XN000022-1973-11-14 — Page 17

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Wednesday, November 14, 1973

The report describes the present enrolment as "heartening," but

at the same time regrets that the figure represents "less than 10 per cent

of all those eligible."

"Many theories for the apparent lack of interest have been put

forward, but the one most to the point is that fewer than a third of all

eligible private schools make it possible for their pupils to enrol," a

spokesman for the Board said.

He felt that to deny children the opportunity of economical medical

treatment, even by default, seemed hard to justify.

The spokesman emphasised that even though the revised scheme excluded

kindergarten children and pupils in the upper forms of secondary schools, there

were still "more than a million children eligible for participation, 750,000

of whom are in primary classes.

"

He said the present scheme offered the normally healthy child

economical medical treatment under one doctor chosen by the participating

school because of the vicinity of his clinic. The child was given a full

physical examination upon entry, and "any number of consultations a year,

with free medicine, for a premium of less than 50 cents a month."

It is

"This surely represents a sound and practical proposition.

doubtful, for instance, whether the average child does not need a doctor at

least twice a year, either for medication or the early diagnosis of less

obvious ailments," he commented.

/The spokesman