On September 4, 2008, in order to implement the "Opinions of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council on Strengthening Youth Sports and Enhancing the Physical Fitness of Young People" (No. 7 [2007]), and effectively strengthen the protection of students' vision, and achieve the goal proposed in the Central Document No. 7 to significantly reduce the incidence of myopia among young people in about 5 years, the Ministry of Education formulated the "Work Plan for the Prevention and Control of Myopia among Primary and Secondary School Students", "Job Responsibilities for the Prevention and Control of Myopia among Primary and Secondary School Students", and "Basic Knowledge and Requirements for the Prevention of Myopia among Primary and Secondary School Students" (formerly the "Work Plan for the Prevention and Treatment of Myopia among Primary and Secondary School Students (Trial)").

The plan proposes to establish a regular monitoring system for the vision of primary and secondary school students to ensure that students have sufficient sleep time and to reduce their homework burden. Based on students' learning and living habits, courses and activities are arranged daily according to the principles of combining static and dynamic activities, alternating between near and far vision. The plan also requires students to have one hour of physical exercise every day, and on the basis of insisting that students do eye exercises twice a day, the plan requires classes to adjust student seating positions once a month based on classroom lighting and changes in students' vision, and to adjust their desk and chair heights in a timely manner based on changes in their height.

In addition, the plan also proposes to incorporate student vision protection work into school management, as one of the evaluation criteria for the year-end assessment and evaluation of class teachers, subject teachers, and various relevant departments in the school, and has made clear provisions for the job responsibilities of each department.

Prevention and Control Plan for Myopia Among Primary and Secondary School Students：

In order to implement the spirit of the "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Strengthening Youth Sports and Enhancing the Physical Fitness of Youth" (Zhongfa [2007] No.7), and strengthen the protection of students' vision, this work plan is specially formulated.

I. Work principles:

1.Adhere to the principle of prevention. The emphasis of myopia prevention and control (hereinafter referred to as "prevention") is placed on prevention work, implementing preventive measures for all students, effectively preventing the occurrence of myopia, and reducing the incidence of new cases of myopia among students.

2.Adhere to the principle of comprehensive prevention and control. Targeting multiple factors that cause myopia, comprehensive prevention and control measures are taken. Effectively reduce students' academic burden, control their close-up eye time; improve teaching and hygiene conditions, create a good visual environment; popularize knowledge of vision protection, and cultivate students' scientific eye habits; implement student physical activity time and promote active participation in sports.

3.Adhere to the principle of persistent efforts. The "prevention" work is incorporated into daily school work, and according to different age and stage requirements, it is integrated into various aspects of education and teaching, and persistently implemented to promote the institutionalization and standardization of "prevention" work.

4.Adhere to the principle of full participation. Give full play to the role of all teachers, parents, and communities, establish a mechanism for full participation of teachers, schools, parents, and communities, and form a joint force to do a good job in "prevention" work for students.  

II. Work Measures

(I) Strengthen the construction of regulations and system, standardize the management of "myopia prevention".

1．Include the work of protecting students' eyesight into school management, teacher management, and class management, implement the responsibilities of relevant departments and personnel in accordance with the "Job Responsibilities of Myopia Prevention and Control for Primary and Secondary School Students" (see Attachment 1), and use it as the basis for year-end assessment, class evaluation, and excellence evaluation. Thus, a "myopia prevention" work mechanism will be formed, and everyone will take responsibility in the school, including school leaders, teachers, and students.

2.Develop a scientific and standardized student daily routine system. Strictly follow the prescribed course plan to arrange the weekly course and daily schedule. Based on the learning and living habits of the students, arrange daily activities and classes based on the principles of combining static and dynamic activities, and alternating between near and far vision. Ensure that primary school students sleep for 10 hours per day, junior high school students for 9 hours, and senior high school students for 8 hours.

3.Effectively reduce students' academic burden. Improve teaching methods, improve the quality and efficiency of classroom teaching, and ensure that classes start and end on time. Strictly control the number of exam subjects and frequency, and limit extracurricular homework. Do not arbitrarily increase the teaching hours of subjects, do not occupy holidays, weekends, and summer and winter vacations to organize classes. The school should coordinate the students' homework time. Written homework should not be assigned to first and second-grade primary school students, and written homework for other grades should be limited to no more than 60 minutes. For junior high school students, homework time should not exceed 90 minutes.

4.Establish and improve eye exercise systems. Include two eye exercise sessions in the timetable every day, and organize students to do eye exercises seriously.

5.Adjust student seats once a month based on classroom lighting and changes in student vision. Adjust the height of desks and chairs in a timely manner according to changes in students' height.

