CATEGORY: Health
L’École de la Vue: a visual health screening program
25% of children have vision problems that require treatment by an optometrist or ophthalmologist. 13% of children under 5 consult an optometrist regularly.
L’École de la Vue is a government preventive visual health program for children in kindergartens in Quebec.
Set up by the Government of Quebec and the Foundation for Eye Diseases, this program aims to screen for vision problems in children between the ages of 4 and 5 to promote their educational success from the start of their school career.
Optometrists travel to the schools registered in the project and refer them for an eye exam if necessary after observing and testing the children using games and eye tests adapted to their age.
The eyes develop between the ages of 0 and 8 and they learn to work together and coordinate.
80% of learning happens through sight.
If the vision is not good, then there can be learning difficulties and this can also compromise the child's academic success.
Thanks to the School of Sight project, preschool children are examined on:
- 3D view
- color vision
- The vision of fine details near or far
- Binocular vision: ability of the eyes to work together and maintain their alignment.
- The reading vision (from images, drawings)
- Visual disturbances: amblyopia (lazy eye), eye that forces too much, cornea in the shape of a football...
In general, the earlier a visual health problem is detected, the greater the chances of limiting and/or resolving it.
Project results
Between 2019 and 2021, more than 100,000 children were examined as part of the School of Sight project.
1/3 of participants were referred to an optometrist. 46% of these children required orthoptic glasses or exercise.
Reminder: In Quebec, the eye exam is free from 0 to 17 years old on presentation of the RAMQ card.