Let students throw off the glasses
——A glimpse of the eye exercises
at Shuqian Primary School in Guangzhou

  Just after six months, the experiments in achieving a short-sight free class at the Shuqianlu Primary School of the Dongshan District, Guangzhou City, yielded encouraging results, bringing hopes for ultimately settling the problem of uncontrollable short-sightedness among students. 

  The persistent high rate of short-sightedness among students, especially at middle and primary schools, has been haunting the educational circles for many years. In order to try all means to control the rate of shortsightedness, the Shuqianlu Primary School, through the intermediary of the district CPPCC committee, began to do the eye exercises (including eye exercises and hammer therapy) developed by Ma Xuzhou, guest professor at the Beijing Baiyunlu Hospital. The experiment was conducted in the third class of the fourth grade of the school. Through half a year’s practice, the rate of VA-1.5 was raised from less than 2% to 75% and the number of students with VA-1.0 and less dropped from 36 to three and the number of students with VA-0.9 and below dropped to zero. 

  There are 53 students in the class. Apart from one who was absent because of illness, 52 participated in the tests. Among them, there was one with VA-1.5 for both eyes, 15 people with a VA-1.2, 16 people with a VA-1.0, 9 with a VA-0.8, two with a VA-0.6 and 9 with a VA-0.5 and below.  

  The method of experiments in the eye exercises is to do the exercise three times a day and 14 minutes a time. Hammer therapy is applied to students with a VA of less than 0.6. VA tests on June 17 showed that there were 39 students whose VA had reached 1.5, 10 whose VA reached 1.2 and three whose VA had reached 1.0.

  A girl student, named Chenjiaxing, told the reporter that she wore glasses before doing the eye exercises, with the VA of the left eye at 0.3 and that of the right eye, at 0.5. “After two months’ training, one day I suddenly found that I could see the writing on the blackboard without my eyeglasses on,” said the tall girl who sat in the seventh row of the classroom. “When I returned home, I told my mother and she was very excited. She encouraged me to persist in doing the exercise. She herself took me to Prof. Ma’s home to receive the hammer therapy. Now my VA has reached 1.0 for both eyes.”

  Another student, Wang Xie, told the reporter that the VA of his light eye used to be 0.5 and that of his right eye was 0.8. Now the VA of both has reached 1.0. 

  Student Pan Shimin simply threw off her glasses as the VA of both her eyes rose from 0.5 to 1.2. 

  There are no more eyeglasses in the class, said Teacher Lu.  

  Principal of the school Chen Shuxian told the reporter that she was among the first group of school principals that practice the system of school principal assuming the sole responsibility. It is provided that schools should control the rate of near-sightedness at less than 2%. She felt great pressure to bear upon her.  

  “We have tried every mean available,” she said. “We have cooperated with large hospitals that carried out experiments for six years running at the school. Eye doctors have used instruments to treat near-sightedness. There have indeed been some results, but the relapse rate is high. So the incidence of shortsightedness has persisted. 

  This reporter discovered that the lights in the classrooms were very bright and good enough. But they do not help much.  

  “Prof. Ma’s eye exercises and her hammer therapy have really lent some hope,” the principal said.