HYGIENIC EDUCATION

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21744, 28 March 1936, Page 17

HYGIENIC EDUCATION

French Nursery Schools. A Report by F. Hawtrey. J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd. 87 pp. (1/6 net.)

In the 3808 French nursery schools are more than 400,000 children, some only two years of age, all under six. Their earliest counterpart was the “salle d’asile” first established by Denis Cochin in 1827. The model school on whose foundation and maintenance Cochin spent a fortune was the beginning of , a comprehensive system for providing children with means for washing, exercise, and sleep, and for giving food and clothes to those who needed them. As early as 1848, one of the female inspectors of nursery schools laid down a principle not out-of-date to-day: “In order to know children one must live with them and share their experiences, effacing oneself so that they may be free to express their impulses.” This principle was early connected with the prescription for small children, “Nurture ah|l not education.” The latter precept, epitomises modern French practice, a practice observed the more thoroughly since the Great War as the need to safeguard the race has become more pressing. Hygiene is here the key to health, moral as well as physical. The pictures and descriptions collected by Miss Hawtrey show remarkably complete hygienic observances. Baths, basins, and showers, running water in each class-room, nickel tumblers, tooth-brushes, and disinfectant for nail cleaners are amply provided—all of the best varieties known. In these hygienic departments the surroundings are made as bright, clean, and cheerful as the rest rooms, and class-rooms. In some schools are electrical apparatus to dry the hair and large bottles of eau-de-Cologne. Specially trained officers preside over each department. According to the parents’ circumstances or wishes the school day may be as long as from 7.30 a.m. to 7 p.m., or as short as three hours in the morning or afternoon. There is a medical examination at least monthly, with a system of training mothers to co-operate with the work of the school. A teacher on the lowest scale earns a salary of £145; on the highest, of £397. Miss Hawtrey’s information was collected during a stay of only six weeks in France, but no more facts are needed to show the enlightened thoroughness of this stage of French education. Miss Hawtrey analyses the grades of such schools, describes the duties of each assistant, and adds, in appendices, translations of departmental regulations and instructions. Diet, clothing, cost of food, and sources of income are also explained. The book is useful indeed to all who take part in infant education, and interesting to all who are concerned with the training of this generation.