தமிழ்ப்பள்ளிகள் கண்பார்வை திட்டம்

An Eye Examination Program for Malaysian Tamil School Students
மலேசியத் தமிழ்ப்பள்ளிகள் கண்பார்வை திட்டம்

MINDBB எனும் மலேசியச் சமூக அமைப்பு தமிழ்ப்பள்ளிக்கூடங்களுக்கு பல வகைகளில் உதவி செய்து வருகிறது. இப்போது, கண் பார்வை குறைந்த மாண்வர்களுக்கு இலவசமாக மூக்குக்கண்ணாடி வழங்கும் திட்டத்தில் கவனம் செலுத்தியுள்ளது. அதைப் பற்றிய விவரங்கள்:

This pilot program will be done in Selangor, Malaysia.  There are 97 Tamil schools in Selangor. Out of which 32 schools have 100 or less students (based on 2012 data). This might be our potential target schools and the list of the schools is produced below;

1. SJK(T) Ladang Brafferton

2. SJK(T) Sungai Sedu

3. SJK(T) Pulau Carey Selatan

4. SJK(T) Pulau Carey Barat

5. SJK(T) Pulau Carey Timur

6. SJK(T) Ladang Braunston

7. SJK(T) Ladang Bukit Ijok

8. SJK(T) Ghandiji

9. SJK(T) Ladang Hopeful

10. SJK(T) Ladang Kampung Baru

11. SJK(T) Ladang Sungai Terap

12. SJK(T) Ladang Kuala Selangor

13. SJK(T) Ladang Raja Musa

14. SJK(T) Bukit Rotan Baru

15. SJK(T) Ladang Riverside

16. SJK(T) Ladang Selangor River

17. SJK(T) Ladang Sungai Buloh

18. SJK(T) Ladang Sungai Rambai

19. SJK(T) Ladang Tuan Mee

20. SJK(T) Ladang Dominion

21. SJK(T) Ladang Changkat Asa

22. SJK(T) Ladang Escot

23. SJK(T) Ladang Kerling

24. SJK(T) Ladang Lima Belas

25. SJK(T) Ladang Minyak

26. SJK(T) Ladang Nigel Gardner

27. SJK(T) Ladang Mary

28. SJK(T) Ladang Sungai Tinggi

29. SJK(T) Ladang Sungai Bernam

30. SJK(T) Ladang Ampar Tenang

31. SJK(T) Ladang Bute

32. SJK(T) Ladang West Country Barat

We need some help from  readers,

1. Do you happen to know if any of the above school(s) have been included in an Eye Examination program done this year or last year by any organization? If yes, we would drop the school from the list and focus on those yet to be covered. In that way we all will work complementing each other and optimizing our resources.

2. Do you have the name and contact details (school phone/handphone) of the HMs of the above schools? Would like to compare with the contact details we already have as we learn some of the HMs in my list have been shifted to another school or has since retired.

3. We are planning to sponsor spectacles for poor students. If you are working in an optical company, can you please send us your quotation for the spectacles? Do highlight the specification of your chosen product(s) for e.g low prescription spectacles, high prescription spectacles, frame metal or plastic, lens plastic/glass, multi-coated lens or not, have UV protection, EMI (computer use), scratch resistance and etc.

Lately we received information regarding the good work done by some organization, where they have done eye screening for couple of schools. I was surprised to learn 25% of the students in one of the school is said to have vision problem and received spectacles.

Another small batch of schools screened by different organization shown statistics that 30% of their student diagnosed with vision problem. These numbers are worrisome, as such Usha proposed to do an Eye Screening Project for Tamil Schools. 

The idea is to start in one state, focusing schools with 50 and lesser students. If successful we can replicate this to other states. We were thinking to start with Selangor first. There are two phase involved, the first is screening.

At this phase we engage with a certified optometrist preferably from a government institution or from an NGO to assist us to do the screening to all selected Tamil School. Good if a fundus camera test be included in screening test at the schools. 

Once all the identified schools have been screened and the number of students has been finalized, we can go to Phase 2 where negotiation will be done with lenses and frame company for good price. 

Fund raising also will be done in this phase to cover the cost. Usually students studying in under enrolled schools (50 students and below) are usually from poor background, thus we can work to cover the whole cost of the spectacles. There is a reason why we are looking for optometrist from government institution or NGO and not from a private shop.

The previous two organization have engaged with private optometrist, they are usually paid based on the number of spectacles they prescribe. We are not sure if the 25% and 30% findings is accurate thus would like to compare with our own data. If you are an optometrist and would like to join this activity, kindly email us at:

svanan77@gmail.com

ksmuthukrishnan@gmail.com

If you are from a lenses or frame company do also quote us your subsidized pricing for some sample products for us to consider. Thanks.