PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE DOMINION.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 September 1915, Page 8

PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE DOMINION.

GLEANINGS FROM EDUCATION DEPARTMENT'S REPORT. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Wellington, Sept. 16. The number of' public schools ope* in iNew Zealand at the end of 1914, according to the annual report of the Education Department was 2301, an increase of 46 on the preceding year. Single teacher schools, having an average attendance of not more than 35 children, numbered 1375. During the year, 99 schools were closed and 145 were opened. The average weekly roll number was 173,470. The total number of children receiving primary education in New Zealand was 196,024, this number including scholars attending Native sehols, private primary schools, etc. The average daily attendance was higher than in Britain, the United States, or Australia. . During last year, 403 public schools •were visited by the medical inspectors, and 16.019 children were examined, 10,5148 being pupils taken at the routine examination and 5771 special cases thought by the teachers to be suffering from some defect. "(The most common defect ifound in the medical examination," sftys the annual report of the Education Department "is that of decayed and neglected teeth, 68 per cent, of the children examined at the routine exam-, ination being found to suffer from this cause. The percentage is lower than that found in the previous year, and it is hoped that the policy of insisting on cleanliness and other preventive measures will tend steadily to lessen theprevalence of this harmful disease. Forty-three per cent, of the children are recorded as having enlarged glands; a large percentage of these defects, however, are not of a serious nature, and dental disease is a cause to which the prevalance of enlarged glands may frequently be attributed. The percentage of children suffering from malnutrition was 19, as compared with 23 for the previous year. This number includes bad and medium cases and It is pointed out that want of food is seldom the cause of the unsatisfactory physical condition of the children. The worst cases are reported as coming from the congested areas of the towns and the remote eountry districts. Ignorance and lack of time on the part of the parents, excessive strain on the strength of the children before and after school, and poor and cramped conditions in tie borne an all causes which may account to com* extent for a condition of malnutrition."