6.Establish a regular vision monitoring system. Conduct two vision checks every semester, and do a statistical analysis of various indicators such as the detection rate and new onset rate of poor eyesight. Implement targeted "myopia prevention" measures for students with a downward trend in vision or mild myopia and carry out classification management.

7.Insist on the one-hour daily physical exercise system for students. Ensure the quality and quantity of physical education classes, and actively organize physical activities during breaks and various outdoor activities to ensure that students participate in one hour of physical activity every day.

(II) Carry out eye protection publicity and education, cultivate students' good eye hygiene habits.

1.Widely and in-depth promote eye protection publicity and education among teachers, students, and parents based on the "Basic Knowledge and Requirements for Preventing Myopia among Primary and Secondary School Students" (see Attachment 2).

2.Use various forms such as radio broadcasts and bulletin boards to frequently promote eye health knowledge, scientific eye use, and myopia prevention, cultivate students' awareness of eye care, and develop correct reading, writing, and eye hygiene habits.

3.At the beginning of each semester and before the holidays, concentrate on educating students about eye protection in moral and life classes, physical education and health classes, theme-based class meetings, etc. This will combine with regular "myopia prevention" publicity and education, making it a regular and institutionalized process.

4.Teachers should incorporate the cultivation of good eye hygiene habits into the entire classroom teaching process, and correct students' bad reading and writing habits at any time.

5.Through various forms such as parent-teacher meetings and parent newsletters, promote knowledge and methods for protecting eyesight and preventing myopia to parents, guide and supervise parents to provide a learning environment that is conducive to protecting eyesight, control the students' time spent on close-range activities (reading, writing, watching TV, using the computer for more than 45 minutes, rest for 10-15 minutes), promptly correct bad eye hygiene habits, and seek medical treatment at a regular hospital in case of vision decline.

6.On June 6th every year, the "National Eye Care Day" is celebrated with a variety of "prevention of myopia" publicity activities, actively seeking and mobilizing the participation of professional organizations and news media to expand the reach of the publicity.

（III）Actively improve teaching conditions and create a good visual environment for students.

1.Ensure a reasonable viewing distance for all students in the classroom. The distance between the front edge of the desk in the front row and the blackboard should be more than 2 meters, and the horizontal distance between the back edge of the desk in the back row and the blackboard should not exceed 8 meters for primary schools and 8.5 meters for middle schools.

2.Provide desks and chairs that match the students' height according to the national standards. Each classroom should be equipped with 1-3 different types of desks and chairs (schools with conditions should configure more than 2 types of desks and chairs), or adjustable desks and chairs.

3.The classroom blackboard should be complete and undamaged, without glare, and easy to erase. The vertical distance between the bottom edge of the blackboard and the podium floor should be 0.8-0.9 meters for primary schools and 1-1.1 meters for middle schools. The height of the podium table from the classroom floor is generally 1.2 meters.

4.The classroom lighting should meet the relevant national health standards. For classrooms with single-sided lighting, the light should come from the left side of the students' seats. For classrooms with double-sided lighting, the main lighting window should be on the left side. The classroom walls and ceiling should be white or light-colored, and the windows should use colorless and transparent glass. The lighting ratio (the ratio of the window area to the indoor floor area) of the classroom should not be less than 1:6 (the lighting ratio of new classrooms should reach 1:4).

5.The classroom lighting should be equipped with at least 9 fluorescent lamps of 40 watts or more, and the lamp tubes should be vertical to the blackboard. The lighting should use lamps with lampshades and should not use bare lamps. The hanging height of the lamps above the tabletop should be 1.7-1.9 meters. Two additional horizontal fluorescent lamps of 40 watts each should be installed for the blackboard, and with lampshades. The illumination of the desktop and blackboard should be evenly distributed, and the illumination should meet the requirements of the national standard for architectural lighting design (GB50034-2004). Artificial lighting should be provided promptly when natural lighting is insufficient.

Job Responsibilities for the Prevention and Control of Myopia Among Primary and Secondary School Students

I.School Leadership

1.Appoint a school-level leader in charge of the prevention and control of myopia among students (hereinafter referred to as "myopia prevention") and clarify the responsibilities of relevant departments.

2. Develop corresponding myopia prevention plans and measures in accordance with the requirements of the "Prevention and Control Plan for Myopia Among Primary and Secondary School Students," combined with the actual situation of the school.

3. Include the student myopia prevention work in the school's annual work plan, and check and summarize the implementation of the myopia prevention measures at the end of the year.

4. Supervise the relevant departments and personnel in the school to fulfill their myopia prevention responsibilities and implement specific myopia prevention measures.

5. Regularly study student vision protection work, coordinate and solve problems in myopia prevention work, and timely summarize and promote class myopia prevention experience.

II.Physical Education and Health or Ideological Education Management Department

1. Responsible for formulating the school's myopia prevention publicity and education plan and organizing classes to carry out various forms of myopia prevention publicity activities.

