Recommenda tions adopted by this Department. Children excluded from school. Rules for exclusion of children. 5. That the resident doctor be appointed to attend all cases of ophthalmia, and that he receive a salary for his services. 6. That the head teacher of the State school be protected against loss of salary, in consequence of the falling off in the attendance of school children under the doctor's treatment. 7. That a sanatorium be erected at some point on the shores of Moreton Bay, near Brisbane, for the reception and treatment of chronic eye cases unable to pay for private treatment. 8. That a qualified ophthalmic surgeon be appointed for the Northern, Central, and Southern districts of the State, to examine the refraction of the State and Convent school children's eyes, and to prescribe correcting glasses where required. 9. That in places where the hospital is situated some distance from the town provision be made to treat chronic eye cases among the children attending as out-patients at the hospital at some central building in town. 10. That provision be made at each hospital for the isolation and treatment of cases of acute contagious ophthalmia. 11. That a trained nurse be appointed to take nursing charge of the cases of acute contagious ophthalmia admitted into each hospital. 12. That the verandas and end windows of the State school and Convent school buildings be enclosed with wire gauze. 4. Of those recommendations, Nos. 1, 6, and 12 are the only ones in regard to which the Department can take immediate action; the others are matters of State policy, and the Government has not yet had an opportunity to consider them and determine a course of action. As Dr. Taylor points out in his report, difference of opinion exists as to the efficacy of enclosing the verandas and windows of school-houses with wire gauze. However, the Department has decided to try the experiment, and action to that end has already been taken; the results of the experiment will be watched with much interest. 5. Blight has always been regarded by the Department as an infectious disease, and the official regulations require that all pupils suffering from infectious disease, or who belong to homes in which there is infectious disease, shall be excluded from school till danger of their conveying infection has ceased. 6. In 1904 the Board of Health prepared special rules for the Department in regard to infectious diseases. As the existence of these rules does not appear to be widely known outside of the schools they are quoted here: On the recommendation of the Commissioner of Public Health, the Minister has approved of the following regulations respecting the exclusion from school attendance of pupils suffering from certain infectious diseases or living in homes in which infectious disease exists. The Minister requires a strict compliance with these regulations. 1. The diseases to which these regulations apply are principally those of childhood, and which spread by infection directly from person to person, and include:-Scarlet Fever, Measles, Diphtheria, Whooping-cough, Chicken-pox, Mumps, Influenza, Ringworm, and Blight. 2. A pupil suffering from an infectious disease must be excluded from school, and must not be readmitted until the teacher is furnished with a certificate from a legally qualified medical practitioner that the pupil is free from disease and that the danger of conveying infection has ceased. 3. In cases where it is not practicable to obtain a medical certificate, the pupil must not be readmitted to school until the teacher is satisfied that the risk of infection has ceased. From the date when the disease becomes manifested to the teacher, or is known to exist, the period of exclusion usually is as shown in the following table: 4. Children coming from homes in which an infectious disease exists, but who are not themselves suffering from the disease, shall be excluded until the expiry of the incubation period, which, reckoning from the date of last exposure to infection, is : 5. Parents should be exhorted to keep healthy children away from the patient. 6. If a case of infectious or communicable disease occurs in the house in which a teacher lives, he should remove, arranging so that he shall wear clean clothes at his new residence until those which have been exposed to infection have been cleansed. If removal be impracticable, he should refrain from attending school until such time as the risk of conveying infection has ceased. 7. In the case of epidemics, the teacher should be careful to note whether symptoms occur in any of the pupils which might indicate the beginning of disease, such as heat of the skin, shivering, headaches, and langour, especially if they begin suddenly; also vomiting, rashes on the skin, or sore throat. Measles is very infectious in its early stages, even before the characteristic rash has appeared, and while the symptoms resemble those of a common cold. When Scarlet Fever or Diphtheria is prevalent, the teacher should be specially observant and careful when scholars show throat symptoms, for these usually mark the beginning of those diseases. Contacts in Typhoid Fever cases are not to be excluded from school. only vehicle for infection. 