The association “Swim Safely” previously highlighted the need to also provide training for educators. The association’s experience shows that currently sports educators without sufficient knowledge of swimming training also work in swimming pools. “Unfortunately, we meet teachers who teach but do not know how to swim themselves, or they do not understand swimming as a life-saving skill,” said Zane Gemze, the founder of the association.
Zyvarts agrees that it is necessary to improve the swimming skills of teachers. If the swimming training is carried out by a sports teacher of a general education institution, then the requirements specified in the regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers on the necessary education and professional qualifications for pedagogues and the procedure for improving the professional competence of pedagogues apply to him. It stipulates that the teacher is responsible for improving his professional competence.
Professional competence is improved by studying the program for at least 36 hours within three years. It is planned in cooperation with the head of the educational institution where the teacher teaches. Professional competence development is offered by the State Education Content Center and is free of charge for teachers.
In cooperation with the “Swim Safely” association, a professional competence improvement program has been developed and is being implemented. According to the information provided by the Ministry of Education and Culture, more than 580 participants have learned it in four years. However, it can be observed that the number of trained teachers is decreasing. If in 2020 more than 200 teachers learned the program, then in 2023 their number has decreased to 122. This year professional competence improvement is planned for 100 teachers.
It was previously announced that it is planned to develop a unified swimming training program. This is foreseen by the agreement of the Ministry of Interior, the Latvian Swimming Federation (LPF), the association “Swim safely” and the Riga City Council.
It is planned that 72 hours of swimming and safety training on and around the water will be implemented over the course of two academic years. Seevart could not answer whether the new program will be developed from scratch. It is also not known how long it would take to develop it. Currently, there have only been discussions about various activities and the need to improve swimming lessons.
In the guidelines of the sports policy 2022-2027. “Safety on water” was defined as one of the priorities of the program. It was planned to introduce the water competence program at the primary school level as well. The implementation of the program requires 1.6 million euros for the first year, and 3.2 million annually thereafter. However, the Ministry of the Interior’s request for the necessary funding was not supported in the 2024 budget.
Currently, the “Swimming” module is included in the curriculum as one of the choices. If the school does not offer it, it is still imperative to learn the water safety deliverables.
Meanwhile, the information at LPF’s disposal shows that swimming lessons are included in the curriculum of only one third of schools. In the other educational institutions, either temporary projects are implemented, or students learn swimming skills in interest education. In 21% of educational institutions, swimming lessons are not implemented at all.
An average of ten children under the age of 19 die from drowning every year.
Resources used:
LETA
Tags: Ministry Education Culture information swimming training teachers knowledge Swimming Sportacentrs .com
