Christian Children’s Fund is an international nonprofit, nonsectarian, humanitarian organisation, dedicated to serving the needs of children worldwide through person-to-person assistance programs having its Headquarters at Richmond, Virginia, USA. The national office in India is located at P.O.Box 5054, 22, Museum Road, Bangalore-560001

SQIP is a programme that aims at improving the quality of primary education in 5 selected government schools through a partnership between CfBT Education Services, Hyderabad, CCF (and its associate partner agencies) and the Department of Education, Govt. of AP.

The overarching goal of this programme is to implement the School based Quality Improvement Programme (SQIP) in 5 government Upper primary / primary schools in the districts of Ananthapur, Chittoor and Kurnool.

The baseline study includes information collected from primary as well as secondary sources. The primary data has been gathered through interviews and interactions with all the stakeholders in the school, using the school profile format, questionnaires and the child profile format. The secondary data is based on information from available school records and other documents. Based on the above analysis a comprehensive report has been prepared for each school. This is the basis for the School Improvement Plan that aims at bringing about the desired changes in the functioning of the school as a whole.

Any effort to improve educational quality means that one has to first understand the needs of learners by gathering information about the lives of students inside and outside of school. If teachers and schools do not address the needs of children, then they cannot expect significant increase in learners’ attendance and all round development – of the learner. The Child Profile format developed by CfBT aims to fill this gap and help the teachers to understand the child in a more comprehensive manner so that they can plan meaningful and long-term educational interventions both in the school and at home.

Child profiles can be used by teachers to gain in-depth knowledge of classroom issues based on the experience of learners. They can also help the teachers and policy makers to determine how education policies are translated into classroom practice and whether they are having the desired outcome. For teachers, child profiles can be a tool used as part of their monitoring system to measure how effectively their own strategies impact the individual student’s participation and learning achievement.

In classrooms where teachers have to manage large number of students, interviewing and tracking even a few children can help teachers to adapt their strategies to improve the learning and participation of these students. At the same time, this fosters learner-centered teaching practices that will benefit all students.

What is often missing from discussions regarding the challenges of school improvement is the face of a real child. CfBT as a part of its baseline study has developed a child profile tool to suit the needs of the CCF - government schools, especially primary and upper primary schools in order to bring about holistic development of the child. While designing the tool, care has been taken to gather relevant information pertaining to the individual child.

Data has been gathered through interviews with teachers, the child’s parents and the school Head. The questions are designed to help the teacher to understand and to discover what internal and external factors to the school encourage or inhibit the learning process. A collection of child profiles can help teachers and educational planners understand the multiple roles of children in domestic, economic and academic activities, their health and well being, cognitive competencies, family environments, and cultural backgrounds. They can help to gain insights into how to teach each child well.

“In order to teach you, I must know you,” should be the attitude of teachers. Teaching in this way requires an understanding of differences that may arise from culture, language, family, community, gender, and prior schooling. It also requires understanding children’s different difficulties with learning and preferred approaches.

“Teachers need to be able to inquire sensitively and productively into children’s experiences and their understandings of subject matter, so that they can interpret curriculum through their students’ eyes and shape lessons to connect with what students know and how they learn well”.

Each teacher is expected to maintain a record for each class that includes students’ personal profiles, their academic progress, particular learning needs and strengths. The child profile can assist to further investigate the interests and needs of selected students who are at risk or disadvantaged due to family background and / or other difficult circumstances.

The child profile tool developed by CfBT is divided into four broad areas: Personal background, Physical development, health and hygiene, Curricular, co-curricular activities and behavioural traits and finally a brief overall summary.

1.	Personal background of the child - gives information about the parents/ guardian, their family background and their siblings
2.	Physical development, health and hygiene - provides details about the child’s height, weight, health condition and personal grooming.
3.	Curricular, co-curricular activities and behavioural traits - furnishes information about the performance in academics, participation in sports etc. and behaviour of the child.
4.	Overall summary of the child - gives a comprehensive picture of the child in all the above areas.

The teacher needs to collate all the required information about the child over a period of time and at regular intervals. The Head of the institution will then add his/her insights and plan the required interventions with the concerned teacher.