The House of Representatives wants to reintroduce school swimming

#House #Representatives #reintroduce #school #swimming
ANP Swimming lessons (archive)

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 16:12

The House of Representatives wants school swimming to be reintroduced. The number of children without a swimming diploma is increasing, and MPs consider this an undesirable development.

Research shows that school swimming leads to greater safety for children. It is often children from families with little money or with a migration background who do not obtain their swimming diploma.

The reintroduction of school swimming will cost the government 129 to 212 million euros per year, depending on how many swimming diplomas children obtain through their school. This will not happen overnight, so the government must first consult with education to “develop realistic scenarios”, the House believes.

Swimming pools well attended

School swimming also has the advantage that swimming pools are well attended and can remain financially viable. And it saves time for parents. On the other hand, schools are gaining more work and there are not yet enough swimming instructors in the tight labor market.

The proposal was submitted by MPs Van Nispen (SP) and Mohandis (GL-PvdA). Mohandis obtained his ABC swimming diploma at the beginning of this month. His 10-year-old daughter obtained her C diploma.

The two MPs also received support for their proposal to make it more of a government task to keep public swimming pools open. This is because the number of swimming pools has decreased while the population has increased.

The central government must consult with municipalities for this. A swimming pool fund must support swimming pools with financial problems.

School swimming was compulsory until 1985. Since then, schools and municipalities have been responsible for organizing and financing themselves, which in many cases has led to their abolition. This was also at the expense of the public swimming pools.