7. These rules will show how careful the Department is in trying to prevent Schools not the schools from becoming a medium through which infection may be conveyed. conveying Many people are prone to thoughtlessly condemn schools as being the chief, if not the only, vehicle for conveying infection, but they appear to forget that out of 8,760 hours in the year a child is only in school 1,460 hours, or one hour out of six, even if he attends every hour in which the school is open. If the homes of the pupils were uniformly as clean, roomy, airy, and well situated as school buildings are, and the laws of health were as strictly observed, there would probably be much less disease than there is. Regulations. 8. In view of the great and ever-increasing importance of school hygiene, New appendix to it is intended to embody in the new Regulations of the Department an appendix dealing with the subject. The Commissioner of Public Health has been good enough to prepare the appendix, and it includes hygiene of school life-hints to to teachers; infectious diseases, including ophthalmia; the cleansing and disinfection of schools and school furniture and closets, drains, &c.; the ventilation of schoolrooms; and other matters relating to school hygiene. I am much indebted to Dr. Ham for his kindly and helpful assistance. assi t 9. The Department may do all that it is possible to do to mitigate the evils Parents should of blight, and to prevent the spread of infectious diseases generally, but if parents Department. fail to do their part the Department's efforts will be unavailing. ARBOR DAY. 10. Arbor Day was celebrated at 126 schools during the year, on various When held. dates from May to December. 11. The weather conditions appear to have been favourable in most places, Conditions. and much good work was done. help. 12. The school committees and parents continue to take a great interest Committees in the function, and cheerfully assist the teachers in their efforts to beautify the school grounds, and at the same time instil into the children a love for trees and flowers. Winter course at Gatton College. Good results following. Winter course at Kamerunga Nursery. Prizes for best agricultural work. AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 13. The annual course of instruction for teachers was held at the Gatton Agricultural College during the first two weeks of July. The course was attended by sixty teachers, and was particularly successful. Many of the teachers took milk and cream testing as one of the branches of agriculture in which they desired instruction. The instruction was so systematized that the teachers might qualify for the certificates of proficiency in milk and cream testing issued by the Department of Agriculture and Stock. At the close of the course an examination in milk and cream testing was held, and thirty teachers sat; they all gained certificates. Several of those teachers who are stationed in dairying districts have taken milk and cream testing as one of the branches of Nature Study to be taught in their schools. The Department found half of the cost of the apparatus. 14. The Inspectors' reports show that considerable good is resulting from the Gatton courses, and that they are assisting in giving a practical trend to the education of children in country districts. The following extract from an Inspector's report of a school is typical of many reports received:-" Apart from his school duties, Mr. is an enthusiast in poultry-rearing and in the cultivation of fodder grasses the type of man desirable in an agricultural district. He had the privilege of visiting the Gatton College with other teachers, and the knowledge and experience he gained there is availed of by surrounding farmers in the locality. He brought fowls back with him, or sent for them after his return to his school duties. He has nine different varieties of grasses growing in his school garden, which his pupils are conversant with, and know their butter-producing qualities. The children occasionally take tufts of these grasses to their farm homes for their fathers to plant. Hence his visit to Gatton has been of exceeding value to his district." 15. Arrangements have been made for the holding of a course of instruction for teachers at the Kamerunga State Nursery during the winter vacation of 1908. The course will consist of lectures on the practical culture of tropical economic products, together with practical demonstrations in harvesting and preparing products for market, in tapping and collecting rubber, in setting seed, potting, planting, pruning, grafting, budding, &c. As the Kamerunga Nursery is not organized on the same extensive scale as the Gatton College, the course of instruction will naturally be a more modest one, but it is hoped that good results will be obtained, and that it may be found profitable to hold the courses each year. 16. The system of awarding prizes for the best-kept and most attractive school grounds or gardens, and the best agricultural and experimental work, was continued in 1907. The granting of such prizes is found to be an incentive to teachers and pupils to beautify the school grounds or to engage in experimental agricultural work. I think that the time is approaching when an instructor in agriculture might be appointed. He might visit the schools in the agricultural districts, give practical instruction to teachers and pupils in the principles of agriculture, the laying-out of experimental plots, gardens, and orchards; the planting and tending of fruit trees and vines; methods of cultivation; manures and their application, &c. There is much good and useful work which might be done in this connection by a suitable instructor. Number. Mounted CADET CORPS. 