Children learn swimming at Tang Bat Ho swimming pool in Hanoi’s Hai Ba Trung District. (Photo: VNA)Dang Hoa Nam, director of the Child Care andProtection Department, said many children go swimming when it’s hot but do nothave swimming skills.
Though Vietnam boasts 3,260km of coastline andmany rivers and lakes, swimming is only taught as an extra-curricular activityor at courses outside schools.
A recent survey by the department found only 35percent of children in the Mekong Delta and 10 percent in the Red River Deltacan swim.
The rate of children who can swim in cities islower than in rural areas, according to the department.
In late 2010, the Government approved a 10-yearstrategy aimed at having all schools include swimming lessons in theirextra-curriculum activities and universalise swimming among all students by2020.
All provinces were instructed to pilot swimmingprogrammes in primary schools by 2015, with a focus on third, fourth and fifthgrade students.
The situation appears to have been somewhatimproved. Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs data shows thatthe number of children who died of drowning dropped from 3,300 in 2012 to 1,800in 2014.
Nonetheless, the goals are still far fromfulfilled as most schools can’t teach swimming regularly due to a lack ofswimming instructors as well as money and land to build pools.
Vu Duy Anh, an official from the MinistryEducation and Training, said teaching students to swim had been difficult dueto limited funds and poor infrastructure. “Many schools don’t have swimmingpools and it is difficult to build them depending only on State fund,” hetold Nong Thon Ngay Nay (Countryside Today) newspaper.
The ministry has encouraged schools to work withorganisations and individuals to hold swimming courses in and outside schools.
Duong Thi Sau, head of education andtraining office in Hanoi’s Dong Anh District, said only 30 percent of studentsin local schools could swim, although the capital has many lakes and ponds.
Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and SocialAffairs (MoLISA) Dao Hong Lan advised schools to be more creative, suggestingusing pools made of waterproof materials instead of cement, or swimmingtraining in rivers instead of waiting for funds from the State.
Last week, at least 10 drowning cases occurred,with more than 10 children dying in Binh Phuoc, Tien Giang and Quang Ngaiprovinces. Two of the dead were aged eight, Vietnam Television reported.These children came from poor families and their parents were at work when theincidents occurred, it reported.
On April 25, two secondary school children inthe central province of Quang Ngai drowned at a waterfall in Son Ha District.Earlier, four other sixth grade students in Gia Lai Province were reported tohave drowned in a local river.
Nguyen Trong An, former deputy director of ChildCare and Protection Department of MoLISA, attributed the problem mainly to thecarelessness of families and concerned agencies.
“Leaders of provinces and cities will findsolutions to overcome current difficulties, such as funds to build pools ororganise swimming courses for local children if they are really interested inthe children’s rights and safety,” An told Vietnam Television recently.
They could seek investment from organisations,individuals and the community, he added.
The ministry sent a letter requesting thePeople’s Committees of provinces and cities to strengthen work to preventchildren drowning, Nam said.
Provinces would also need to review areas wheredrowning is common to ensure the safety of children during summer, rainy andflood seasons.
Localities were urged to set up warning signs atdangerous ponds and holes, increase communication activities to raise publicawareness and mobilise efforts from different ministries, sectors, andcommunities to prevent child drowning, An said. – VNA
VNA
