Vision Screening at School: What Do Primary Teachers Know, and How Can They Help?

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Pediatric Health
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Vision is crucial for children's education and development.
• Undiagnosed visual impairments affect many children in low- and middle-income countries, including Morocco.
• Teachers are uniquely positioned to identify early signs of vision problems in students.

Purpose of the Study:

• Assess Moroccan primary school teachers' knowledge of children's visual health.
• Identify awareness gaps regarding common visual disorders.
• Explore teachers' roles in detecting visual issues and inform school vision screening strategies.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional descriptive study involved 271 primary school teachers in Morocco.
• Data collected via structured questionnaires on demographics, knowledge, and practices.
• Statistical analyses examined associations between knowledge and teacher characteristics.

Main Results:

• Teachers had better knowledge of refractive errors and strabismus than ocular surface diseases.
• Teaching experience (p = 0.001) correlated with higher knowledge scores.
• Older teachers and those with more experience were more likely to observe academic improvement after vision correction.

Conclusions:

• Targeted training can empower teachers to recognize childhood vision problems.
• Integrating eye health education into teacher curricula may improve early detection.
• Further research is recommended to validate training approaches for better child health outcomes.