Evening star., 1943-08-13
British Expert Tells
OF Early Problems in
Setting Up Child Care

Low enrolment. equipment and
food problems plagued the organ
izers of Great Britain's nursery
schools in 1910 just as they are now
troubling organizers of the Districts
nursery schools, Miss Lillian de LISA,
British nursery school expert, said
today.
She addressed a conference at the
Departmental Auditorium on "Serv-
ices for Children of Working
Mothers" Attended by nursery
school workers from all over the
Eastern seaboard, the conference
was called by the Children's Bureau,
United States Office of Education,
Federal Public Housing Authority,
Federal Security Agency, Federal
Works Agency and Office of Civilian
Defense.
Miss de LISA described weeks OF
waiting for British mothers to dis
cover nursery schools opened by the
government for their children.
Her description certainly tallies
with the problems of the new Dis
trict child care centers," Mrs. Henry
P. Chandler, chairman of the Dis
trict Child Care and Protection
Committee and chairman of todays
meeting, pointed out. Equipped to
care for 200 children. the four CEN
ters here have enrolled only 81 after
a month of operation.
Government Shared Costs,
At first England followed the sys-
tenn now in effect here of letting the
Government meet so per cent of the
expenses of nursery schools. Miss
De LiSsa said Now, however, the
British government pays all of the
cost in all communities.
Fifty per cent of costs were met
first in England by the local COM
munity, she added Oficials here,
on the other hand. get no support
from the District government and
are forced to make up their share
OF the cost from fees. paid by
parents.
Once mothers had discovered the
schools, Miss de Lissa said, enroll
ments increased swiftly to the over
crowded stage. From an enrolment
OF $4,000 when the war began in
1889, she said, British nursery
schools have expanded to care for
100000 children.
There is bill pending before Par
Lament, the British expert added.
which may lead eventually to uni
versal nursery school care for Brit
ish children.
Hot Meals Problem.
Serving of hot meals to children
is a problem for English nursery
schools just as it is mere, Miss
de LisSa continued. Food supplies
are low, unreliable and hard to
transport. Mothers often cannot
pay even the cost of their children's
food at the schools, she said. The
government. therefore, has taken
over food deficits and does every
thing to make buying food easier.
British officials met the problem
OF getting equipment, now a major
obstacle to District centers, she said
by giving swift priority to all nursery
school requests.
A District Official at the meeting
asked Miss De Lissa to give advice
on educating mothers to take ad-
vantage of the care offered in the
centers. She replied that the Brit
ish had used posters, movies
speeches, newspapers and every
other means of advertising. In ad-
dition, she said, 25-year struggle to
start nursery schools even before
the war had somewhat accustomed
the British mind to the idea.
Gordon Blackwell of the Office of
Civilian Defense will lead a discus
sion of nursery school problems in
the District and vicinity at the con-
ference this afternoon. Those at
ending were scheduled first to hear
descriptions of industrial. suburban
and metropolitan nursery schools by
school directors.