Director of HCM City Education and Training Department Huynh Cong Minh has instructed general schools in the city to begin teaching swimming as a curricular subject from the 2010-2011 school year. Children at nursery schools will learn to swim as an optional subject, while children at general schools will have to take at least 12 lessons a year.

Educators all have applauded the decision by the Ministry of Education and Training to teach swimming at general schools. Ho Hoang Minh, Headmaster of Nguyen Thi Dinh High School, said it is very useful to teach students how to swim, because the teaching will provide students the skills to protect themselves, avoid risks and reduce the number of drowning in the country. Besides, swimming should be seen as a good, healthy means of sports which can help children keep off other harmful games.

However, educators have warned that it will be a very difficult task to teach swimming at schools. In HCM City, there are 1,750 schools from pre-schools to high schools, but only 30 schools have swimming pools, most of them are pre-schools.

Once a week, third, fourth and fifth graders of Bau Sen Primary School in District 5 in HCM City are carried to Lam Son swimming pool, where they are taught how to swim. Nguyen Xuan Bao, Bau Sen’s Headmaster said since first and second graders are too small and they can not take care for themselves, swimming lessons are only provided only to third and subsequent graders.

Nguyen Van Troi Primary School in District 4 in HCM City is one of a few primary schools, which have swimming pools in HCM City, only teaches swimming to second graders only. Pham Thuy Ha, Headmaster of Nguyen Van Troi School said that the swimming pool has the depth of 65-85 cm; therefore, the pool only fits second graders. The school is considering bringing elder students to public swimming pools, but it still needs to consider possible plans.

Meanwhile, Vo Van Tan Secondary School in Tan Binh District in HCM City is now teaching swimming at Cong Hoa swimming pool. The training course will last six weeks and students will have to pay the tuition fee of 45,000 dong for the teaching. Phan Dang Luu High School has collected 90,000 dong from every student for swimming lessons at Yet Kieu swimming pool.

Though swimming is now listed as a curricular subject, most of general schools have only been providing swimming lessons as extracurricular lessons.

According to Nguyen Van Vuong, Headmaster of Nguyen Gia Thieu Secondary School in Tan Binh District in HCM City, it would be much easier to organise swimming classes as extracurricular classes. The main goal of the swimming teaching programme is to ensure that students can swim, therefore, the lesson hours should be set up in a flexible way in order to create most favourable conditions for students and schools. If swimming lessons are provided during school hours, there would be not enough swimming pools for students to learn. Besides, it will take students time to move from schools to swimming pools.

In District 8, only Tran Nguyen Han Primary School provides swimming lessons for third graders. The problem is that there is no swimming pool in the district, and the school has to bring students to Hoa Binh pool in Binh Chanh district.