MEDICAL INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13463, 16 April 1907, Page 6

MEDICAL INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS.

PROPOSALS IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

The Department of Public Instruction of New Soul h Wales has determined upon a scheme of medical inspection of the pupils of the public schools, similar to that suggested at the recent Medical Conference at Christ-church. The idea, according to the Sydney Daily Telegraph, seems to bo to make every teacher a sort of amateur doctor, and the teacher will report to the doctor attached to the Department any eases ho thinks require treatment, while the doctor himself will visit each selicol once a year to personally diagnose the cases of all the children in the school. Teachers are to lxi instructed in methods of eye testing, but tests of hearing will be carried out only by the medical officer. The appointment of a single doctor, whose time is already largely taken up with lectuies in physiology, appears to bo wholly, inadequate, but it is believed that the movement is a step in the right direction, since parents, who ate now by law made responsible for the mental education of their children, are considered equally responsible for their bodily welfare. The idea is by no means a new one, says the Sydney Daily Telegraph, " and to a certain extent, it has been acted upon by a. local dental association, which has made a systematic examination of the teeth of children in certain public schools. The bad lighting of many of the schools has been a matter for adverse comment for many years, and it is probable that a thorough test in eyesight would reveal a state of affairs that would bo appalling. For some time, teachers have been unanimous in urging the need for medical supervision of the children, and only a week or two ago a country association passed a resolution urging the Department to take action. But, if anything could have impressed the necessity for action, the report of the Education Commissioners should have done so. The Commissioners reported that 'where the lighting of the schools was not good, myopia was found to be more frequent and severe, and an experiment carried out in Lausanne showed that myopia occurred in 65 per cent, of the children examined. It is stated in the report referring to the ascertainment of defective vision and audition, that in the schools of cities and the larger towns this ought to lie done by properly qualified physicians, who ought to bo officers of the Department of Public Instruction, and specialists in hygiene.' In the conclusions formed as the result of their investigation, the Commissioners stated that there should be systematic examinations, and that regular school physicians should be appointed so that the present forward move seems a belated report of the Commissioners' report."