Seeing means learning in Cambodia

Watch a video that shows how a simple health intervention can lead to better education outcomes

May 17, 2016 by GPE Secretariat

4 minutes read

Globally, between 93 and 150 million children are living with disabilities. Children with disabilities are less likely to attend or complete a full cycle of schooling. Girls with disabilities face the greatest barriers to education. Prejudice, stigma and the often already low value associated with girls’ education can result in girls with disabilities being overlooked.

Recent studies have shown that children with hearing or visual impairments had better schooling outcomes compared with children with learning or communication impairments (Kuper et al., 2014). Eyeglasses are classified as an assistive device in the international classification system for functioning, disability and health.

Cambodia eyeglasses project

In Cambodia, a survey conducted in 2010 showed that no children in rural areas with visual impairment had glasses and 80% of visual impairment was due to uncorrected refractive error. One of the key findings indicated that many children who dropped-out of school or never enrolled had health issues, among them often visual and hearing problems.

In 2012, the Global Partnership for Education and other partners supported Cambodia’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport to conduct a pilot project on low vision. The pilot project had 4 key objectives:

Learn more about refractive error in children in Cambodia age 11-15 and the need for vision screening in schools
Assess if teachers are capable to do basic vision testing when training and equipment is provided
Identify children with poor vision caused by refractive error and provide them with the appropriate glasses to improve their vision
Measure the impact on students’ lives after 4-5 months of the provision of glasses

Linking health and education at Women Deliver

At the 2016 Women Deliver conference in Copenhagen this week, several events are taking place to highlight how linking health and education offers opportunities for transformational progress.

Empowering girls and women through health and education