95.
asked the Minister of Education whether her attention has been drawn to the report of the Royal College of Nursing that, owing to defective education, young nurses are now not sufficiently well-educated in arithmetic to be able to perform certain of their duties; and whether, in view of this fact, she will take steps to modify the curriculum of schools, so that more attention shall be given to the essentials in the early years of school life.
I am aware of the criticisms which have been made in reports from examiners of the General Nursing Council of England and Wales. I do not control the curriculum in the schools, and I have no evidence that there is anything wrong with the teaching of arithmetic generally; but attention was drawn to the importance of arithmetic in the general education of intending nurses in Administrative Memorandum No. 363 issued by my Department in June, 1950.