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At the second International Congress 011 School Hygiene, held in London
in 1897, in his paper opening a discussion on "The Lower Limit of Age for
School Attendance "Br. Arthur Newsholme, then Medical Officer of Health,
Brighton, now Medical Officer of the Local Government Board, said in regard
to the direct question of the lower age limit, '' none of these percentages,
however, settle the point at issue One has, therefore, to fall back upon
experience in administration, which always shows that attendance at school
increases the risk of importation of infection into homes ; and upon the
a priori high degree of probability that if children were not admitted to school
until after five years of age the results would be that {a) fewer families would
become infected; and (h) the children of those families still becoming infected
would be infected; on the average at a higher age, with the result that fewer
deaths would occur." This experience is confirmed by the statistics of
diminishing mortality already quoted in regard to the diminishing number of
children in London attending school at ages 3 to 5.
Since then a noteworthy Report was issued in 1908 by the Consultation
Committee of the Board of Education, which was lead up to by certain events.
After the Education Act of 1902 came into force some authorities became
more and more doubtful of the value of the attendance at school of children
under five years of age. I11 1905 the Board of Education added to Article 53
of the Code a proviso that—"where the Local Education Authority have so
determined in the case of any school maintained by them, children who are
under five years of age may be refused admission to that school,"Discussion
of the subject still continued, and in April, 1907, the Board of Education made
a reference to their Consultative Committee "to consider and advise the Board
of Education in regard to the desirability or otherwise, both on educational
and other grounds, of discouraging the attendance at school of children under
the age of (say) five years, on the assumption that, in the event of the change
being found generally desirable, the moneys now payable bv the Board of
Education in the shape of grants in respect of the attendance of such children
should still be payable to the Local Education Authorities in greater relief of
their expenditure in educating the children over five years of age."
I11 August, 1907, the second International Congress on School Hygiene was
held in London, and in Section VII. the conditions affecting attendance at
school were discussed, those in regard to infectious diseases being prominent,
and measles received a considerable share of attention.
In July, 1908, the Consultative Committee of the Board of Education issued
a large 8vo Report upon the "School Attendance of Cliildren below the Age
of Five,"the volume consisting of four Parts and Appendices, and the Report
proper of the Committee being contained in Part II.
The Committee strongly recommended the appointment of a body of experts
to make a thorough and conclusive inquiry into the question of the impurity
of the air in public elementary schools, and the best methods of heating and
ventilation. There was no recommendation for an inquiry into the question
of infection and the methods of preventing morbidity and mortality from this
cause, and the question of the cleansing of schools, the most practical form
of disinfection, and one of the means for remedying the impurity of the air of
schools, was not considered.