Aprender y Crecer Vision program delivers more than 25,000 pairs of glasses

The Aprender y Crecer Vision program is celebrating the milestone of having delivered more than 25,000 pairs of glasses to students at sponsored schools in Latin America. This is an important achievement, which is the result of having provided vision screening to more than 111,000 students.  

It is estimated that more than a third of children worldwide have myopia (nearsightedness), and even more have other refractive errors including hyperopia (farsightedness), and astigmatism¹.   Many of these are unable to get glasses, and therefore go to school without being able to see blackboards and books.  

“My son already had glasses, but I wasn’t able to buy the ones he needed now.  He had already gone a year without glasses and his eyes watered, he got headaches.”  Comments like this one from Elena Pérez, mother of a 1st-grader at Escuela Pedro Nufio in Honduras are heard frequently among parents of students who receive glasses from the Vision program.  “He even used to bump into things, and now with his new glasses he tells me, ‘Look mom, I didn’t bump into the door!’”

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But getting glasses means more than just seeing clearly. According to a recent report from the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), a child with poor vision learns approximately half as much as a child with good or corrected vision².  Other studies link vision correction to improved reading performance^3,4,5,6,7 and increased academic achievement^{8,9,10,11,12.}  

And with this higher academic achievement comes higher earning potential later in life. According to the same report from the IAPB, if a five-year-old is provided with glasses in primary school and continues to wear them until they leave school at age 18, they will earn 78% more lifetime income on average than if they never had their vision corrected.

PriceSmart Executive Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer David Price reacted to reaching the milestone of donating 25,000 pairs of glasses.

“This achievement highlights the remarkable partnership between our teams at PriceSmart and Aprender y Crecer. It demonstrates one of the most impactful ways we can make a difference—leveraging our purchasing power and operational expertise to enable children to see clearly, learn effectively, and shape brighter futures. There are few things more rewarding than helping to unlock a child’s potential, and I am truly proud of what we’ve achieved together.”

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Sources:

1. Liang J, Pu Y, Chen J, et al. Global prevalence, trend and projection of myopia in children and adolescents from 1990 to 2050: a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Ophthalmology 2025;109:362-371.
2. Dhakhwa, P., Everett, B., Wong, B. Better education in sight. An estimate of global learning and economic productivity losses from uncorrected refractive error in schools. (2024) DOI: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/ZTGPQ
3. Doduvitz, R., Shin, M., Elashoff, D. Klarin, J., Slusser, W., Chung, P. (2020). Receipt of Corrective Lenses and Academic Performance of Low-Income Students. Academic Pediatrics, 20(7): 910-916. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2020.01.001
4. Kulp,M., Schmidt, P. (1996). Visual Predictors of Reading Performance in Kindergarten and First Grade Children.  Optometry and Vision Science, 73(4): 255-262.  
5. Slavin, R., Collins, M., Repka, M., Friedman, D., Mudie, L., Owoeye, J. (2018). In Plain Sight: Reading Outcomes of Providing Eyeglasses to Disadvantaged Children. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 23(3): 250-258. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2018.1477602
6. Narayanasamy, S., Vincent, S., Sampson, G., Wood, J. (2014). Simulated Hyperopic Anisometropia and Reading, Visual Information Processing, and Reading-Related Eye Movement Performance in Children. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science  Vol.55, 8015-8023. doi:https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.14-15347
7. Narayanasamy S., Vincent S.J., Sampson G.P., et al. (2015). Simulated astigmatism impairs academic-related performance in children. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 35(1): 8-18. https://doi.org/10.1111/opo.12165
8. Glewwe, P., West, K., Lee, J. (2018). The Impact of Providing Vision Screening and Free Eyeglasses on Academic Outcomes: Evidence from a Randomized Trial in Title I Elementary Schools in Florida. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 37(2): 265-300. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.22043
9. Pirindhavellie, GP., Yong, A.C., Mashige, K.P., et al. (2023). The impact of spectacle correction on the well-being of children with vision impairment due to uncorrected refractive error: a systematic review. BMC Public Health 23: 1575. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16484-z
10. Ma, X., Zhou, Z., Yi, H., Pang, X., Shi, Y., Chen, Q., Meltzer, M., le Cessie, S., He, M., Rozelle, S., Liu, Y., Congdon, N. (2014). Effect of providing free glasses on children’s educational outcomes in China: cluster randomized controlled trial. BMJ 2014;349:g5740.  https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g5740
11. Ma, Y., Congdon, N., Shi, Y., Hogg, R., Medina, A., Boswell, M., Rozelle, S., Iyer, M. (2018) Effect of a Local Vision Care Center on Eyeglasses Use and School Performance in Rural China: A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Opthalmology 136(7):731–737. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2018.1329
12. Nguyen HTL, Tran XMT, Nakamura K, Seino K, Tashiro Y, Miyashita A, et al. (2025) Impact of spectacle use on academic performance among Vietnamese adolescents with reduced visual acuity and myopia: A school-based study. PLoS One 20(5): e0322534. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0322534

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