The issue of ensuring a safe summer, particularly through preventing drowning among children, has garnered significant attention, profoundly impacting parents and the broader community. In the city and various organisations, initiatives to popularise swimming have been widely implemented with the spirit of "preventing drowning is not just a slogan".

City leaders inaugurated a swimming pool for drowning prevention at the Ngo Quyen Primary School, Cam Le District. Photo: X.S.

From unfortunate incidents

At the end of the 2023-2024 academic year, Le Vu Quynh Huong, a pupil at the Ngo Si Lien Primary School in Lien Chieu District, was enrolled in swimming lessons by her family. Three times a week, her mother, Vu Thi Hao, takes her to a nearby swimming school. Mrs Hao shared that her daughter, now nine, is at an ideal age to engage in physical activities in order to enhance her height and health through swimming, and develop confidence and activity instead of just watching TV at home.

Doan Nguyen Quynh Tran, from Tam Ky City, Quang Nam Province, has also registered her child for swimming lessons this summer. At her child's preschool, a weekly swimming session is organised. However, she wants her child to acquire additional swimming skills. She believes that learning to swim not only promotes physical exercise but also equips her child with essential survival skills and basic swimming techniques to ensure self-protection in water, thus preventing incidents like cramps or drowning.

These parents' efforts reflect a broader concern over "unfortunate incidents" as Tran described. Recently, two children drowned at the Da Trang Lake, Hoa Tho Tay Ward, Cam Le District, on 17 June, and three people did not survive after nine teenagers were swept away by waves at a beach in Ngu Hanh Son District on 18 May. Earlier, on 12 April, in the same district, twin brothers from Hoa Hai Ward drowned while swimming in a prohibited area outside lifeguard hours.

These tragic incidents highlight the urgent need for drowning prevention in the city since the beginning of the 2024 summer. Cao Duc Phat, former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, pointed out that many drowning accidents occur because people, especially children, cannot swim. Therefore, ensuring everyone has basic swimming knowledge and safety skills is the most effective way to reduce drowning risks.

Efforts to promote swimming

The swimming pools at the Da Nang University of Sports and Physical Education are bustling this summer by hosting free swimming lessons for disadvantaged pupils in Thanh Khe and Lien Chieu districts.

The free swimming programme, divided into two classes at Dung Si Thanh Khe, Thanh Khe Tay Ward, Thanh Khe District, and Hoang Minh Thao, Hoa Khanh Nam Ward, Lien Chieu District, runs every morning from 1 July - 30 August.

Huynh Thanh Binh, Secretary of the Youth Union organisation in Lien Chieu District, explained that the programme was part of the 2023 Summer Volunteer Youth Campaign by the Youth Union of the Da Nang University of Sports and Physical Education. Twenty-one union members, including pupils, lecturers, and staff, participate actively with the goal of providing free swimming lessons and safe swimming training, as well as drowning prevention skills for children, teenagers, and local youth members.

Similarly, many schools in the city have implemented free safe swimming lessons for pupils right after the academic year ended.

For instance, the Nguyen Binh Khiem Junior High School in Lien Chieu District organises two safe swimming courses in 2024 for pupils from grades 6 to 9 during the summer in Hoa Minh Ward and nearby areas in Hoa Khanh Nam Ward.

Principal Bui Duy Quoc noted that nearly 200 pupils, primarily from grades 6 and 7, participated in the first course from early June 2024. The total number of pupils expected to join both courses is 350-400. This meaningful programme is part of a long-term goal to popularise swimming among primary school pupils and extend it to junior high schools in the city.

Funding for these swimming lessons is allocated by budgets at municipal and district levels, then distributed to schools to maintain free swimming classes and upkeep the pools. By the end of 2023, Da Nang had 86 free swimming pools in schools with over 300 swimming instructors. With substantial support from the city and district authorities, the Disaster Prevention Community Fund has successfully campaigned for the construction of 13 school swimming pools since 2018 in flood-prone areas like Hoa Vang, Cam Le, and Lien Chieu.

Cao Duc Phat emphasised the initiative "Joining Hands to Help Children Learn to Swim Safely" urged the community to pay more attention to equipping themselves with swimming and self-rescue skills in case of drowning or natural disasters. Building school swimming pools to teach swimming, and providing safe swimming practice facilities for thousands of pupils, help enhance their resilience against natural disasters, and improve their health and fitness.

Reporting by XUAN SON - Translating by TRUC VY