The 153 special classes for backward children are the most numerous and best known of the special classes attached to ordinary schools under the control of education boards. They are concerned with helping some 2,015 children to become literate and live independently in the community. Children whose vision is so defective that their education is impeded can be enrolled in one of the partially sighted classes in the main centres. The Christchurch class is now part of a visual resource centre which is providing both for partially sighted and for blind pupils. With the recognition of the therapeutic value of school work for sick children in hospital, special classes are now provided in almost all public hospitals. Other special classes in the larger cities cater for partially or severely deaf who are very delicate or who are emotionally disturbed to a degree preventing their effective education in an ordinary classroom.