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8
verminous conditions and 135 owing to the children being in a dirty
state, generally.
With regard to nits and vermin in the hair the procedure varies
according to the frequency with which the same child is brought under
scrutiny. Repeated offences lead to the exclusion of the child from
school until the Medical Officer is satisfied that a remedy has been
effectually applied. Alternatively, a Statutory Notice is served upon the
parent, under the Children Act, and the nits are cut away from the hair.
Children brought under notice for the first or second time with
nits or vermin in the hair are advised how to have the hair cleansed
or are assisted in the actual cleansing.
Prosecutions under the School Attendance Bye-laws were undertaken
in connection with verminous conditions in 18 cases. Fines were
inflicted in respect of 14 of these cases, and 4 Attendance Orders were
made.
99 Notices were served under Section 122 of the Children Act,
1908, in respect of verminous conditions.
MEDICAL TREATMENT.
The system of administering medical treatment in respect of defects
found amongst school children has not been modified during the year in
any particular. Some modifications are in contemplation, but will not
be brought into effect until next year. They relate to the Institutional
treatment of certain diseases m respect of which some measure
of risk attaches to the treatment ; for instance, the operative treatment
of tonsils and adenoids, and the X-Ray treatment of ringworm.
In respect of otorrhoea your Committee has given its formal
sanction, and the Board of Education has given its consent, to the
treatment by ionic medication, at our centre, of this complaint which
has proved one of the most difficult problems with which the department]
has been confronted. The centre is being equipped and the treatment
will be brought into operation at an early date.
The Board of Education has at length given its permission for
the opening of two classes for physically defective children in Tottenham.
It is expected that by this means some 40 or 50 children, who are at
present either receiving no education, or are receiving education at an
elementary school at some measure of risk to themselves, will be instructed
under more advantageous conditions. It is anticipated that these
classes will 'be available for suitable scholars after next Easter recess.