HEALTH IN THE SCHOOLS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17780, 13 May 1921, Page 6

HEALTH IN THE SCHOOLS.

THE FLOOR SPACE STANDARD. " You see, we are not such a disgraceful lot of people as some of our critics would make out," said the Hon. C. J. Parr, Minister for Education, in speaking about overcrowded schools at a conference with the Canterbury Education Board. The Minister was referring to the Education Department's standard of floor space for each child in a school (12 square feet). This, he said, was very high, judged by the standards of other countries. He had found that 10 square feet was the rule in Queensland and New South Wales. Lately, he had studied the plans of several new schools erected on city and suburban sites by the London County Council, a body which was responsible for the education of the children of 8,000,000 people. He had worked out the floor space for each child, and found that it ranged from 9.2 to 9.7 square feet per child. This showed that, at any rate, New Zealand was not lagging behind. In 2300 out of 2500 schools in the Dominion the conditions were perfectly healthful. In 150 the conditions were "better than the average in Australia. In the remaining 50 the standard was possibly under 12 square feet, but certainly not under 10 square feet.