Nowadays, it is almost a matter of luck if a child can attend a swimming course.
Source: dpa
Leah, Alexander and Daria are the only three people in the swimming course, so trainer Stephanie Stollhoff can spend more time with them. The three children from Hattingen are lucky. The daycare offers them a swimming course as preschool children. The parents see this as a luxury.
They have to pay, but almost everyone takes part because they are happy when the children can swim safely. Leah’s mother, Nathalie Altenbeck, says that it is a great relief, especially on vacation, when she no longer has to keep such a close eye on her daughter at the pool.
Many municipally operated swimming pools have to close. The facilities are outdated and the renovation costs are too high. In the town of Tannheim, which has a population of 1,200, the residents keep their outdoor pool in good condition themselves.10.08.2024 | 5:48 min
Up to 25 euros for one swimming lesson
They pay 110 euros for ten hours to the Hattingen swimming club. That’s just about OK for most parents. Private providers charge up to 25 euros per hour. For many parents, that’s hardly affordable, reports Nathalie Altenbeck. However, there is also state help for socially disadvantaged families through so-called education and participation packages.
But in Germany, it is also a luxury to even get a place on a swimming course. Swimming courses are full all over the country, and many DLRG associations report long waiting times. Jochen Lumbeck from the Hattingen swimming club says: “People are beating my place down.”
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DLRG: Seahorse is not enough for safe swimming
The Seahorse courses are in the greatest demand. Ideally, children should learn to swim at the age of 4 or 5. However, you cannot swim safely after you have earned the Seahorse badge. Frank Zantis from the DLRG, the “German Life Saving Association”, explains: “It is only with the bronze badge that children can swim well.”
The main reason for the “shortage of swimming lessons” is that there are fewer and fewer swimming pools. The last statistics for sports facilities by the states showed around 6,700 indoor, outdoor and school pools for the year 2000. Today there are only around 5,200 such swimming pools left. Many are closing simply because running them or renovating them is too expensive for the municipalities.
There is also a shortage of skilled workers: most swimming teachers work voluntarily for very little compensation. A survey of all primary schools in Baden-Württemberg last school year showed that 20 percent of schools there were unable to offer swimming lessons. 40 percent of schools stated that a lack of qualified staff was one of the reasons for this.Conni takes a swimming course with her friend Simon.01.10.2022 | 2:38 min
Politics has not kept its promise
Swimming is part of the curriculum and education plans for physical education in all federal states. Seven years ago, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Federal States unanimously stated: “The basic goal of swimming lessons is safe swimming.” However, according to representative surveys conducted by the DLRG by the opinion research institute Forsa in 2017 and 2022, it is assumed that more than half of children are not safe swimmers when they leave primary school.
The swimming pools are closing, there is a shortage of trainers and, according to Frank Zantis from the DLRG, many children need longer than before to get used to water. Many parents go to the swimming pool less often than before – for financial reasons, for example. As a result, the children are often simply scared or afraid of water.
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NRW: Mobile floating containers come to schools and daycare centers
In order to resolve the backlog in swimming courses, DLRG chairwoman Ute Vogt is calling for a round table between the federal government, states and municipalities in the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. Some states have already developed ideas.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, there is the “Narwali” project. Narwali is derived from Narwal, a type of toothed whale. Four Narwalis are traveling through NRW. These are mobile floating containers on wheels that are transported to a different school or daycare center every six weeks. Two small changing rooms, a shower, the rest of the container is full of water. At least this is a first step so that more children can simply get into the water.
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Source: ZDF
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