2. Manage student myopia prevention work and incorporate it into student management and class evaluation and supervision content.

3. Organize two visual inspections of students per semester.

4. Organize teacher and student eye health exercise training and evaluation work.

III.Teaching Management Department

1. Arrange the weekly schedule and rest time reasonably according to the prescribed curriculum plan. Arrange daily classes and activities according to the principle of combining static and dynamic, alternating between near and far vision.

2. Strictly control the number of tests and examinations in each subject, urge teachers to end classes on time, and assign appropriate amounts of extracurricular homework.

3. Supervise teachers to make clear and proper board writing and multimedia courseware, with legible and recognizable font size.

4. In accordance with the relevant national requirements, include one hour of physical exercise time for students every day in the teaching plan, and schedule eye health exercise time in the morning and afternoon.

IV.General Affairs and Logistics Department

1. Timely inspect, repair and replace aging light bulbs, ensure that classroom lighting meets national standards, and the illumination is evenly distributed.

2. Regularly arrange for classroom wall painting and maintain classroom walls clean, supervising the use of low chromaticity and high brightness materials for painting.

3. Use durable non-glossy blackboards and maintain them regularly to ensure that the blackboard surface is intact, without glare, with good pen hanging performance and easy to wipe.

4. Reasonably configure desks and chairs according to student height. Ensure that each classroom has at least two different high and low models of desks and chairs. If adjustable desks and chairs are provided, cooperate with the class teacher to adjust the height according to the student's height in time.

5. Equip the health (care) room or student activity room with a vision chart lightbox and mark the 5-meter line. Schools with conditions can also equip each classroom with a standard logarithmic vision chart and mark the 5-meter line.

V. Class Teacher

1.Master the changes in the visual acuity of the class students, coordinate with the school doctor (health teacher) to do a good job in the tiered management of students with a tendency towards decreased visual acuity and mild myopia.

2.Educate and supervise students to develop good eye hygiene habits, timely correct incorrect reading and writing postures. Ensure that reading and writing postures and pen-holding methods are correct, eyes are about thirty centimeters away from the book, take a break after an hour of writing, do not read in bed, do not read in a moving vehicle, and do not read or write in dim or bright light.

3.Encourage students to engage in outdoor activities or far-sightedness during breaks, actively participate in sports activities, and ensure one hour of physical exercise every day.

4.According to the classroom lighting and student visual changes, adjust student seats at least once a month. Adjust desk and chair height according to students' height in a timely manner.

5.Urge subject teachers to end classes on time, not to delay or use various methods to occupy students' break time, and not to assign excessive homework.

6.Contact parents regularly, urging them to cooperate in protecting their children's eyesight. Use parent-teacher conferences or other forms to promote knowledge of the prevention and treatment of myopia to parents at least once per semester, cautioning parents to control their children's computer and TV time and ensure necessary sleep time. Contact parents in a timely manner when students' visual acuity changes.

7.Supervise and guide students to do eye exercises seriously every morning and afternoon.

8.Organize class cadres, Red Cross youth, and health workers to do visual protection work for the class together.

VI. Subject Teachers

1.Organize teaching according to the national curriculum standards and relevant teaching requirements and end classes on time.

2.Reasonably control students' near-eye time during the teaching process, correct incorrect reading and writing postures in a timely manner, and promote good eye hygiene habits among students.

3.Ensure clear writing and standardized handwriting on the blackboard; when using multimedia courseware for teaching, adjust the font size, color, and light intensity to make the font and background clear and contrasted.

4.Strictly control the number of tests and examinations, assign homework according to the prescribed requirements, and control the amount of homework for students.

5.Coordinate with the class teacher to urge students to engage in outdoor activities or far-sightedness during breaks.

6.Cooperate with the class teacher to supervise and guide students to do eye exercises seriously according to requirements.

VII. School Doctor (Health Teacher)

1.Responsible for formulating the school's "prevention of myopia" work plan and submitting it for approval by the school leadership.

2.Every semester, use various forms such as radio, blackboard newspapers, and posters to promote regular eye protection education for teachers and students.

3.Organize students to have two vision checks every semester, record them in detail, timely summarize and analyze the main reasons for decreased visual acuity, and classify students with poor vision.

4.When students' visual acuity changes, notify the class teacher in a timely manner and provide specific guidance.

5.Regularly inspect students' eye hygiene, classroom lighting and configuration of desks and chairs, and the implementation of eye exercises in the classroom. If problems are found, provide suggestions for improvement to relevant departments in a timely manner.

6.Regularly conduct vision protection and myopia prevention knowledge training for members of the living committee, health committee, and Red Cross youth, and guide them to carry out "myopia prevention" work in the class.

