Contributing to reducing the prevalence of refractive errors and improving children’s awareness of eye care, Orbis has joined hands with ON Semiconductor to integrate eye care and science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) education into school curricula across Luong Son and Da Bac districts, Hoa Binh province.
In Vietnam, around 3 million children between the ages of 6 and 15 have refractive errors, meaning up to 40% of all children in the country are affected.
These efforts are part of an ongoing Orbis project to increase access to quality vision care services in those areas.
Orbis will collaborate with STEAM specialists and local partners to develop a training curriculum that integrates eye care and STEAM education, train teachers on how to develop a presentation, how to deliver a lesson effectively, and how to guide students in practical activities, as well as to support schools in organizing experiential learning activities for students.
““ON Semiconductor has been our trusted partner since 2020. We are pleased to join with OnSemi once again in this project to continue building access to eye care for children in Vietnam””Pham Kim Ngoc, Country Director, Orbis Vietnam
The work got underway in late April 2024, when Orbis joined with local partners to deliver a training on integrating eye care and STEAM education for 105 teachers and school health workers from 54 primary, secondary, and high schools in Luong Son and Da Bac districts.
Through the training, participants were equipped with basic knowledge on eye care and eye issues and STEAM education so that they can develop lectures and organize STEAM activities at school.
As part of the STEAM education, students will gain knowledge on the importance of eye care through experiential learning activities, such as group discussions, presentations, writing, drawing, team-building games, skits, completing visual acuity checks for each other, etc. These activities are designed to engage students and help them build their knowledge more easily, as compared to traditional teaching methods, which focused on delivering theoretic concepts. The activities will also help children develop important skills in team work, presentations, problem-solving, writing, and more.
From now until the end of 2024, Orbis will continue working with experts and partners to carry out this important work.
Nguyen Phuong Linh
Monitoring & Evaluation Officer for Orbis Vietnam, who is managing the project.
“This is the first time this initiative has been undertaken by Orbis Vietnam. We believe systematic STEAM education will benefit both teachers and students. We also expect to expand the model to other areas in Vietnam in the future,” shared Nguyen Phuong Linh, Monitoring & Evaluation Officer for Orbis Vietnam, who is managing the project”
Our huge thanks go to our donor ON Semiconductor and our local partners for their support, which makes this project possible.
Training on integrating eye care and STEAM education
Orbis and ON Semiconductor have been partnering since 2020. Together, we completed the ”Good sight, Good life” project in Dong Nai province, which addressed visual impairment due to uncorrected refractive errors of local children and marginalized people by growing access to quality eye care.
Under the project, over 75,000 people were screened and examined for refractive errors, more than 1,500 students with difficult circumstances received eyeglasses for free, and a vision center was established and opened in Dong Nai General hospital, which provided vision screening and exams to 80,474 patients.
The project also established a public-private partnership and referral network for refraction services and eyeglasses provision between schools, hospitals, private optical shops, and eye clinics in Dong Nai province so that local children and people with eye problems can get the examinations and treatment they need. The project also worked to raise awareness of refractive errors and the importance of eye care in general among students and the wider public.
