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Child eye health and education

Child eye health is a significant public health issue, particularly in low and middle-income countries. The 2030 In Sight strategy calls on us to leverage school and education settings to address the growing need.

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Overview

Over 90 million young people are living with sight loss and most of this is preventable.

Children and adolescents with poor sight have worse educational outcomes and are more likely to be excluded from schools.

This in turn impacts achievement and access to work later in life resulting in lost potential and productivity.

Vision loss in children could be solved with relatively cost-effective solutions given that most vision impairment in school-aged children is due to uncorrected refractive error.

Comprehensive eye examination, refractive correction screening and the provision of glasses and other types of assistive devices and reading aids would hugely improve the issue.

There is a currently under-tapped opportunity for the sector to leverage schools and catalyse the widespread delivery of eye health promotion, screening and provision of glasses.

But we cannot do this alone. We will need to convince wider education partners, including ministries of education, that educational outcomes can be improved by implementing eye health into existing school health programmes.

Child eye health and education

Children with vision impairment have poorer educational outcomes and are more likely to be excluded from schools. Learn more here.

Get involved

Our ‘Focus On’ series focuses on Child Eye Health in 2022, the School Eye Health and Refractive Error Work Groups strive to keep eye health on the radar of health and development policy makers, and toolkits and promotional material for World Sight Day includes educational resources for children.

Child eye health resources

Learn more about school eye health

There is a currently under-tapped opportunity for the sector to leverage schools and catalyse the widespread delivery of eye health promotion, screening and provision of glasses. But we cannot do this alone. We will need to convince wider education partners, including ministries of education, that educational outcomes can be improved by implementing eye health into existing school health programmes.