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Schools must teach more kids to swim: MOE

The Ministry of Education (MOE) yesterday promised to reduce the annual number of children who drown by 20 percent by expanding swimming lessons at schools starting in the fall.

Vice Minister of Education Wu Tsai-shun (吳財順) said the ministry hoped to increase both the number of schools that include swimming on their physical education curriculums and the number of students who learn how to swim at school by 10 percent.

“Taiwan is a country surrounded by the sea and there’s also a large number of rivers and streams,” Wu said.

“We can encourage students to do water sports, but we should also highlight the importance of safety when playing these sports,” Wu said.

Department of Physical Education chief Wang Chun-chuan (王俊權) said 278 children drowned between 2005 and last year.

The majority were elementary school or high school students, he said.

Kao Chun-hsiung (高俊雄), a professor at the Department of Recreation and Leisure Industry Management at National Taiwan Sport University, said 56.8 percent of the victims drowned while playing in rivers, while 25.9 percent drowned after accidentally falling into water.

Kao, who helped the ministry analyze the statistics, said many school principals and other educators were reluctant to install swimming pools for swimming lessons because of the potential for accidents.

But only 2.2 percent of minors who drowned over the past four years drowned during a swimming lesson, Kao said.

Ministry statistics indicated that most drownings involving children occurred in Dabao River (大? in Taipei County’s Sansia Township (三峽), in Hsiukuluan River (秀姑巒溪) in Hualien and at beaches at Cijin (旗津) in Kaohsiung and Kenting (墾丁) in Pingtung County.
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