§ 39. Sir J. D. REESasked the President of the Board of Education whether the Government proposes to provide for the development of open-air schools, in order that the physical deficiences of the poorer children in our public elementary schools, to which the tables of heights, weights, and state of nutrition testify, may receive attention without addition to the existing rates and taxes?
§ The PRESIDENT of the BOARD of EDUCATION (Mr. Joseph Pease)The Board of Education already pay Grants in aid of open-air schools for children suffering from tuberculosis and other ailments for which open-air treatment is specially suitable. The Government are fully alive to the importance of the subject of open-air 718 schools, but they are also alive to the difficulty of the problem of developing the national system of education in any direction without further expenditure of public money, which would have to be provided out of either rated or taxes, or both.
§ Mr. WEDGWOODMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether it would not be better to secure decent housing for the children?