The Đắk Nông Provincial Labour Culture House will begin its first swimming class on June 3. VNA Photo

ĐẮK NÔNG — Đắk Nông Province will offer free swimming lessons for children during summer in an effort to reduce the risk of drowning accidents.

On May 30, Đoàn Văn Sự, president of the Đắk Nông Provincial Federation of Labour, announced that the provincial Labour Culture House has been tasked with organising free swimming classes for children during the summer.

This is a healthy recreational programme aimed at both teaching swimming skills and contributing to the health, physical development, and stature of children, while also reducing the risk of drowning accidents.

The Labour Culture House will begin its first swimming class on June 3.

It is expected that eight swimming classes will be held with 160 children aged between nine and 15 participating.

The swimming pool used for the classes and practice sessions is the Union Swimming Pool, located within the premises of the Đắk Nông Provincial Labour Culture House in Nghĩa Trung Ward, Gia Nghĩa City.

Each course consists of 15 sessions, with each session lasting 90 minutes.

Children participating in the course will be educated on water safety awareness and potential hazards in water environments.

They will also be equipped with swimming skills, self-protection techniques to prevent drowning accidents, and rescue skills for drowning victims.

At the end of each course, the children will participate in an examination and be awarded certificates according to regulations.

All expenses for teachers and lifeguards will be covered by the Đắk Nông Provincial Federation of Labour.

Previously, the provincial Department of Education and Training issued a plan to organise activities aimed at raising awareness and educating about drowning accident prevention and injury control for children and students during the summer of 2024.

The department focuses on intensifying activities such as distributing pamphlets to parents and students; hanging banners and posters at schools; launching and promoting awareness campaigns; and installing danger warning signs at ponds, lakes, rivers, and streams where there is risk of drowning in the area.

Notably, swimming classes for children and students will be organised at all schools with fixed or mobile swimming pools throughout the province.

The peak period for these activities will be from June to August 2024.

According to statistics from Đắk Nông's functional sectors, in 2023, the entire province experienced drowning accidents that resulted in 55 deaths, of which 34 were children under 16 years old.

In the first four months of 2024, there were 16 deaths from drowning, of which 14 were children under 16 years old.

Most drowning incidents occur in rural areas, where there are many ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, and irrigation dams, including ponds and lakes constructed to store water for irrigating industrial crops during the dry season. - VNS