The number of children without a swimming diploma is increasing and that is why a majority of the House of Representatives wants school swimming to return. But this appears to be a difficult development for primary schools and swimming pools. School swimming is encouraged in the municipality of Borger-Odoorn, although this is done in a different way than before.
The municipality has not taken the swimming diploma for primary school students as a starting point, but encourages ‘wet physical education’. This means that students swim once instead of a gym lesson, so that their swimming skills are not lost.
“These wet gym lessons are mainly offered to students from higher classes, who often already have a swimming diploma,” says Henk Smit, manager of the swimming pools in Borger-Odoorn. He is keen to expand this further, also for the lower classes. Smit is in favor of reintroducing school swimming, but also sees snags.
Research shows that in 2018, six percent of children between six and sixteen years old did not have a swimming diploma and in 2022 that number will have risen to thirteen percent. ‘An undesirable development’, according to the House of Representatives.
“School swimming is a huge solution, but I do think that schools are going to be scratching their heads,” says Smit. By this he refers to the organizational aspect. “If the school is next to the swimming pool, it takes about an hour and a half per week. But if a school comes by bus, you lose three hours. That is all at the expense of other lessons.”
That is also what Jacqueline Drok, director of OPO Borger-Odoorn, is concerned about. “School swimming is extremely important, especially for children who do not yet have a diploma. But it takes a lot of teaching time, especially if the swimming pool is not next door,” says Drok. “It would have to happen instead of gym hours, but that will be a matter of trial and error.”
It therefore remains uncertain whether school swimming will actually return. It is necessary, according to the schools and swimming pools, but there is a lot involved. “I have my doubts about it. If it goes ahead, it will take another three years before it is introduced,” Smit expects.
According to him, it does not only have to do with the timetable at schools. “We also need to think about bathing staff. There is currently a shortage of them,” says Smit.
Smit notices that children’s swimming skills are worse today than a few years ago. “It costs a lot of money, so you often notice that parents only opt for an A diploma,” says Smit. “Nowadays it is divided into partial certificates and you have to do less while swimming. With only an A diploma, your swimming skills are actually still too low, while this used to be different.”
This information is not known to most parents, Smit thinks. That is why, according to him, a way must be devised to make parents more aware of the importance of good swimming skills in their children.