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WRITTEN ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER NOT
ANSWERED BY 3.00 PM

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DROWNINGS OF YOUTHS

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15.

Mr Alexander Chan Meng Wah asked the Minister for Education given the recent reported drownings of youths during recreational swimming activities, (a) whether this has been due to any changes in policies or practices in our school system with regard to swimming lessons; and (b) what should the Ministry be doing about this.

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam: There has been no change in policy with regard to swimming lessons. The Ministry of Education (MOE) and schools seek to provide our students with basic survival skills such as swimming as part of the holistic education that we give them. Swimming was first introduced in the PE curriculum in 1982 through a pilot programme conducted in 18 schools. However, the programme was discontinued in 1985 as a large number of schools were unable to conduct the programme due to logistical and resource constraints.

In 1987, a Learn-to-Swim Scheme was again piloted in seven primary and 15 secondary schools. The aim of the scheme was to enable students to swim 25 metres and learn water safety skills. Following the pilot, the Scheme was extended to more schools. Presently, the Scheme continues to be conducted in schools. In collaboration with Singapore Sports Council (SSC), swimming coaches are engaged by the schools at reasonable rates. They also provide further training to our students beyond these very basics. The average number of primary school pupils who benefit from this programme each year is about 10,000. In addition, about 55% of primary schools and 25% of secondary schools offer swimming as a CCA.

More generally, in addition to the Learn-to-Swim Scheme, the Physical Education syllabus includes water safety skills. It includes components on Water Safety, Water Confidence, Swimming/Basic Survival Techniques and Rescue Techniques from the primary to pre-university levels.

Currently, schools are given the flexibility to plan and implement their own swimming programmes to meet the needs and interests of their students. We acknowledge that schools face some constraints, namely, the lack of swimming instructors and availability of swimming pools.

Going forward, we will review the current situation in primary schools to see how further support could be provided to schools to carry out the swimming programme more effectively. We will work with agencies such as SSC to find possible solutions.

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