4.— HEALTH TEACHING IN SCHOOLS, WITH SPECIAL 

 REFERENCE TO NATIVE SCHOOLS. 



By Neil MacVicah, M.D., D.P.H., F.R.I.P.H. 



The teacliinj^ of liealtli in scliools is a subject tliat in Soutli Africa 

 has not as yet received a great deal of public attention. Yet there are 

 reasons why in this country it should be regarded as of especial im- 

 portance. The chief of these is that we have here in our midst a 

 great native and coloui'ed population, whose ignorance of the laws 

 of health is a constant menace not only to themselves, but also to the 

 white race witli whom they mingle. The annual death-rate among 

 the natives and coloured people living in the chief towns of the 

 Cape Colony is very high. It averages about 40 per 1000 of the 

 population. 



In these circumstances it is natural to look to the schools for a 

 remedy. It is difficult to see how else to reach the people most con- 

 cerned. This paper is an attempt to outline what is being done now 

 in this and other countries to provide health teaching in scho<jls, and 

 to discuss briefly the methods employed with a view to the require- 

 ments of native schools in South Africa. 



Among the various school codes of the different countries several 

 quite distinct conceptions of health teaching have found expression. 

 In man}'^ training colleges instruction is given in what is called 

 " school hygiene." This refers to such matters as the cubic space and 

 ventilation of school-rooms, the early symptoms of children's diseases, 

 testing of sight and hearing, the study of school methods and curricula 

 with a view to the avoidance of unhygienic demands being made upon 

 the children, school hours, the children's food, p\fiy, cleanliness, the 

 special requirements of cliildren with defects and diseases, etc. This 

 is essentially a course for teachers. 



In many schools lessons are given in elementary physiology, the 

 intention generally being to educe useful health lessons, and in this 

 connection the effects upon the human body of alcohol and narcotics 

 may be discussed. 



In some countries lessons are given in "public liealth." Large 

 practical questions affecting the healtli of cojnmunities as a whole — for 

 example, water supplies, vaccination laws and the like — are explained 

 and discussed. The idea here is to prepare the scholars for intelligent 

 citizenship. In certain schools lessons are given in "first aid" and 

 "sick nursing," the latter including the care and feeding of infants. 



It is thus apparent that the subject of liealth teaching in schools 

 is capable of development in quite a variety of directions, and in order 

 to avoid confusion as we pass in review the different systems, two main 

 principles may be stated which underlie the methods employed. 



In the first place, it is obvious that the value of any system 

 depends upon what the teachers are taught. In examining any system, 



