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xvii.
I understand that the whole question of the medical inspection of School
children in our district has been referred to a Sub-Committee, and that in
the meantime no further action is to be taken, but I assume that the matter
will have to be considered at some future time, and the arguments for and
against the appointment of a School Doctor discussed.
I should like to suggest one or two points with regard to the financial
aspect of the question. The matter of cost is frequently referred to in the
Report I have already quoted, but I am unable to agree with the conclusions
drawn so far as they would apply to this district. The Report states that
in no place has the cost of medical inspection exceeded one-tenth of a penny
in the pound. No figures, however, are given as to the number of children
and the value of a penny rate in any one district, or the basis on which
the calculation of expense was made.
There are nearly 6000 School children and about 200 teachers in this
district, and I do not think that their medical inspection could be carried
out at the present time at a less cost than the amount that would represent
a rate of from a third of a penny to a halfpenny in the pound. The rate
required would, however, tend to become less each year, for the cost of
inspection would only increase slowly, if at all, whereas the value of a halfpenny
rate becomes more every year.
I am informed that the present cost of education in this district amounts
to a rate of 1/4 in the pound. Even the addition of a halfpenny would only
amount to an increase of a little more than 3 per cent. on this rate, supposing
that the whole cost of the extra expenditure was borne by the ratepayer.
But there is another aspect to the question of expense that I think may be
quite fairly taken into account, and that is that medical inspection may be
expected to a certain extent to re-pay some of the outlay.
Taking the figures given in your last Annual Report, I find that the
sum received from the Board of Education, that is the Annual Grant based
on attendance only, amounted to about £9,200. During the same year the
number of children on the books was 5664, and the average attendance was 4796.
This, I conclude, means that adding together the various days on which
children were absent from School, the total number of children during the year
who might have attended, but for some cause or other did not, amounted to 868.