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The total number of candidates examined was 1,385 (474 males and 911 females), but some of
these attended for their first examination in the previous year. There were, however, 1,535 examinations
(509 males and 1,026 females); in 214 cases (58 males and 156 females) a second or third examination
was necessary. Of the number thus referred remedial treatment was satisfactorily obtained in 183
cases, five were rejected and 6 withdrew their applications ; 20 were still under consideration at the
close of the year. The total number of rejections was 17.
Candidates
for permanent
service.
The Council's scholarships and awards fall into three divisions, each of which requires different
treatment so far as the medical examination of candidates is concerned :—(a) County scholarships
enabling candidates to proceed to institutions of university rank; (6) Technical scholarships enabling
candidates to receive instruction in trades, and special scholarships ; (c) awards enabling candidates to
prepare for the teaching profession.
Candidates
for the award
of scholarships.
Including some of the candidates who attended for their first exannnation in the previous year and
were referred for further examination, the number of candidates examined was 5,646. There were, however,
6,945 examinations, the excess being due to the fact that in 1,254 cases a second or third examination
was necessary. 1,184 (or 94 per cent.) obtained satisfactory treatment, and were on re-examination
certified as fit. 100 candidates were found to be unfit, of these 12 were rejected (for two defects each);
75 were rejected as the result of their first examination, and 25 as the result of their subsequent examination.
The reasons for rejection were :—defective vision 48; unsatisfactory personal hygiene 10;
defective teeth 10; unsatisfactory general health 17; unsatisfactory condition of heart 2; miscellaneous 25.
There are also referred to the Public Health department special cases of employees in the
education service absent owing to personal illness ; questions in regard to students in institutions for
higher education whose health is considered such as to render exceptional attention advisable ; cases
ofteachers returning to duty after extended leave of absence (a) owing to personal illness ; (6) for educational
purposes; (c) to married women under No 31 of the Regulations in regard to the education
service ; cases of teachers about to be superannuated ; applications for special consideration owing to
wounds, etc., of teachers demobilised from H.M. Forces ; and claims received from teachers and others
in the permanent service for exceptional treatment as regards sick pay and re-imbursement of medical
and other expenses in respect of illnesses alleged to be due to the conditions under which they may have
been required to carry out their duties. The number of cases thus referred was 2,333 as compared with
1,806 in 1920, an increase of 527 or 29.2 per cent.
Cases
specially
referred.
The increase in the absences among teachers observed during recent years is obviously to some
extent the combined result of the war and the influenza epidemics of 1918 and onwards. In the case of
male teachers on active service, a considerable proportion of absences in 1920 was certified on medical
examination to be due to war service. The effects of the influenza epidemics of 1918 and 1919 can
scarcely, even now, be regarded as exhausted, there being little doubt that a number of cases of nervous
debility owe their origin to a severe attack of influenza. From a comparison of the records of 1912
with those of 1920, it would appear that allowance must be made for the gradual ageing of the teaching
staff. The average of a selected sample of women teachers examined in 1912 was 41.1 years, with an
average length of service of 12.5 years. In 1920 the average age in a like sample was found to be 44.3
years, and the average service 17.8 years. In the census of 1901 the number of female teachers resident
in London from 45 to 65 years of age was 2,418, while in 1911 they numbered 3,872. The amount of
sickness increases rapidly with advancing age, especially after the age of 40.
All applicants for admission to the Council s course of physical instruction, instituted during
1920 in order to train teachers to carry out the provisions of the Education Act, 1918, relative to the
physical education of school children, were examined. 1,530 examinations were conducted, an
increase of 51 per cent. on the number for the previous year. Over 9 per cent., actually 140 candidates,
were found to be unfit to undergo the prescribed course.
Physical
education of
teachers.
Defective children.
The total number of examinations conducted under the special Acts during the year was 6,015
as compared with 6,301 for 1920. 1,474 children (762 boys and 712 girls) were deemed suitable to
attend elementary schools, 88 (47 boys and 41 girls) schools for the blind, 329 (141 boys and 188 girls)
schools for myopes, 136 (54 boys and 82 girls) Swanley, 1,023 (534 boys and 489 girls) P.D. schools,
1,385 (784 boys and 601 girls) M.D. schools, 9 (8 boys and 1 girl) open air schools, 76 (34 boys and
42 girls) schools for the hard of hearing, 125 (73 boys and 52 girls) schools for the deaf, 53 (22 boys
and 31 girls) were epileptic, 540 (250 boys and 290 girls) invalided from school attendance, 114 (74 boys
and 40 girls) imbeciles, and 19 (8 boys and 11 girls) were idiots.
Admission
examinations-

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