Schools urged to report eye health of students

The General Office of the Ministry of Education issued a notice, asking local educational authorities to report eye health statistics for elementary, junior high and high school students in their precincts.

The notice, released on the ministry's website on March 8, said the authorities should hand in their reports between now and June 30.

The collection of the information is part of a campaign the ministry launched in June requiring authorities to report this data in spring and autumn each year.

It's meant to be an effective way of preventing myopia among juveniles, the notice said, adding that local educational authorities should arrange for elementary and high schools as well as kindergartens to collect this data.

Schools should appoint staff members to take charge of the reporting, and authorities should provide schools and kindergartens with vision testing devices and doctors to ensure the accuracy of the data collected.

School officials and parents should review the data in a timely manner, according to the notice. Officials should also inform parents if their children's test results were abnormal and suggest they take them to see ophthalmologists as soon as possible, it said.

The office also asked authorities to strictly supervise the reporting process, ban any unqualified institutions from carrying out tests in schools, and ensure the quality of products and services for myopia control and prevention, among other requirements.

Authorities pressed to prevent wheat diseases

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs held a teleconference on March 11 asking local authorities to focus on preventing epidemics and weeds in wheat fields, according to a news release.

Wheat epidemics have been spreading rapidly since this month began, the ministry said at the conference, pointing out that more than 5.6 million hectares of seedlings have been subjected to major diseases and harmed by pests, an increase of 45 percent over the past two weeks.

Such epidemics will multiply as the weather gets warmer, requiring relentless effort from authorities to monitor, prevent and control them, the ministry said.

It's vital that measures are taken when wheat seedlings turn green and their stems elongate, usually between February and March, the ministry said, asking local authorities to make sure diseases are contained and to guarantee safe crop production.

Local authorities must enhance financing, make sure all due measures are implemented, enhance monitoring, and help farmers prevent and control wheat diseases scientifically.

The central government has allocated funding of 400 million yuan ($62.8 million) to prevent wheat epidemics, and the provinces of Hebei, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong and Henan have also raised 940 million yuan to tackle the issue, according to the news release.

However, representatives at the conference said a gap exists between allocated funding and the amount of money needed to complete prevention and control work.