With claims galore that head lice has now become a `nationwide health issue', parents of hundreds of schoolchildren have recently signed a petition calling for the `nit nurses' to be reinstated!

The nit nurses were gradually phased out in the 1990s because their `inspections' of the students' hair were considered a source of shame as well as embarrassment for generations of school-going children.

The once- or twice-a-year visits of the nit nurses to primary schools were dreaded by the pupils since their inspections - in which they used wide-toothed combs to discover lice in the students' hair - were carried out in front of the classmates.

Children who were found to have head lice were, more often than not, bullied by their classmates; and their parents were instructed to treat their hair with a special lotion.

However, after the phasing out of the nit nurses, the lice checks had to be carried out at home by the parents, who are too busy to bother --- with the consequence that lice are spreading rapidly in primary schools!

The petition, calling for reinstating nit nurses, is being organised by mothers whose children go to Christ Church Primary School in Rhyl, North Wales.

Noting that the health and education authorities should consider reintroducing nit nurses, the petition reads thus: "We want to raise awareness of the ongoing problem of head lice. This is not just a local problem, this is a nationwide health issue which needs addressing"!