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"Accordingly, the myopes in the borough have been roughly
divided into three groups:—
"Group 1.
Children suffering from early or slight myopia which is
not rapidly progressing. These children are allowed to do
normal school work, but are kept under close supervision by the
oculist, in order that any deterioration in their sight may be
discovered early.
"Group 2.
Children with moderate myopia. These children sit near
the blackboard at school and use only books with large letterpress.
They are allowed only short continuous spells of reading
and writing and their homework is reduced as far as possible.
Both their teachers and their parents are advised to encourage
any mechanical bent they may possess and to teach them to
rely for recreation on occupations which do not involve close
use of the eyes.
"Group 3.
Children with severe myopia or a rapidly progressive
condition. For these oral teaching only is allowed and reading
and writing are prohibited. Every effort is made to train
them, in school and at home, for occupations which make no
severe demand on the eyes.
No hard and fast rules for classification can be laid down.
Every case has to be classified on its merits and the grading
is always open to modification in the light of a child's later
progress. In the not infrequent unfortunate case of a severe
myope who shows unusual ability at school it is often wise
not to curtail the child's school work until continued observation
over a period has shown what the result is likely to be.
As soon as the experts now in conference on the matter
offer clear guidance, the whole scheme will be re-arranged
to the best possible advantage. Meanwhile, we can only
continue on the above lines with what is, at best, but a temporisation.