7.Train and guide teachers and students in eye exercise work, so that they can learn and master the correct way to do eye exercises.

Preventing Myopia in Elementary and Middle School Students: Basic Knowledge and Requirements

Myopia is a refractive error in which an individual can see nearby objects clearly but distant objects appear blurry. It is caused by light entering the eye and not focusing on the retina, but in front of it. Poor visual environment, insufficient lighting while reading and writing, prolonged near work, and incorrect reading and writing postures are important factors in the occurrence and development of myopia.

To protect vision and prevent myopia, it is necessary to understand the basic knowledge of preventing myopia, cultivate eye health awareness, and develop good eye hygiene habits.

I. Maintain Correct Reading and Writing Posture

1.Sit upright while reading and writing, keeping a distance of about 33-35 centimeters (one foot) between the eyes and the book, about one fist between the chest and the table, and about 3 centimeters (one inch) between the fingers holding the pen and the pen tip.

2.Hold the pen at an appropriate angle when writing. When using a pencil or ballpoint pen, the angle between the pen and the paper should be between 40 and 50 degrees, while with a brush pen, the pen should be kept upright.

3.Do not read with your head tilted or lying down, do not read while walking, and do not read on a moving vehicle or boat.

II. Choose a Good Visual Environment for Eye Care

(I). Visual Environment for Reading and Writing

1.There should be sufficient lighting when reading and writing. The window and desk lamp should provide light from the front left. Avoid reading or writing under too bright or too dim lighting, such as direct sunlight or insufficient evening light.

2.Avoid using pencils with overly fine lead when doing homework. The lead should be of moderate hardness, and the paper should be clean with a suitable font size.

3.Choose a suitable desk and chair for reading and writing. The height of the desk should be around the upper abdomen.

(II). Visual Environment for Watching TV

1.When watching TV, maintain a distance of at least three meters (or maintain a distance of at least five times the diagonal length of the TV screen).

2.The TV screen should be at the same level as or slightly lower than the viewer's line of sight.

3.Place the TV in a backlit area.

4.Adjust the brightness of the TV to a suitable level, not too bright or too dim.

(III). Visual Environment for Using Computers

1.The computer screen should ideally face away from or to the side of the window to avoid reflections.

2.The computer desk should be lower than a typical desk, and the chair should be adjustable. The center of the computer screen should be at the same level as the chest.

3.The distance between the computer screen and the eyes should be no less than 50 centimeters, and the line of sight should be slightly below the horizontal line of sight by 10-20 degrees.

4.The lighting in the computer room should not be too weak or too strong (installing a 40-watt fluorescent lamp in a 12-square-meter room can provide sufficient illumination).

III. Develop Good Eye Care Habits

1.Avoid excessively long periods of close-range eye use, and control it within 40-50 minutes. During breaks, relax the eyes by going outside, looking out the window, or closing the eyes.

2.Avoid excessively long periods of watching TV or using the computer. After about 40-50 minutes of continuous TV or computer use, take a break to rest the eyes, do eye exercises, or go outside and look into the distance.

3.Avoid playing or minimize playing video games. If playing occasionally, pay attention to keeping a proper distance between the eyes and the game console, and limit the duration to no more than half an hour.

IV. Adhere to Eye Exercises

1.Do eye exercises once in the morning and once in the afternoon every day.

2.During eye exercises, make sure the hands are clean, accurately stimulate the acupoints, use proper techniques, and apply appropriate pressure.

V. Ensure Adequate Sleep, Balanced Nutrition, and Exercise

1.Get sufficient sleep to allow the eyes to fully rest. Elementary school students should sleep for 10 hours a day, middle school students for 9 hours, and high school students for 8 hours.

2.Avoid being picky about food, have a balanced diet, and ensure comprehensive nutrition.

3.Eat more vegetables and fruits and often consume vitamin A-rich foods such as carrots, spinach, animal liver, apricots, and loquats.

4.Spend more time outdoors, participate in ball games, observe trees and flowers, and enjoy the beauty of nature to relax the ciliary muscles of the eyes.

VI.Regularly check your vision and wear suitable glasses.

1.Have your vision checked twice per semester, and if you experience a decline in vision, promptly go to the hospital's ophthalmology department for further examination.

2.If you are confirmed to have myopia, go to the hospital for optometry and glasses fitting in a timely manner. Do not go to unregulated glasses shops. Do not aim for excessively high corrective vision, a correction of 5.0 is sufficient.

3.Do not borrow and wear glasses from others. Each person's refractive power and pupil distance are different. Borrowing and wearing glasses from others may lead to symptoms such as eye fatigue, affect vision, and do more harm than good.

4.Children and teenagers under the age of 16 should be cautious when wearing contact lenses.

Source: Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China official website.