President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law establishing a program aimed at detecting eye problems among kindergarten pupils and a funding facility for continuing research on eye diseases.
President Duterte on Wednesday signed Republic Act 11358 establishing a National Vision Screening Program for kindergarten pupils.
The program is intended to screen the eye vision of kindergarted pupils, according to the law.
The DepEd, along with the Department of Health and the Philippine Eye Research Institute, will be asked to implement the vision screening program.
Private schools, on the other hand, will be encouraged to adopt their own vision screening subject to standards which will be set by the government.
A database containing the results of the tests will also be created that will serve as a basis of corrective measures for kindergarten pupils who have possible eye ailments.
The law also establishes the Vision Screening Continuing Research Fund to be sourced from donations to the DepEd, DOH, or PERI.
A P10-million fund will be included in the budget of the PERI of the University of the Philippines-Manila for the implementation of eye screening for public kindergarten pupils.
The funds needed for the implementation of the program will be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.