HC Deb 03 April 1939 vol 345 cc2450-1
60. Mrs. Tate

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education whether he is aware that requests have been made to the Somerset Education Committee by the managers of the county schools, Pensford, for the installation of electric light in the schools, and that these requests have always been refused, although electricity is available within 50 yards of the building; and will he take steps to see that these requests are complied with?

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education (Mr. Kenneth Lindsay)

The answer to the first two parts of the question is in the affirmative. With regard to the last part, my information is that three of the four rooms in use at the Pensford School have adequate natural lighting and that there is some doubt about the natural lighting of the fourth room, about which the Board are communicating with the local education authority.

Mrs. Tate

Is my hon. Friend aware that the inspectors have looked at these schools only in summer, and that all the teachers are of the opinion that in winter the light is exceedingly inadequate, and is detrimental to the health of the children?

Mr. Lindsay

I will have a further look at the schools in winter.

61. Mrs. Tate

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education whether he is aware of the large number of children of school age in the villages of Publow and Pensford, Somerset, who are obliged to wear glasses; and whether he has any explanation to offer for the prevalence of this disability?

Mr. Lindsay

I am informed that at the Pensford School, at which the children from Publow also attend, the school medical inspection records show that of 106 children at the school 6 are wearing spectacles. I understand that the county medical officer and the county oculist are of the opinion that there is no indication of any abnormal prevalence of eye defects or of defective vision among the children attending this school in comparison with the remainder of the county.

Mr. Macquisten

Are the school textbooks printed in too small type?