KUALA LUMPUR – The Youth and Sports Ministry is set to launch swimming classes for youth across the country this month.
This is an effort by the government to reduce cases of drowning, which have been on the rise.
During the committee-stage debate on Budget 2023, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said the swimming lessons will instil the importance of water safety among all Malaysians, especially the youth.
Yeoh said the programme will be carried out over the year and will first be implemented in selected states that have a high number of deaths due to drowning.
“The programme will be launched later this month and will benefit over 1600 children aged three to 12 from B40 families.
“I attended a programme with some doctors, and they mentioned that about 500 children drown each year,” she said.
The Segambut MP said that swimming pools under the care of the ministry will be utilised to help B40 families attend the classes for free.
“This will take place once the ministry’s inventory of government-owned sports facilities is complete,” she said.
Yeoh added that the programme will be carried out in several phases, with the first focusing on districts that currently have government-owned swimming pools.
“After that, we will see which districts have a high number of drowning incidents but do not have a proper swimming pool.
“For that, we will look into building new facilities…but I can’t do it all in one year,” she said.
Meanwhile, Datuk Radzi Jidin (Putrajaya PN) said his constituency has already launched free swimming classes for children aged seven to 12 called PutraRenang.
He said the government’s allocation of RM20 million for community sports should be directly channelled to MPs so that more educational programmes can be carried out.
“If the allocation is split evenly among all constituencies, each will receive roughly RM90,000 to carry out their own community sports programmes.
“We also need to have campaigns that inform parents on the importance of swimming, as the lack of knowledge has contributed to many cases of drowning,” he said. – The Vibes, March 14, 2023
