Speech, hearing, sight major problems for school kids

A THIRD of the country's Grade 1 pupils have eye, hearing and speech problems, according to Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.

Motsoaledi said this at the Hospital Association of SA conference in Sandton yesterday, saying the sample could be representative of all schoolchildren.

He said school health teams that had been working in National Health Insurance pilot districts for the past 18 months had screened 289000 Grade 1 children for health problems. They found that 89000 had serious speech, hearing and sight difficulties.

If this sample turned out to be representative of the country, he said, one third of the 12 million schoolchildren had serious problems.

He gave no breakdown of how many children suffered from the different impediments.

But he said the speech and occupational therapists needed to help the children were all working in private healthcare.

Speaking from KwaZulu-Natal, Professor Kovin Naidoo of the Brien Holden Vision Institute said many optometrists sought public sector posts, but there were none, even though many optometrists were willing to work for the state. About 5% to 7% of all South African children needed glasses, according to studies the institute had conducted with the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

He said studies had repeatedly shown that only 20% of South African children and adults who needed glasses acquired them, due to the prohibitive cost. They were not free in the state sector.

Patrick Mawila, of the SA Optometry Association, said: "Teachers associate poor performing kids with a low IQ.

"My view is [that] vision difficulties play much more of a role."

The minister's spokesman, Joe Maila, said school health projects did provide glasses to children who needed them.

He could not say when school health teams would be provided outside the 11 NHI pilot districts. - Katharine Child