Although the risk of malaria is greatest in early childhood, significant numbers of schoolchildren remain at risk from malaria infection, clinical illness and death. By the time they reach school, many children have already acquired some clinical immunity and the ability to limit parasite growth, and thus most infections are asymptomatic and will go undetected and untreated. Asymptomatic parasitaemia contributes to anaemia, reducing concentration and learning in the classroom, and interventions aiming to reduce asymptomatic parasite carriage may bring education, as well as health, benefits.