Alexandre Ayres’ law sanctioned, making vision tests mandatory in schools in Alagoas | 7Seconds

Law No. 9,187/2024, authored by state deputy Alexandre Ayres (MDB), was sanctioned, which makes the visual acuity examination mandatory for students in public and private schools in classes from early childhood to elementary school.

The new legislation aims to encourage the prevention of amblyopia and will serve to measure the functional vision capacity of students between 6 and 12 years old, enrolled in schools across the state.

Amblyopia is a common vision disorder that causes loss of visual acuity in children, that is, it changes the ability to perceive and how much the person can distinguish things more clearly. The brain ignores the image received from one of the eyes, which reduces vision.

Research indicates that children’s poor academic performance is directly linked to undiagnosed vision problems. “The project provides that carrying out the exam will be at the discretion of the school management, and the vision test can be carried out by the teachers themselves, duly trained, or by an ophthalmologist specifically designated for the exam”, explains the parliamentarian.

For the deputy, making this law mandatory will guarantee positive results in public education. “Learning difficulties can be related to more serious vision problems and not all family members are able to notice changes in children’s behavior, which reduces the chances of going to the ophthalmologist. Therefore, our law prevents children from developing eye problems. Vision tests are necessary to promote the social quality of public education,” he added.

He further explains that the test is very simple and that the ophthalmologist will look for classic symptoms such as the reaction of one eye to the occlusion of the other, morphological disorders or pupillary changes. “As not all family members are able to notice changes in behavior, which reduces the chances of going to the ophthalmologist, the campaign is essential to prevent children from developing more serious vision problems. Many children have vision problems because they are not diagnosed due to lack of access to health actions aimed at the school population”, concluded Alexandre Ayres.

See and Learn Program

Alexandre Ayres was also the rapporteur, through the Constitution, Justice and Writing Commission (CCJR) of the Legislative Assembly of Alagoas (ALE), of Bill (PL) 380/2023, of the State Government, which establishes the Ver e Program Aprendir, which carries out diagnostic efforts to identify possible vision diseases in students in the Public Education Network, with treatments and surgeries necessary to correct illnesses, in addition to providing glasses for grade correction.

For the deputy, the low performance of students in the classroom may be related to a vision problem. “The sooner we detect this problem, the greater the chances of successful treatment and learning development,” concluded the parliamentarian.