In Taiwan, the severity of myopia has been equated with national security issues. Myopia is a disease and its comorbidities have caused a very serious economic and social burden on the country. According to MOE statistics, the rate of poor eyesight in national elementary schools was 44.60% in 2020 and 73.63% in national middle schools. Meanwhile, the rate of poor eyesight among the elementary freshmen was 26.23%, and by sixth grade, the rate had risen to 63.32%. At the graduation stage of junior high school and high school, the rates of poor eyesight were 78.01% and 82.39%, respectively. This not only shows the early occurrence of poor vision but also its relatively high prevalence rate. Nowadays, empirical medicine has made the protective factors and risk factors of myopia clear. Therefore, the promotion of knowledge and actions on campus should be emphasized to strengthen the awareness of myopia of teachers, students, and parents. They should be encouraged to prevent and treat myopia with care.
Studies have confirmed that sufficient outdoor time, physical activities under natural light, reduced short-distance eye use, and restricted use of 3C products such as TVs, computers, and mobile phones, can effectively prevent the occurrence and deterioration of myopia. In recent years, the Ministry of Education has actively promoted vision care, and continued to promote the four main axes: "children's myopia", "outdoor activities to prevent myopia", "3010 eye health" and "control to prevent blindness". Schools at all levels should also actively cooperate with policies and related regulations, and work together to promote works related to the above four axes such as post-class classroom clearance. Teachers should closely observe the use of electronic equipment standards in teaching and the implementation of case management, and students should have regular eyesight check-ups at the hospital. Teachers should also formulate a reward system to encourage self-monitoring among students, yielding to the achievement of self-management in health. At the same time, teachers should connect parents and the community to jointly create a favorable environment for the protection of students' eyesight.
The "2021 Academic Year Vision Care Excellent School Selection" is to continue the Ministry of Education's vision care policy. The purpose is to encourage schools that have spared no effort in promoting vision care and have achieved outstanding results, and the end goal is to ensure the full implementation of vision care on campus.
B. Hosting Units
Organizer: K-12 Education Administration, MOE
Case Handling Unit: Chang‑Gung Memorial Hospital
C."2021 Academic Year Vision Care Excellent School Selection" Criteria
This year's selection combines the "Health Promotion School International Certification 2.0" operation mode. The scoring framework will be based on the six learning areas, "School Health Policy", "School Material Environment", "School Social Environment", "Healthy Life Skills Teaching and Action", "Community Relations" and "Health Services", etc. There will be a total of 11 scoring sub-criteria (see attachment 1 for the scoring criteria)
D. Qualification and Registration
1. Qualification: Schools with at least 2 years of experience in promoting vision care work and have concrete results in self-management performance and are not winners from 2019 & 2020 selection.
2. Registration:
a. Recommended by the education bureaus (divisions) of the municipal and county governments
b. The Education Bureau (Division) of the municipal and county governments submit the 【Recommendation List of Excellent Schools】 and【School Basic Information Sheet】 before 2021/12/10.
c. The selected schools present the review data in an electronic file (for the cover format, please refer to the attachment-school data cover). Sort the electronic files according to the order of scoring criteria and store them on USB flash drive with the file name noted (no paper document is required). Please send two USB flash drives of the review materials before January 25, 111 to: No. 123, Dayi Road, Niaosong District, Kaohsiung City (Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital)-Ophthalmological Myopia Prevention Center. For those who wish for a return of USB flash drive, please enclose the post.
E. Selection
After the education bureaus finish the first review, they should submit a recommendation list of excellent schools for the second review. Quota as follows:
{Primary schools}
1. Each county and city recommends at least 1 school and at most 3 schools
2. For counties and cities with 2 schools recommended, at least one school should hold over 20 classes.
3. For counties and cities with 3 schools recommended, at least one school should hold over 40 classes.
4. If none of the schools in the county or city reach 20 classes, they will not be subject to the restrictions of items 2 and 3.
{Junior high schools}: Encourages active participation
1. Paper review
The planning team will convene experts from the Ministry of Education and vision care-related scholars to form a review committee. It is scheduled to pass up to 14 schools in primary and junior high schools.
2. On-site visit
Committee members will be arranged in pairs of two to conduct on-site visits for half a day between March and April to schools that pass the paper review. Schedule as follows:
| Time | Work | Details | School staff avoidance |
| 09:00 (13:00) |
Committee members arrive | ||
| 09:00-9:20 (13:00-13:20) |
Committee consensus meeting (20mins) |
1. Confirm visit operation flow 2. Decide on interviewers (Please provide a recommendation list. The committee members will select the interviewers) |
V |
| 09:20-9:30 (13:20-13:30) |
Presentation by the school (10mins) |
School principal gives a briefing according to the selection criteria | |
| 09:30-10:10 (13:30-14:10) |
Review school environment (40mins) |
Examine the environment and facilities related to vision care (including random inspections of classroom illuminance and observation of class and class break situations) | |
| 10:10-10:50 (14:10-14:50) |
Interview (40mins) |
A total of 2-3 homeroom teachers, contractors, subject teachers, or administrative staff. 3-5 students and 2-3 parents | V |
| 10:50-11:40 (14:50-15:40) |
Committee consensus meeting (50mins) |
1. Document reviews 2. Discuss and write visit suggestions |
V |
| 11:40-12:00 (15:40-16:00) |
General session (20mins) |
Exchange opinions based on the preliminary results | |
| 12:00 (16:00) |
Committee member leavers |
3. If on-site visits should be canceled due to force majeure, an alternative plan would be made by the organizer.
4. Final election meeting: A comprehensive evaluation of paper documents and on-site visits will be carried out to confirm the excellent schools. Winner list will be announced in May, 2022.
F. Rewards:
1. Schools selected for on-site visits would be given a copy of the selection certificate. County and city education bureaus (divisions) are requested to give out awards in encouragement.
2. The High Distinction award: 3 schools. Each receives one 10,000 yuan worth of prize, one certificate, and one trophy.
The excellence award: 3-4 schools. Each receives one 8,000 yuan worth of prize, one certificate, and one trophy.
The Honorable mention: 3-4 schools. Each receives one 5,000 yuan worth of prize, one certificate, and one trophy.
3. There are a total of 10 award-winning places this year. If the participating schools fail to meet the selection criteria, the places for each award will be vacant.
G. Awards Ceremony:
The winning schools will be presented with awards at the achievement conference of the Health Promoting School Plan. The date will be announced after the result of the selection is released.
H. Contact Information
| Contact person | Full-time Assistant Ms. Chen Ziying |
| Tell： | (07)7317123#2803 |
| E-mail： | eyecare1040722@gmail.com |
| Adress： | No. 123, Dayi Road, Niaosong District, Kaohsiung City, 833 Myopia Prevention Center, 2nd Floor, Rehabilitation Building, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital |