Baghi and Jeya Baghirathan with a family supported by the DTE programme

Sanmarga Trust supports the local NGO SEED (Social, Economic and Environmental Developers) to enable very poor and marginalised families to educate their children through its Development Through Education Programme (DTE).

Despite the access to free state education, a large number of very poor families in the Vavuniya District in northern Sri Lanka do not send their children to school as they cannot afford the costs of providing clothes, books, transport, etc. These marginalised families survive on very meagre incomes from ad hoc earnings, and many families are unable to earn a living due to disabilities. The available safety nets for these families are limited with scarce resources.

Sanmarga’s local NGO partner SEED has been supporting very poor families to educate their children through their DTE programme since 1998. This flagship programme offers financial and mentoring support to enable these marginalised families to educate their children from primary school through to secondary education (up to their GCSE or A levels).

SEED’s programme has a wider holistic approach where the parents are also given support and guidance to improve their livelihoods and family well-being. This is done through developing parenting skills, opportunities to enhance income generation and livelihoods, setting up volunteer support networks, advocacy and networking activities.

The cost per child varies according to their grade in school and the average annual cost in 2025 is in the range GBP 175-250 (GBP 15-20 per month). The costs have increased in recent years due to high inflation in the country.

The DTE programme covers more than 40 villages in the Vavuniya district and SEED has a team of professional staff who manage and execute the programme including monitoring individual progress. The agreed funds are disbursed to the families in small tranches with accountable procedures for using these for the children’s school education. The programme which currently supports over 100 children and their families derives its funding through grants from individual sponsors and foundations. Sponsors are encouraged to maintain their support for the duration of the child’s school education.

Regular reports on the progress of the children’s education are sent to the sponsors by DTE team who interact with the families regularly.
The Sanmarga Trust supports the DTE programme which aligns with their objective of supporting the education of children from poor and marginalised families. Trustees Baghi and Jeya Baghirathan have been associated with the programme for several years and appreciate the value and success of the programme which has transformed the lives of hundreds of children and their families.

In addition to the Sanmarga Trust, Baghi and Jeya have also obtained support from the Eva Reckitt Trust for the DTE programme. Together, this group currently supports 13 children and their families under the programme.