17. Number of Cadets.-On 1st July, 1907, provision was made for an increase in the number of School Cadets in Queensland from 2,562 to 4,016. The strength of the original five battalions was raised from 512 each to 669, and a sixth battalion of 669 Cadets was established. At the same time the establishment of the Senior Cadets was raised from 512 to 994, and a squadron of Mounted Cadets was added, thus giving a grand total of all Cadets in Queensland of 5,082. 18. Mounted Cadets.-Being of an experimental nature, only one squadron of seventy-two of all ranks was allotted to Queensland. This squadron was divided into three troops, and established in Gatton, Highfields, and Gympie. Mounted Cadet Corps are formed of youths between the ages of fourteen and nineteen years, and it is intended to extend the system in the farming districts. The youths provide their own horses and saddlery, but uniforms, arms, accoutrements, and ammunition are provided on the same system as with Senior Cadet Corps. Many more could be raised. 19. Further Increase. The increase provided during the year for Queens- Companies land was soon absorbed by our cities and schools, and it is estimated that in 1908 this State will be ready for a further addition of one battalion of Cadets, half a battalion of Senior Cadets, and two extra squadrons of Mounted Cadets. Up to the present the Cadet movement has been limited generally to the more settled districts, but it is hoped that in the near future Cadets will be established in schools wherever there are fifteen boys of suitable age. 20. Drill, &c.-Our 5,082 Cadets, and the Senior and Mounted Cadets are fully uniformed and equipped; they are being instructed in habits of discipline, and are being trained to march and drill. All schools in which Cadet Corps are established, with three exceptions, receive regular visits at least once per fortnight, and in the majority of cases once per week, from efficient drill instructors of the military forces. How trained. Schools for 21. Schools of Instruction.-There are at present 213 teachers serving as instruction of officers in our Cadet Corps. To enable them to qualify for military rank, schools officers. of instruction have been held during the year at Charters Towers and Townsville, the course at each place extending over a period of one month. These schools were largely attended, not only by Cadet officers, but by several teachers not at present connected with Cadet Corps, who were desirous of receiving instruction in the latest military drill, so that they might be fitted to train their pupils in the ordinary school drill. A camp of instruction was also held at Southport for a period of three weeks during the midsummer vacation, and this was attended by 100 Cadet officers. It is proposed to hold a school of instruction at Rockhampton during the present year. 22. Rifle Shooting. Although the Cadets are being thoroughly instructed How armed. in discipline and drill, the training will not be complete until they are being instructed in rifle shooting. During 1907 nearly 2,000 serviceable Francotte and Westley Richards rifles were imported, and 2,500 school Cadets completed the prescribed annual musketry course with these rifles. Owing to the insufficiency of serviceable rifles, and to the lack of suitable rifle-range accommodation in the metropolis, it was not possible for the remainder to complete the course. It is hoped that the balance of the rifles will arrive during 1908, and that a new rifle range will be provided in Brisbane at an early date. shooting. 23. To encourage rifle shooting among Cadets a sum of £300 has been Prizes for rifle provided for Queensland for 1907-8 by the Commonwealth Government for prizes for rifle shooting. Competitions took place in twenty-two centres during the month of May; the competitions were very successful, and show that encouraging progress is being made in rifle shooting. Miniature rifle ranges are to be erected in a large number of our school grounds, and pattern ranges have been completed at the Junction Park and Eagle Junction State Schools. match. 24. In the rifle-shooting competition for 1908, which was open to all the Empire ma public schools of the Empire, the Brisbane Grammar School is first. The team which represented the school consisted of Cadets, and in the rifle competitions for Cadet Corps in the Empire the Gympie Central Boys' School gained ninth place, but was first amongst the Australian competitors. These successes are very gratifying and encouraging. Work enthusiasm. 