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28
HOUSE ACCOMMODATION.
79 plans were deposited for the erection of 272 houses
14 plans were deposited for 14 additions,
34 plans were deposited for 34 drainage relays.
MEDICAL INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS.
I think the time has come for the Council to consider
the question of the medical inspection of the elementary
schools under their charge.
The subject is a large and important one, for it concerns
not only the efficient working of the schools, but the health
of the general community of the district. Much could be
done by frequent medical inspection to check the spread of
infectious diseases before they assume an epidemic form,
and by the routine periodical examination of all children,
physical defects could be discovered, and in many cases
remedied; thus securing a better physique and more satisfactory
results from the point of view of the teacher.
At present the responsibility thrown upon the teacher of
excluding from school any children suspected of having any
of the diseases, such as Measles, Whooping Cough, Chicken
Pox, or Mumps which cause so much loss in school attendance,
is too great, and calls for a larger amount of independence
of judgment and medical knowledge than can reasonably
be expected.
In my opinion in addition to the general supervision which
so far 1 have exercised as Medical Officer of Health, there
should be some provision made by which in certain areas
the services of a local practitioner would be available either