Poor Eyesight and Educational Outcomes in Ethiopia

This paper is one of the few papers to investigate the relationship between poor eyesight and educational outcomes. Using data from rural Ethiopia that collected data on visual acuity, results show that girls with poor eyesight have an increased probability of dropping out of school. Girls that suffer from poor eyesight have an 8 percentage points higher probability of dropping out of school. No such relationship for boys is found. Results also show that, for both boys and girls, learning achievement is negatively related with poor eyesight. The paper sheds light on the potential benefits to educational outcomes of providing eyeglasses to visually impaired children. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014