transition to formal schools, and employment outcomes, among other objectives.