For the first time, the Ministry of Education and Training issued a Safe Swimming Teaching Program.

The Ministry of Education and Training has just issued Decision No. 2993/QD-BGDDT dated October 29, 2025 approving the Program and Instructional Materials for teaching safe swimming to students.

This is the first official Safe Swimming Teaching Program approved and issued by the Ministry to implement Decision No. 1717/QD-TTg dated December 31, 2024 of the Prime Minister approving the Program to Enhance Education on Knowledge and Skills to Prevent and Fight Drowning for Students in the 2025-2035 Period.

The Ministry of Education and Training issued a safe swimming teaching program. Photo: Bich Hue/VNA

Currently, swimming instruction in schools is not uniform in terms of curriculum and content. Schools are currently using programs and documents from many different sources to organize swimming lessons for students and mainly teach simple swimming techniques, not focusing on equipping students with knowledge and skills to prevent drowning, safety skills in the water environment, and safe drowning rescue skills.

Therefore, the issuance of the Program and Guidelines for teaching safe swimming aims to unify the content, help localities and educational institutions to organize synchronous implementation, fully equip students with knowledge and skills to prevent drowning so that they can proactively protect their health and lives.

The Student Swimming Safety Curriculum and Materials set specific goals for students at each grade level.

At primary level, students are equipped with basic knowledge of drowning prevention and control, indirect drowning rescue; forming basic skills in safe swimming, safety skills in water environment; educating to raise awareness of self-training in qualities and capacity to prevent drowning.

For junior high school level, students are equipped with basic knowledge of drowning prevention, indirect drowning rescue, basic swimming skills, physical improvement; equipped with self-protection skills and response to underwater situations; know, understand and apply safe indirect rescue steps when seeing someone drowning; form students' sense of responsibility to the community in drowning prevention.
For high school level, students are equipped with basic knowledge of drowning prevention, improving swimming skills, safety skills in water environment; knowing, understanding and applying self-rescue when encountering incidents in water environment. Practicing, applying knowledge, indirect drowning rescue skills, safe rescue and knowing how to perform the initial first aid procedures for drowning people. Raising students' sense of responsibility to the community in drowning prevention.

The content of the Program and Instructional Materials for teaching safe swimming to students includes 16 lessons. There are 15 lessons and 1 test and assessment. Each lesson is organized from 60 to 90 minutes. Based on specific conditions (weather, learning ability, physical condition, health of students), teachers flexibly apply teaching methods, allocate appropriate time for each student. The Program and Instructional Materials also specify the conditions to ensure implementation in terms of facilities, human resources, documents and funding.

Regarding facilities, the Program and Instructional Documents stipulate that fixed or assembled (mobile) swimming pools must ensure clean water sources, suitable water depth, flat walls and pool surfaces, and ensure safety for students and teachers when organizing swimming lessons.

The area around the swimming pool must be clean, airy, and have enough space to warm up before going into the water to learn to swim. There must be minimum lifeguard equipment as required, separate toilets, showers, and changing areas for male and female students; and there must be swimming pool rules.

Regarding human resources, swimming teachers have been trained and certified in teaching safe swimming and preventing drowning by competent authorities; there are lifeguards and medical staff on duty according to regulations; there are staff cleaning the swimming pool area and auxiliary works.

Educational institutions are responsible for developing plans and reporting to competent authorities for approval to implement safe swimming instruction for students according to the Program; and issuing safe swimming certificates to students who meet the requirements according to the content tested at the end of the course.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/giao-duc/lan-dau-tien-bo-giao-duc-va-dao-tao-ban-hanh-chuong-trinh-day-boi-an-toan-20251031174957554.htm