Current estimates suggest there are 23.5 million children with a moderate to severe vision impairment, including nearly 1.5 million children who are blind, with short-sightedness (myopia) projected to increase to more than half of the world’s population by 2050. Three-quarters of blind children reside in Africa. Visual health has been recognized to be inextricably linked to school achievement, quality of life, employability and economic productivity. Vision screenings of school-going children are, therefore, essential in the early detection of visual anomalies common in different age categories, which may negatively affect their academic ability and social development. School eye health programmes offer an effective, cost-effective model to deliver eye care to school-aged children, and are time and resource-efficient.