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77
Deficient cleanliness was found in 9.9 per cent. of leaving girls compared with
11.9 at age 12.
Defective teeth were recorded in 28.6 per cent. of leaving boys compared with
29.1 at age 12 and in 28.6 per cent. of girls compared with 27.6.
Very severe degree of dental defect was reported in 2.2 per cent. of leaving
boys and 2.1 of leaving girls compared with 2.8 and 2.3 respectively at age 12.
615 per cent. of leaving boys had normal vision against 57.8 per cent. at age
12 and 566 per cent. of girls against 53.7.
In almost every other circumstance the leaving were superior to the 12-year-old
children.
There was less otorrhœa, less anaemia and even in the case of postural curvature
of the spine there was no increase in the incidence on girls of 14 compared with
those of 12.
Very valuable work is done at special inspections. Children flagging in energy
or absent from school for illness are brought before the school doctor at the first
convenient opportunity. 38,753 children were inspected outside the age groups in
1926. Amongst them were 853 cases of malnutrition, 314 of scabies, 3,799 of
defective vision, 566 squint, 1,067 external eye disease, 1,267 of discharging ears,
1,706 of anaemia, 429 of tuberculosis actual or suspected, 314 of epilepsy, 498 of
chorea, 421 of paralysis, etc., and 522 of deformity. In many of these conditions
the cases found at special inspections outnumbered all the cases detected at all
the age group inspections lumped together.
Special
inspections.
The survey of the statistics of medical inspections shows that, while there is
still much leeway to be made up, while still many children leave school with defects
unremedied, there is year by year a notable improvement; this is especially marked
in the case of personal hygiene, dental conditions and visual defect. It also shows
that much of the defect is due to causes over which the schools can have no direct
control, and that these causes operate most profoundly upon the infant child in the
pre-school years.
The net
results.
The records show an improvement in the health of the children during school
life and an intensification of the activities of children's care in the two years immediately
preceding the school leaving age. The school medical service is a receiver
of damaged goods and spends most of its time and energies in patching them up.
What is now required is an intensification of social effort directed to the care of the
infant in arms and the toddler before school age, so that children shall come to
school in the beginning with constitutions unimpaired and with bodies attuned to
receive the mental, moral and physical education which it is the primary function
of the school organisation to impart.
Medical Inspection of Pupils at Higher Education Institutions.
All pupils at secondary schools and technical institutes are seen by the school
doctor annually, but the complete schedule of examination prescribed by the Board
of Education is only filled in on entrance and at the ages of 12 and 15. In all,
6,429 male and 7,072 female pupils were seen by the school doctors during 1926.
In addition, 2,425 pupils who were under observation for defects were reinspected.
The number of male pupils inspected at the age of 12 was 1,300; of these 94
(7.2 per cent.) were below normal in nutrition and one was found in an emaciated
condition. Some degree of dental caries was found in 294 (22.6 per cent.), severe
dental caries in 31 (2.4 per cent.), 341 (26.2 per cent.) failed to pass the vision test, of
these 179 (13.7 per cent.) had more serious visual defect; 6 boys had ear disease;
13 defective hearing; 6 speech defects; 31 defects of heart and circulation; 57
(4.4 per cent.) were anæmic, 9 had defects of the lungs; 9 of the nervous system;
14 of the spine; 53 (4.1 per cent.) were flat footed.
At age 15,1,632 pupils were fully examined. 85 (5.2 per cent.) were below normal
14172 F