An inter-agency national action plan will be launched to teach more Taiwanese students and servicemen how to swim, Sports Affairs Council Minister Tai Hsia-ling (戴遐齡) said.
The ambitious 12-year plan, supervised by the Executive Yuan, hopes to teach at least eight out of 10 Taiwanese students, soldiers, policemen and firemen how to swim, which will dramatically reduce cases of drowning, Tai said.
“In an island country like Taiwan, it is difficult to fathom why there are so many drownings and why so few people know how to swim,” Tai said, adding that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), an avid swimmer, is the driving force behind the scheme.
Almost all major developed countries, such as Japan, France and the UK, have public policies to promote swimming, she said.
According to Tai, the ratio of swimming pools per 100,000 students between Japan and Taiwan is an eye-popping 188 to 9.6. Citing a WHO study conducted in 2001, she added that the ratio of drownings per 100,000 children under the age of 14 in Japan and Taiwan is 0.6 to 1.8.
Under the project, pools will be built, personnel will be trained and pool management will be improved from this year until 2022, so that local people will have better access to swimming facilities.
A supervisory committee under the Executive Yuan will set targets for different groups. Among them, 80 percent of school children, 85 percent of military servicemen and 80 percent of police officers will have to be able to swim for at least 50m, while 90 percent of firemen and all Coast Guard Administration staff will be required to pass a 200m test.
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