View report page

MEDICAL INSPECTION
The primary reason for medical inspection is to ensure the fitness of school
children to benefit from the education provided. This is achieved by the early
detection of any defect with subsequent referral for treatment either by the family
doctor or the School Health Service.
Under Section 48 of the Education Act, 1944, it is the duty of every local
education authority to provide for the medical inspection, at appropriate intervals,
of pupils in attendance at any school or county college maintained by them. The
local education authority also has power to provide inspection of senior pupils
in any other educational establishment maintained by them. The authority may
require pupils to undergo medical inspection in the absence of reasonable excuse.
The arrangements in Enfield are for medical inspection to be carried out on
school entry, at eight years of age, ten years of age, and also at school-leaving
age. Children in nursery classes are examined twice a year. Notes of the facilities
available at clinics under the School Health Service are now issued, for the information
of parents, to all school entrants at their first medical inspection. A medical
officer visits Southgate Technical College fortnightly to interview students seeking
advice about their health; 221 were interviewed. During the year a similar scheme
was introduced at the Enfield College of Technology, and 87 students were interviewed.
The only other establishment for further education in the Borough is
Trent Park College which is a teachers’ Training College. Students are medically
examined before admission and a general practitioner is available for consultation.
In December, 1966, the number of pupils on the register of maintained primary
and secondary schools, including nursery and special schools, was 35,967.
During the year, 12,221 children were examined at routine medical inspection
and none was found to come within the official category of unsatisfactory physical
condition, which is based upon the summing up of the medical officers’ opinion of
the child’s physical fitness.
Colour Vision
The medical examination at ten years of age includes a colour vision test by
the Ishihara method. Those found by the Ishihara plates to have a defect are retested
by the Giles Archer Lantern test. Ten years of age is an appropriate age at
which to discover any colour vision defect likely to be of disadvantage or a bar
to the child’s entry to certain occupations. One hundred and fifty-two children
were found on the Ishihara test to have a degree of colour blindness, and 101 were
tested by the Giles Archer Lantern. Of these, 18 were found to be normal, 35
were found to be safe and 48 unsafe in relation to certain practical standards for
employment.
99