There is an apocalyptic gap in childhood development between rural and urban China. Hoping to rectify this imbalance, economist Scott Rozelle of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, is heading experimental interventions – including one focused on vision.
“At 200 schools, they checked each child’s vision and gave them a math test. Then, in half the schools, the kids who needed them got free glasses. A year later, the math scores of the kids with glasses had improved far more than those of peers in the other schools.” We love it. This is what we want to do for millions.