Monday, December 21, 2009

A short sighted decision

Under central government's plan Escuela 2.0, children in the fifth year of primary school are to be given access to laptop computers as part of their introduction to IT skills. Funds for these computers have been set aside by the government but Alejandro Font de Mora, the regional education councillor in Valencia, has refused to implement the plan claiming the use of the computers would cause short-sightedness in children.

However, this decision has sparked fury among educators and eye specialists who have called his reason unfounded, baseless, alarming and incorrect. The head of Alicante general hospital's ophthalmology department, José Belmont, said a connection between computers and sight disorders such as myopia has yet to be proved claiming that Sr Font de Mora is using this as a justification for political reasons only.

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