HEALTH IN THE SCHOOL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1865, 26 September 1913, Page 9

HEALTH IN THE SCHOOL.

A YEAR OF MEDICAL INSPECTION

During tho past year schemes for physical instruction and the medical inspection of schools and school children was brought into operation. The latter (states tho Minister of Education, in his annual report) is uuder tho joint control of the Education Department and tho Department of J'ublie Health. Four medical inspectors were appointed, ono being stationed at each of tho four chief centrcs.

"From tho experience of oldor conntries where systems of medical inspection have been in operation for somo time it is not thought necessary," states tho Minister, "to examine each child moro than twice, or at the most three times, in tho course of his primary scliooi lifo except in eases of suspected or proved abnormality. It was accordingly decided to begin b.v regular inspection of tho children in Class S2— that is, of children averaging ten to eleven years of ago. As a rule, tho medical inspector inspects these children in any school on tho first day of his visit, and on the second day examines special cases from other classes brought under his notico'by tho head teacher or selected by himsolf.

"An important part of the inspectors' work is to train the teachers to do their sharo of medical inspection, iov in thoso countries whore the system is. most successful tho co-operation of the teachers has been found to be a most important factor. Accordingly, the medical inspector is always accompanied by a teacher, who in this way learns much as to the aims and methods of medical inspection. "Owing to tho facts that tho medical inspectors had to work out a . common standard for tho assessment of various defects, that tho teachers were new to tho work, and that tho natural tendency at tho outset was to bring only abnormal cases under tho notice of tho inspectors, it would be misleading to publish oven a summary of the reports of tho work of the first few montlis. It is, however, already evident that even with tho limitation of two inspections for each child in tho eight years for tho ages six to fourteen, the number of officers employed at present' is too small, and it is proposed to increase theii number very shortly."