Punjab Education Department organises free eye check up of students every week

Chandigarh, July 2, 2014: The Education Department and the Health Department have launched a collaborative venture to check the eyesight of every school going children in all the government schools of the state.
In a communication to all DEOs, Anjali Bhawra, Principal Secretary, Education has directed that concerned headmasters and Principals would depute teachers to take all those students, suspected to have weak eyesight or having some eye ailment, to the nearest health centers on every Thursday for their check up. She said that Education Department would bear the total expenses on their spectacles recommended by the ophthalmologist.
She said that School health programs have become integral in pursuit of the government’s larger goal of achieving a minimum standard of primary healthcare in the state.
She said that government schools will help facilitate student’s checkups at the hospitals. An attendant/ teacher will be present with the student at the hospital and would arrange for transport to and from the health facility. Expenses for the same would be borne by the Indian Education Department (IED) in accordance with its rules/regulations.
          A detailed report elaborating on all expenses covered the number of students taken for checkups as well as the number of students who were provided with spectacles in case of weak eyesight; would be submitted on the fifth of every month on the following email address:[email protected].
The government reiterated that this would not only ensure accountability and transparency in the implementation of this scheme but also guarantee that it remains an all-inclusive scheme whereby every child under the state public education system is covered.