Clearer Vision for a Smarter Workforce

When asked to share her thoughts on the project thus far, Professor Pang, Primary Investigator for the REAP/OneSight “Seeing is Learning” project, spoke about her experience in the rural villages where the initial canvass survey was conducted.

“During the canvass survey, there were a few things that left a deep impression on me. The anxious faces on the children who were told they were myopic, the puzzled expressions over whether or not to wear glasses, and above all, their excitement and broad smiles when they were able to see clearly after putting on glasses. Those smiles are the biggest motivation for our project."

”Professor Pang’s research focuses on anti-poverty and economic development issues. Her work often takes her to rural villages in China to conduct fieldwork. “Education is what struck me most during those visits. Education is not only critical in helping to fight poverty in rural areas of China, but also in making sure that China is able to sustain economic development in the future. We are seeing the largest migration from rural to urban areas in China’s history right now, but the educational resources available to rural students, who do and will continue to make up a significant portion of China’s urban workforce, are meager in comparison to what their urban counterparts enjoy.”

Education is not only critical in helping to fight poverty in rural areas of China, but also in making sure that China is able to sustain economic development in the future.In her fieldwork, Professor Pang noticed that although many rural students have poor vision, very few of them wore glasses. As a professor teaching economic development in rural China, she felt that tackling this issue, would help address the educational inequalities between urban and rural China, and ultimately China’s future economic prospects. “This is a very complex project, with strict experimental designs and many entities involved. However, I am confident that the project will be a success. I hope that myopic children in rural areas can be fitted with eyeglasses, and that this project will be able to provide policy-relevant results for Chinese policymakers!”

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Professor Pang speaks about the rural-urban education gap in China

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“人才建设从清晰视力开始”---访项目总负责人庞教授

 

“看见了才学得到”是农村教育行动计划(REAP)的项目之一,作为该项目的总负责人(PI),我的工作是从项目前期调研(canvass survey)开始的,和REAP负责人罗思高(Scott Rozelle)教授、张林秀教授一起,研究确定项目目标、设计项目实施的具体方案。目前正负责组织实施这个项目。

我的研究和教学工作主要是在反贫困与经济发展、社会性别与经济发展领域。由于研究的需要,我经常到贫困农村地区进行实地调查。在调查中感触最深的是农村教育的重要性。农村教育不仅对于农村贫困人口摆脱贫困具有重要意义,而且对于中国能否实现产业升级从而保持可持续增长也具有重要意义。由于中国正经历着有史以来最大规模的农村人口向城市的转移,今天生活在农村的孩子,是未来的城市建设者。但是,目前中国城乡的教育资源分配差距巨大,如何帮助这些将来的城市工人做好准备,提高农村的教育水平首当其冲。基于这样的认识,我成为REAP团队的一员。

在实地调查中,我发现农村小学生的近视问题其实非常严重,但是,没有孩子戴眼镜。很多农村4、5年级的孩子,从未进行过视力检查,他们自己、他们的家长和老师甚至都不知道他们已经近视了。已经近视的孩子,如果不及时正确地配戴眼镜会影响他们的生活安全和学习成绩的。因此,我个人认为帮助农村孩子认识、重视视力问题非常重要。刚好OneSight愿意支持这样的研究项目。我就参与到项目中来。

在进行项目前期调研的过程中,我印象最深的是有些孩子得知自己近视后焦虑的表情;对戴眼镜到底对视力好不好的疑惑;以及近视的孩子带上眼镜后、能够清楚地看到远处的物体时的兴奋表情和笑脸。这些是我们做此项目的动力。由于这个项目规模大、参与的人员多、干预试验要求的操作程序和步骤非常严格,从组织实施的角度看,是个非常具有挑战性的项目。不过,REAP团队非常有经验,我们有强有力的合作者,因此,我确信这个项目将会非常成功。我期待着看到农村近视的孩子,无论是男孩儿还是女孩儿,都能够戴上合适的眼镜;我期待着视力健康也受到同样的重视,我期待着这个实验性的项目能够为政府决策提供充分的依据!