Research: Seeing to learn

Poor academic performance of children can negatively impact their future employment options and socio-economic status, which ultimately can deplete the economic growth of a nation. Vision is one of the complex and interrelated processes through which learning is mastered, therefore untreated visual problems may interfere with achieving full learning potential.

Refractive error (RE) is the most common vision problem that generally initiates in early adolescence. RE is considered to have a complex relationship with academic achievement. The increased accommodative effort used by an uncorrected hypermetrope to focus at near may cause transient blurring, fatigue and asthenopic symptoms, linking hypermetropia with reading difficulties. On the other hand, an uncorrected myopic can experience interference in learning if a classroom blackboard is unclear. Anxiety through this incompetence can initiate a cycle of poor achievement.