25. General. One of the most pleasing features in connection with the proceeding with formation of Cadet Corps in this State has been the enthusiasm displayed by head teachers and assistant teachers. The Queensland Commandant and his staff have continued to co-operate with the Department, and the work has proceeded without friction. The Commandant, in his reports of his inspections, speaks highly of the efficiency both of the teacher officers and the Cadets. How the teachers work. ITINERANT TEACHERS. 26. The system of Itinerant Teachers was introduced in 1901, when a teacher was appointed to travel throughout the south-western parts of the State. In 1907 two additional teachers were appointed-one for the Centre and one for the North. The Itinerant Teachers travel in the sparsely-settled districts, where there are neither Provisional schools nor Part-time schools; and the children whom they try to reach are those belonging to selectors, graziers, stockmen, boundary-riders, grooms, fencers, carriers, timber-getters, fossickers, and the like, who are unable to pay for tutors or governesses, or to send their children to schools to be educated. Under the existing arrangements, it is only possible for the Itinerant Teacher to pay about one visit per annum to each family. In order that really good results may be obtained, it is necessary that each family should be visited at least four times a year, and that a longer time should be spent at each visit than is possible at present. The Department is keenly desirous that all the children in the State should receive at least a little education, and is anxious to reach all the children it possibly can. Practical experience has shown that for the sparsely-settled districts, where children cannot be collected in groups, or even house-to-house schools established, the system of Itinerant Teachers is the best that has, so far, been devised; but there are still children in the lonely nooks and corners of the State who cannot be reached even by Itinerant Teachers. So that the whole of our territory in the sparsely-settled districts of the South-west, Central-west, and North-west may be visited by the Itinerant Teachers, and so that each family may be visited at least four times a year, and the visit be of longer duration than can be arranged at present, provision has been made on the Estimates of 1907-8 for the appointment of nine additional teachers. The delay in the passing of the Estimates has retarded action, but Twelve teachers the necessary arrangements are being made so that the full complement of twelve Itinerant Teachers shall be in the field at the beginning of 1909. The work of the Itinerant Teachers has now been thoroughly systematized by the Department; the districts have been rearranged; codes of instructions have been issued to the teachers; and a proper method of tracing children in need of instruction has been instituted. to be appointed. Co-operation of parents essential. Why established Where established. Class fees to be endowable. 27. The success of the system will depend very largely upon the men chosen as teachers; they must be thoroughly trustworthy, and possessed of tact and resource. The co-operation of parents is also essential. As the teacher will not be able to pay more than one visit per quarter to each family, he must set the children sufficient work to keep them occupied until his next visit; the parents will be expected to see that the work is done. Weather conditions will also have an important bearing upon the work of the Itinerant Teachers. When it is excessively wet and the creeks are in flood the teachers will not be able to travel; and in times of drought they will have difficulty in travelling, owing to the scarcity of feed and water for their horses. CONTINUATION CLASSES. 28. One of the most important features of the work of the Department in 1907 was the inauguration of a system for the establishment of evening continuation classes. These classes are designed (a) to enable pupils who have left day schools before they have been educated up to the standard of education required by "The State Education Acts, 1875 to 1900," to continue their education; (b) to assist persons to obtain instruction in special subjects relating to their employment; and (c) to prepare students for the technical colleges. 29. Comprehensive regulations for the establishment and administration of evening continuation classes have been drafted, and will be embodied in the new code of regulations of the Department. Already continuation classes have been established at Brisbane East, Fortitude Valley, Gracemere, Lake's Creek, Southport, Tallebudgera, and Sellheim. Preliminary steps have also been taken for the establishment of continuation classes at several other centres. 30. It is intended, as far as possible, to have the classes conducted in school buildings, and to have the Department's own teachers in charge of them. In ordinary circumstances the classes will not be established unless there is a reasonable prospect of an average attendance of at least ten pupils being maintained, |