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13
The health
of the
leaving child
The results of the examination which takes place in the term prior to that in
which the children are due to leave school are available at the school-leaving conference,
and are of assistance in determining the choice of a suitable occupation.
Coming at the end of the school career, the examination is useful in estimating the
results of medical attention received since the children entered school.
This year's "leaver" group comprised 21,014 boys and 21,060 girls. In nutrition
they were found to be better than the younger groups, only 4.7 per cent. of the
boys and 4.2 per cent. girls being classed as subnormal, whereas in the three prescribed
ages, 7.3 per cent. were considered subnormal.
In personal cleanliness, this group also shows an improvement on the 11-year-old
group, 98.6 per cent. boys and 97.1 per cent. girls having perfectly clean heads. The
dental condition of this group was found to be slightly inferior to that of the 11-yearold
group, for both boys and girls, the percentage with satisfactory mouths being
75.8 in the case of boys, and 74.5 in the case of girls, compared with 76.9 and 77.8
respectively in the 11-year-old group. In other respects, the "leaver" children
showed an improvement in health over the 11-year-old group.
Spinal curvature in the "leaver" girls was reported in .7 per cent. compared
with .5 per cent. at age 11; on the other hand, heart defect in the "leaver"
girls was 1.5 per cent., compared with 1.6 per cent. in the 11-year-old group. The
older girls invariably present more cases of spinal curvature and heart defect than do
the older boys. The percentage of spinal defect in "leaver" boys was .4 per cent.
and of heart defect 1.2 per cent.
The falling off in the condition of the teeth of the "leaver" children is not a
satisfactory feature of the school medical work. It is due partly to the fact that,
until the latter part of 1937, skilled inspection of the teeth by the inspecting dental
surgeons had not extended in all cases to the children aged 12 and 13 years, but
had ceased at the age of 11 in many schools.
The re-organisation of the upper classes of schools has also caused difficulty in the
way of following up the older children.
"Choice of employment" slips are supplied to school doctors, to be made out
for every leaver who possesses some disability which affects choice of employment.
These slips show the following occupational conditions for which a child might be
unsuitable, and are attached to the school-leaving form, thus being available at
the school-leaving conferences: heavy manual work; sedentary confined work;
work involving exposure to bad weather; work in a dusty atmosphere; climbing;
proximity to moving machinery; prolonged standing; eye-strain; work requiring
acute distant vision or acute hearing; handling of confectionery; food preparation.
The schopl doctor indicates any of these occupational groups for which a child
is physically unsuitable.
In connection with the Education Act, 1936, and the prospective raising of the
school-leaving age to fifteen years in September, 1939, consideration has been given to
the question of the leaving examination.
The Board of Education, in circular 1457, suggested that, in considering exemptions
claimed under the plea of beneficial employment, the local education authority
should have before them information in regard to the medical record of the child.
This information, in the opinion of the Board, should take the form of a confidential
medical report similar to that already described above and based upon contraindications
to certain occupational conditions.
In view of the doubts at present existing as to the extent to which in London
exemptions on account of beneficial employment will be claimed, it has been decided
that, at any rate at first, the leaving examination should continue to take place when
the children are approaching 14 years of age. The "employment slip" already in
use has been suitably altered for the purpose and it has been decided that one shall be
issued for every leaving child and not as heretofore, only in cases where some contraindication
is found to exist.
This arrangement has been brought into force in January, 1939, and will ensure
that a medical report in the form suggested by the Board will exist for every leaving
child.