Out-of-School Vision Screening in North India: Estimating the Magnitude of Need.

Purpose : Few studies have examined the extent to which school-based vision screening is sufficient to achieve universal coverage among school-aged children in India. Method : A rural administrative region ('Block') was examined. Government records provided the total population of the rural Block, the proportion of school-aged children, and school authorities in the Block provided the number of enrolled students. Absenteeism was measured directly by visiting a representative sample of the schools. The proportion of the school age population found in school was assessed using the indicator, Effective Coverage (EC): the proportion of children attending school divided by the total population of school-aged children in the region. Results : In the rural block, the proportion of children actually enrolled in school was 52% of the school-aged population, with 68% of them attending school. Therefore, EC was 35% (68% of the 52% enrolled). Conclusion : Population coverage by school vision screening would be unacceptably low in a rural setting in northern India. Out-of-school vision screening programs are needed in these rural settings to achieve universal coverage.