Imagine a Year 1 pupil sitting at the back of the classroom. Their\neyes are narrowed, their head leans slightly forwards, and every so\noften they rub their eyes.<\/p>\n
At the front of the class, the teacher continues writing on the\nboard. The other pupils are busy taking notes, while the child tries to\nmake out letters that look like a row of ants.<\/p>\n
After school, the child\u2019s mother asks why their test marks have\nfallen. Their father suggests spending less time on gadgets. The child\nnods. No one asks whether they can still see the writing on the board\nclearly.<\/p>\n
Stories like this may be playing out in many families. We are so busy\nthinking about the quality of children\u2019s education that we forget the\nmost basic tool for learning: their eyes. Indeed, we often neglect our\nown greatest asset, too.<\/p>\n
World Sight Day is marked on 8 October 2026. In recent weeks, the\nLove Your Eyes campaign has encouraged the public to take greater care\nof their eye health. The Government, health workers, schools and\ncommunity organisations are holding screenings, educational events and\nsocial activities.<\/p>\n
Yet the most decisive form of care often needs no stage, banner or\nspeech. It can begin with a mother or father noticing that their child\nis squinting or rubbing their eyes. Start by caring for your own eyes,\nand you will surely care for your family\u2019s, too.<\/p>\n
Ministry of Health data offer a compelling reason to stop treating\nthis issue as trivial. During school-based Free Health Check-ups (CKG)\nconducted from 1 January to 2 September 2026, 288,408 of the 9,241,377\nparticipants had visual acuity below 6\/9. That represents 3.12 per\ncent.<\/p>\n
The figures come from initial screening, so further examinations are\nneeded to establish the nature of each child\u2019s vision problem. But\nimagine a school with 1,000 pupils. If the same proportion applied,\nabout 31 children might need closer attention to their eyesight.<\/p>\n
To adults, writing on a classroom board may look clear from a\ndistance. For a child with short-sightedness, it may appear as a thin\nblur. They may not realise that anything is wrong with their eyes. They\nonly know that the pupil next to them can copy the lesson more quickly,\nwhile they fall behind.<\/p>\n
Refractive errors, including short-sightedness and astigmatism, can\ndisrupt learning. Correctly prescribed glasses often help children see\nmore clearly. Teachers should therefore be alert to pupils who\nfrequently squint, hold books close to their faces or struggle to read\nwriting from a distance.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, we are often quicker to correct a child\u2019s behaviour\nthan to look for its cause. If a child cannot concentrate, we scold\nthem. If their marks fall, we add tutoring. If they move closer to a\nscreen, we blame the gadget. These responses may seem reasonable, but\nthey are pointless if the child is having difficulty seeing.<\/p>\n
Education requires books, teachers and classrooms. But all of them\nlose some of their value when a child cannot see what they are meant to\nlearn.<\/p>\n
Parents often treat their own eyes in much the same way, putting off\naction until a problem can no longer be ignored.<\/p>\n
When small print starts to blur, we hold our phones farther away.\nWhen reading a restaurant menu, we look for brighter light. While\ndriving at night, headlights from oncoming vehicles seem dazzling. We\nlaugh it off, as though getting older automatically frees us from the\nresponsibility of having our health checked.<\/p>\n
Yet changes in vision need attention, particularly in older age. One\nproblem to watch for is cataracts: clouding of the eye\u2019s lens that\ngradually blurs vision.<\/p>\n
CKG data for the same period recorded 353,186 participants aged 40\nand over as suspected cataract cases, out of 13,618,207 people screened.\nThat is 2.59 per cent. Once again, these results indicate suspected\ncases requiring further examination, not confirmed diagnoses.<\/p>\n
Cataracts can make simple activities difficult: reading a newspaper,\nrecognising a grandchild\u2019s face, walking through a market or going down\nstairs. In many cases, surgery can significantly improve vision.\nDelaying an examination only prolongs difficulties that may be\ntreatable.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ignoring-our-eyes-1792039903", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }