SMART SWIMMING POOL IS NOT TOO EXPENSIVE
Statistics show that in Vietnam, children in rural areas are twice as likely to drown as children in urban areas. This is due to the natural characteristics, as rural and mountainous areas often have many rivers, streams, ponds, lakes, canals, etc., which pose a potential risk of drowning for children. There are still many localities in the country with difficult economic conditions and many poor households, so children are not cared for, supervised, or looked after. In addition, to help their families, children have to work early in river areas, fields, and places with high potential risks of drowning. In addition, the physical facilities in mountainous and remote areas are very limited, so learning to swim and acquiring safety skills in the water environment is also out of reach for children.
Swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang teaches swimming to students of Ia Ka Primary School, Chu Pah District ( Gia Lai ) within the framework of the 2025 Summer Youth Volunteer Campaign organized by the Central Youth Union.
PHOTO: HAI PHONG
Children and player Huy Hoang
Photo: Hai Phong
Mr. Dang Hoa Nam, Vice President of the Vietnam Association for the Protection of Children's Rights (former Director of the Department of Children, Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs), commented: "Teaching children to swim in localities still faces many difficulties, especially in mountainous provinces where many primary and secondary schools do not have swimming pools; outside the community, most ponds, lakes, rivers and streams are polluted and cannot be used to teach swimming. There is a lack of swimming instructors, and many physical education teachers do not know how to swim." In addition, funding to support the prevention of child injuries and drowning is supported by the central and local budgets and by mobilizing international and community organizations. However, resources are still limited, and some localities have not paid attention to funding support. In recent years, many provinces have not allocated separate funding but have integrated it into the child protection budget, while many provinces have allocated quite low funding.
Ho Chi Minh City to launch free swimming program for everyone in 2025
Photo: Uyen Nhi
While teaching and learning to swim still has many difficulties, Mr. Dang Hoa Nam said that the smart swimming pool model is the optimal solution for localities with limited facilities. Accordingly, a smart swimming pool with a price that meets the standards for teaching children to swim safely, located in remote areas, costs about more than 200 million VND. Those swimming pools can be installed in schools, and will teach swimming to many students of the school and children of neighboring schools.
"To teach children to swim, there must be a swimming pool, initial installation costs, costs for organizing swimming classes, and training coaches. Currently, smart swimming pools and mobile swimming pools have been deployed in some localities. The cost is not large, not beyond the capacity of localities, but few places invest like that to open swimming classes for children," said Mr. Dang Hoa Nam.
GOVERNMENT AND FAMILIES MUST JOIN HANDS TO PREVENT DROWNING
Regarding intervention solutions for child drowning prevention, Mr. Dang Hoa Nam said that it is necessary to learn from experiences from countries with similar economic and social conditions to Vietnam. Accordingly, there are 3 models that Vietnam has been doing and needs to be replicated.
Ho Chi Minh City to launch free swimming program for everyone in 2025
PHOTO: UYEN NHI
First, it is to conduct safe swimming lessons, teach children water safety skills, increase coverage of children, especially children aged 10 and over to learn safety skills and learn safe swimming.
Second, a fairly effective intervention solution is to create a safe living environment to prevent drowning for children. We must regularly monitor where children go and what they do... Places with dangerous water areas must have signs and barriers. Places such as swimming pools and beaches must have professional lifeguards and rescuers...
Third, communication work,education of awareness and awareness for parents need to have skills to monitor their children and prevent accidents, injuries and drowning.
According to the Vice President of the Vietnam Association for the Protection of Children's Rights, the responsibility of local authorities is prevention. "To prevent, there must be investment and allocation of resources, both budget and human resources. Nothing is more precious than human life, localities must invest resources to protect children, save children's lives," Mr. Nam emphasized.
In addition to the responsibility of localities, Mr. Dang Hoa Nam noted that the responsibility of parents in preventing drowning for children is especially important. If parents do not do it, no one can protect their children better. No one can create a safe living environment like parents themselves. (continued)
ADULTS NEED TO LEARN TO SWIM PROPERLY TOO
Realizing the importance of popularizing swimming skills not only for children but also for adults, the Ho Chi Minh City Aquatic Sports Center has implemented a free swimming class program. The program is currently in phase 1, starting with officials, civil servants, and employees in the culture and sports sector. In the next phases, the free swimming class will be expanded to all residents of the city. This is part of a general plan of the People's Committee and the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ho Chi Minh City to encourage people to exercise.
Mr. Chung Tan Phong, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Aquatic Sports Center, expressed: "For many years, most of us have focused on popularizing swimming for children without thinking much about adults. But in fact, adults also need to know how to swim. When they know how to swim and, more importantly, have mastered safety skills in the water environment, adults, in this case parents, will be aware of what is right and wrong and guide their children. Parents are the ones who can set the most effective example and advice for children."
Quoc Viet
Implementing swimming teaching program in Gia Lai is reasonable
Mr. Dang Hoa Nam said: Vietnam's child drowning rate currently ranks 7th in the West Asia Pacific region, 10 times higher than that of developed countries. Through monitoring and policy research, I see that Vietnam is one of the countries that is highly appreciated for the effectiveness of implementing intervention models to teach safety skills and safe swimming to prevent drowning for children, but many localities have not yet allocated budgets to implement interventions to save children's lives from drowning. In places where the intervention model has been very successful, the rate has decreased very quickly.
But the paradox is that the effective model is slow to be replicated, the main reason is that low-budget localities have difficulty in funding implementation. Large provinces and cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Hai Phong... have seas, lakes, rivers but have very good prevention. Some remote areas have decreased, but there are places where it has increased such as in the Central Highlands, Dak Nong, Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Kon Tum...
Meaningful action to protect people's safety
Photo: Hai Phong
Therefore, according to Mr. Nam, the opening of a swimming class for children in Gia Lai by the Central Youth Union this year is very good and reasonable. Vietnam will have to solve the paradox of imbalance between children in big cities, with good lives, enjoying many available services such as swimming pools, summer classes, etc., while research shows that more than half, about 55%, of drowning accidents are poor children in rural areas, who have not yet had access to intervention models.
Thu Bon
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/phong-chong-duoi-nuoc-chuyen-khong-bao-gio-cu-nhung-giai-phap-kha-thi-185250603211353649.htm
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