The excercise which was held at the Board's Headquarters Enugu and coordinated by the Education Services Department witnessed a large turn out of the staff members.

The Director, Education Services Department, Dr. Ifeyinwa F. Nwankwo described the exercise as a welcome development and commended the Permanent Secretary for approving it.

She noted that members of staff of the board were engaged in a lot of reading and writing which required clear vision to carry out.

"Apart from this, some of the staff are aging with some having underlying health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and/or poor dietary habit that can aggravate eye problem", Dr. Nwankwo explained.

She stated that because of disbelieve, ignorance, time and resources some might not be going for eye checks which this exercise had provided them the opportunity to do and see the necessity.

Members of staff who spoke after the exercise said it was an eye opener and thanked the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Favour Ugwuanyi and the Eye specialist who conducted the testing and screening free of charge.

A Higher Education officer in the Accounts Department, Mrs Blessing Ugochukwu Okechukwu said she had never gone for eye check/test because she did not consider it necessary as she could see everything clearly no matter how tiny. Mrs Okechukwu however stated that during the exercise, she experienced difficulties reading some alphabets placed before her, indicating that all might not be well with her eyes.

An Assistant Auditor, Mrs Maureen Nneka Anike similarly complained of difficulties reading the alphabets except the very big ones. According to her, she deals with figures in the course of her work and needs clear vision so as not to land herself in trouble by entering wrong figures because of bad eye sight.

The Director, Schools Supervision Department, Mr Cyril Onyia stated that he had never gone for eye test and had been contemplating on where to go for it and commended the Permanent Secretary and the Eye specialist for the opportunity as it had given him insight into the need for eye checks. He maintains that whatever anyone does in life he/she needs good eye sight to succeed.

For the Director, Sports Development Department, Mrs Justina Onuchukwu, the exercise gave her extra joy as it confirmed that she was okay and that the eye glasses she was using was good. She stated that she had not gone for eye check/test since about six years when she obtained the glasses she was using.

The Primary Eye Care Doctor and Optometrist, Dr. Rose Adajoe Agwunobi of Ogui Nike and New Heaven Health Centers who conducted the exercise said it was meant to create awareness on various forms of eye problems and the need to take proper care of the eye, saying that appropriate services could be obtained at the two health centers.

She stated that the Permanent Secretary, PPSMB, Dr. Favour Ugwuanyi had approved that the eye testing and screening should be carried out in secondary schools in Enugu North Local Government Area free of charge.