HC Deb 12 April 1923 vol 162 cc1318-9W
Mr. C. WILSON

asked the President of the Board of Education whether his attention has been called to the report of the Sheffield school medical officer, in which he states that tulerculosis is a very frequent cause of ill-health among school children, and in which he further compares the rate of exclusion per 1,000 in the larger elementary schools, from which it appears that in schools where there is poverty the rate of exclusion shows an average in 1922 of nearly 15.0 per 1,000, and in schools where there is not poverty the rate is only 2. per 1,000; and whether these figures apply generally to schools throughout the country?

Mr. WOOD

I have received the usual official copy of the report in ques- tion, and the figures relating to the incidence of tuberculosis among school children at Sheffield will be reviewed with other similar returns as usual in the Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer to the Board. I am advised that the returns for Sheffield are not representative of the country as a whole. The hon. Member will find the subject discussed in the Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer for 1920, published in August, 1921, pages 134–145.