WESTMORELAND, Jamaica – Students at the Grange Hill Primary School in Westmoreland were robbed of the opportunity to see more clearly as an eye-care initiative by overseas volunteers and Vision Eye Care scheduled for Wednesday was postponed due to the ongoing violence in the area.

“We had an arrangement with Vision Eye Care where they came in on Monday. The first part of the programme they screened the students,” Principal of Grange Hill Primary Clayton Smith told Observer Online.

Smith said the doctors will leave the island on Thursday and he is not sure when the students will get that opportunity again.

“They are doctors [from] overseas and they were volunteers for the most part and they were really here to give us that support [that we wanted],” the headmaster said in a sombre tone.

He said he is remaining optimistic that they will return at a convenient time.

Observer Online understands that the students who were shortlisted would have undergone some more testing and were in line to receive their free eye glasses.

Meanwhile, Smith said the online modality has been activated at the school and students will continue on the platform as was advised by the ministry of education.

Grange Hill has been rocked by a spate of murders which have impacted the school and has led to its closure.

-Kimberley Peddie