Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, October 26, 2026 – This week, Geneva Global Ethiopia is co-hosting a continental workshop bringing together education leaders, policymakers, and technical experts from across Africa to strengthen efforts to reach out-of-school children through quality Accelerated Learning Programs.
Co-hosted by the Federal Ministry of Education of Ethiopia, the African Union, and UNESCO-IICBA through its GPE KIX Africa 19 Hub, the five-day workshop is designed to strengthen the capacity of Ministry of Education officials and education leaders across Africa to effectively design, implement, and scale high-quality Accelerated Learning Programs. Through a combination of technical sessions, collaborative discussion, and experiential learning, participants will examine promising practices and practical approaches for expanding educational opportunities for out-of-school children and youth.
Throughout the week, participants are exploring a common challenge shared across countries: how to ensure that children and youth who have missed out on education have meaningful opportunities to return to learning and succeed. While contexts differ, the workshop is grounded in a shared belief that flexible, high-quality, and government-owned accelerated learning pathways can play a critical role in achieving that goal.
As a co-host and a leader in accelerated education, Geneva Global is playing a central role throughout the week, leading keynote discussions, facilitating technical sessions, moderating peer-learning exchanges, and hosting field visits that will allow delegates to observe accelerated learning in practice.
The workshop opened with a keynote address by Ms. Takelech Abebie, Education Program Director at Geneva Global Ethiopia. Ms. Abebie addressed participants from across the continent, reflecting on both the urgency and opportunity facing education systems across the contentment and emphasizing the central role education will plan in shaping Africa’s future.
“Africa stands at a defining moment. Our continent’s greatest resource is not found beneath the ground or in our economic activities. It exists in our children. Whether this demographic reality becomes a dividend or a crisis will depend largely on our ability to provide quality education for every learner… It will require courageous leadership, innovation, and sustained investment. Most importantly, it will require us to place the most marginalized child at the center of every decision we make.”
The workshop also features several Geneva Global experts in leadership roles throughout the week. On the opening day, Dr. Joshua Muskin, Geneva Global Inc. Senior Technical Advisor, led a session exploring the foundations and evolution of Accelerated Learning Programs, examining key principles, established frameworks, and lessons from different implementation models. Drawing on Geneva Global’s experience, he highlighted the organization’s flagship Speed School model and the ways it has been adapted over time to respond to diverse country contexts, education system needs, and the realities faced by out-of-school learners.
On Tuesday, Dr. Samuel Wollie will moderate a high-level panel discussion featuring representatives from several of Ethiopia’s Regional Education Bureaus, including Afar, Amhara, Oromia and Sidama. The session will highlight experiences, achievements, and lessons learned from accelerated learning implementation across different contexts, creating opportunities for peer exchange and the ways these lessons can inform policy and practice of Accelerated Learning Programs across the continent.
The workshop shifts from technical discussion to experiential learning on days three and four. Dr. Wollie will lead a Wednesday afternoon session introducing Geneva Global’s approach to joint monitoring and support supervision, highlighting the ways it strengthens teaching quality while building the capacity of government counterparts, implementing partners, and other education stakeholders. He will also orient participants to the objectives, observation tools, and key learning questions that will guide classroom visits later in the week.
On Thursday, October 29th, delegates will travel to the field to observe Geneva Global Ethiopia-supported Speed School classes in action. Participants will visit Abdi Nono Primary School, Gefersa Gujje Primary School, and Anne Dima School, where they will engage directly with learners, facilitators, school leaders, and local education officials.
During the visits, participants will observe classroom instruction, learner engagement, curriculum delivery, inclusion and gender-responsive practices, and approaches that support children who may otherwise remain excluded from education. The field visits will provide a valuable opportunity to move beyond discussion and examine how accelerated learning programs function within real school and community contexts. These field visits represent a unique opportunity for representatives from countries across Africa to learn from real-world implementation of accelerated education.
The inclusion of Geneva Global Ethiopia’s Speed School model as the workshop’s primary field-learning experience underscores the strong partnership between Geneva Global Ethiopia and the Ministry of Education in advancing accelerated education and reflects the importance of collaboration between civil society and governments in bringing education programs to scale.
The workshop will conclude on Friday with a closing statement by Ms. Rebecca Ecwou, Country Director of Geneva Global Uganda, sharing key insights emerging from the week’s discussions and outlining opportunities for continued collaboration among participating countries.
Through its role as co-host, contributor, and field-learning partner, Geneva Global is proud to support this exchange of knowledge and experience among education leaders from across Africa. By sharing lessons from implementation, facilitating peer learning, and opening Speed School classrooms for observation and dialogue, Geneva Global Ethiopia is helping advance practical solutions that can expand educational opportunities for out-of-school children across the continent.
