There is less quality evidence on how malaria may affect cognitive abilities and educational achievement or on how schools can tackle the problem of malaria among school children. A randomised trial among Sri Lankan children showed that weekly malaria chemoprophylaxis with chloroquine can improve school examination scores. The Health and Literacy Intervention (HALI) project evaluated two strategies for improving educational achievement: (i) periodic screening and treatment of malaria in schools by public health workers and (ii) training workshops and text-message support for teachers to promote explicit and systematic literacy instruction. (Contains 1 figure.)