Lankahelp offers private tuition in these areas and pays for teachers’ salaries, teaching materials/worksheets and lunch for the children.
Lunchtime meals:
Schoolchildren leave home at 6 a.m. with a packed lunch, which is normally eaten at school at 10 a.m. The official lessons end at 1.30 pm. Then the younger children go home. For the older children, after a break of about half an hour, tutoring begins and lasts until 4 pm. During this lunch break, after several hours of lessons, the children must be provided with a nutritious meal to ensure that they remain attentive.
The children’s food in the plantations always consists of rice and curry. Children of day labourers never get fruit as it is too expensive. Therefore, a meal rich in vitamins and proteins is recommended, consisting of local products with a high nutritional value, such as mung beans, chickpeas, cowpeas (soya beans), sweet potatoes, samposa and a fruit 6 times a week.
The cost of a healthy lunch is around 65 rupees (CHF 0.30) per child. More than 800 children receive extra tuition and a healthy lunch.
Status of tuition in 2024
We visit the 15 tutoring classes in the UVA district. However, we can only visit 1 or 2 tutoring classes per day as it takes several hours to get there. Most of the roads in the tea plantations are almost impassable and so we are forced to drive the last steep stretch on a three-wheeler or walk. On the way back to the car, we are usually accompanied by a laughing crowd of children.
According to the headteachers and teachers, the project works very well. The difference is particularly noticeable in secondary schools (from Year 6 onwards). The children who have caught up on the material can take part in regular lessons again, while other, weaker children can take their place.
We fund 15 tutoring classes in the UVA district and 7 in Batticaloa at a total of 20 schools. In 2023, there were 30 schools in total. As the tutors are not state-certified teachers, the head teachers must remain at the school until the end of the tutoring programme. Unfortunately, some of the new head teachers are not willing to stay at the schools longer than necessary. As a result, tutoring had to be cancelled at 10 schools.
All headteachers, including the former ones, keep telling us how important these extra lessons and lunches are for the children. (see schools)
We did not visit the 7 tutoring classes in Batticaloa this time due to time constraints.
