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44
occasion it was the Infants' Department alone that was affected.
This clearly shows the great preponderance of Infectious Disease
in the Infants Department.
The frequent occurrence of illness amongst infants is also
serious from another point of view, for when an infant is attacked
by Infectious Disease, its brothers and sisters have also to be excluded
from school. They therefore frequently lose many weeks
of valuable time, and there is moreover a considerable loss of grant
owing to the diminished school attendance.
From an educational point of view there is also no advantage
in admitting children under five, for children commencing at the
age of six or seven soon overtake those commencing earlier.
In Switzerland, which Sir John Gorst has described as
"probably the best educated country in the world," children are
not admitted under 7, while in no other country in Europe are
children admitted under 6.
The too early stimulation of the imperfectly developed brain
of a young child may also lead to premature arrest of its growth,
while eye defects may be seriously increased or even caused unless
care is taken to avoid "near" work, or work with very small
objects.
If, therefore, there is no educational advantage and if the
presence of these young children in elementary schools is
associated with an increased amount of Infectious Disease,
it follows that it must also be financially unsound, as it
causes a waste of funds in providing buildings and staff without
any corresponding advantages.
Therefore, speaking solely from the point of view of Public
Health, children under 5 should certainly be excluded. Personally,
I should be glad if the age for admission was raised to
6 or even 7 years of age.