SWIMMING IN SCHOOLS

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 128, 24 February 1938, Page 8

SWIMMING IN SCHOOLS

Grant Of £154/19/- For Wellington

A grant of £154/19/- has been made by the Education Department to the Wellington Education Board for swimming instruction in schools. At yesterday’s meeting of the board, the chairman, Mr. W. V. Dyer, said the amount was not large, but he was glad to see that swimming had been recognised. The Auckland board had decided to grant 6d. a pupil for the transport to the baths of non-swim-mers. The grant had come rather late, as the peak of the hot weather seemed to have passed. He would like to see the subsidy on swimming baths reintroduced, as there' were doubtless many schools which, with a little assistance, would install baths. He hoped that much more would be done in the direction of getting children to swim. \ Mr. Dyer read from a report of the activities iff the Y.M.C.A., in which it was stated that, in eight days, 359 non-swimmers had been taught to swim a minimum distance of five yards. If was an extremely creditable result, said Mr. Dyer, and the thanks of the board were due to the instructors for their assistance. The board approved the following recommendation of the finance, advisory, and accounts sub-committee: “That the executive be deputed to meet representatives of the swimming organisations concerned in the Wellington district with a view to> formulating a scheme to allocate to the best advantage, for the Wellington, Blenheim, Masterton, and Levin centres, the grant received from the Government.”