Children are making great strides forward at a primary school supported by ChildFund India in the state of Tamil Nadu. ChildFund India’s Enhanced Education Quality Improvement Program (EQuIP), funded by the Caterpillar Foundation, reaches more than 1,000 children in 100 government primary and middle schools in the capital city of Chennai. The program improves school infrastructure, provides essential learning equipment and also focuses on helping children who are slow learners. It’s exciting to see the progress.

Championing Literacy: Dinesh, who lives with his parents on the tea estates of Nuwara Eliya in Sri Lanka, was a child facing illiteracy. Although he was attending school, he was struggling with math and writing and rapidly falling behind. Working with the government and educational specialists, ChildFund developed a special curriculum to guide classroom teachers in working with students who exhibit learning problems. Since January, Dinesh’s math test scores have risen, and he’s now writing complete sentences.

“The class is a real help for my child,” says Theivanai, Dinesh’s mother. “He is more interested in his school work now. As we can’t afford to send our children to supplementary classes, this is a big support for my child.”