Cape Town - A swimming organisation wants to cut down on the number of children who drown because they didn’t know how to swim.
The AquAzzura Foundation said only 20% of South Africans know how to swim. The foundation hopes to address this problem by implementing a water safety programme at local schools.
It will be working with 850 children a week from different schools in Cape Town.
“As people gear up to spend more time at the beach this summer, many Grade 1 children still don’t know how to swim. Drowning is the fifth leading cause of death in South Africa.
“The latest statistics show that almost 30% of drowning victims are children aged 14 and under. The Department of Education in South Africa does not have a solid water safety programme,” it said.
The foundation has partnered with, among others, Muizenberg Junior School and Cape Academy of Maths, Science and Technology. Bergvliet Primary School and Kronendal Primary School will start the programme.
St Anthony’s Primary School will be introducing the programme to its grade R students in January. Students from areas such as Mitchell’s Plain,
Khayelitsha and Retreat will be given the opportunity to learn aquatic sports from trained coaches and swimming instructors, at no charge.
The programme has been added to the normal summer sport as Physical Education and will be conducted at swimming pools and on beaches.
The foundation has been teaching children water sports since 2017.
Founder, Mina Barbara, said learning to swim should be a mandatory life skill and a fundamental human right.
“I think the education department and the sports department are not doing enough,” she said.
Barbara said participants were already showing improved attention span, greater discipline, improved sleep patterns, and they were more relaxed.
“If we can save one child at a time, we are going to reach our goal eventually,” she said.