Help them See, Help Them Learn

Glasses are the most cost-effective intervention in schools to support learning.

We know, because we’ve partnered with Stanford researchers to lead the way in understanding the impact of access to glasses on:

• Ability to learn
• Academic performance
• Student anxiety levels
• Drop-out rates
• Girls and other underserved groups

Our partnership with Stanford’s Rural Education Action Project as well as Smart Focus has allowed us to study the impact of vision correction and access to vision care on students in China. This work is special, because it is long-term and based on real learnings from work we’re doing on the ground at our charitable clinics and sustainable vision centers. Yes, it shows the difference glasses can make on a life, but it’s bigger than that.

Taken together, these 7 years (and counting) of studies paint an unparalleled picture of how access to vision care affects health, economic opportunity, and social equity in rural communities.

KEY FINDINGS

• Nearsighted children who received glasses learned nearly twice as much over a nine-month period than those nearsighted children that did not receive glasses.
• The simple act of wearing glasses raises a nearsighted child’s test scores by an average of 14 points. That means without the glasses, the child is essentially losing an equivalent amount.
• Providing free eyeglasses to myopic junior high school students increased student aspirations to attend academic high school by 9 percentage points, and reduced dropout by 44% during the school year.
• Myopic students who study more intensively see their learning anxiety and physical anxiety reduced after being provided with eyeglasses.
• By offering subsidized care, you eliminate the imbalance in glasses wear between boys and girls.

See For Yourself

Articles in Medical and Public Health Journals

Articles in Ophthalmology and Optometry Journals

Articles in Economics and Science Journals