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72
In the Report of the Education Committee of the London
County Council for the year ended March 31st, 1905, the
following appears :—
"School or class closure in each case is decided on
individually and upon its merits. We can now get the
returns from the school so quickly that it is safe to judge
as to school infection from these returns. As a rule, when
measles appear in a single class of an infants' school closure
is applied, but where several classes are affected from the
first, and especially where several schools in a district are
affected, it is held that the district is generally affected, and
experience has shown that school or class closure is of no
benefit.
"Excepting the Borough of Lewisham the method of
closing a school on account of the prevalence of measles, and
because the attendance has dropped 10 or 20 per cent., has
now been abandoned throughout the Metropolis."
I am at a loss to understand upon what grounds the
statement that in Lewisham the schools are closed because the
attendance has dropped 10 or '20 per cent., is based. I am in
perfect accord with the view that if school closure in consequence
of measles is to be of any benefit, such closure must be
accomplished upon the appearance of the first cases. This has
been our invariable rule, and in 17 cases we were able to obtain
the closure of the class-rooms apparently before the Education
Authority were aware of the danger existing. In seven
instances, however, the Education Authority were before us in
ordering the closure, in some of which cases the Head Teachers
had omitted to send us the notifications as directed by the
School Management Code.
In nearly every case where the closure of the class-rooms
was effected it was followed by considerable benefit.
The following is a list of the schools closed during the
year on account of the prevalence of measles among the
scholars:—