ART OF SWIMMING

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 137, 14 June 1927, Page 10

ART OF SWIMMING

NEW ZEALAND CHILDREN

ONLY 24 PER CENT. EFFICIENT

..The question of swimming instruction in schopls was considered by the Council of Education at its mcetinsr held last week..

A resolution was passed urging the Department to require teachers to give instruction' in all schools where reasonable facilities for teaching the subject exist. lii considering the matter, the council had before it the following information from returns received from 80 per cent, of the schools in New Zealand:— "Facilities.—PracticUly l> x alf (49.8 per cent.) of the schools which supplied information have facilities of some sort for the teaching of swimming There are natural facilities (chiefly rivers, ponds in creeks, and the sea") at 35.8 per cent, of schools, while 11 per cent, enjoy the privilege of baths either at the school or in the town. Instances occur where enthusiastic teachers take the children several miles in motor-cars, after school hours, to the nearest swimming place. '' Instruction.—Swimming • instruction is given in two-thirds of the schools which hr.vc facilities for it. "Number of Swimmers.—lf it is assumed that the outstanding returns from the 20 per cent, of schools will make little difference to the percentage figures, it. may be stated that 24 per cent, of the children in the standard classes throughout the Dominion are able to swim. The effect of climatic- conditions is noticeable in the variation of the number of swimmers in the different districts, this number ranging from 32 per cent, in Hawkes Bay to 10 per cent, in Southland. "Expenses.—Where facilities exist, little expense is incurred; 817 'headteachers state that the expenses are or would be nil. Thirty-eight schools have an annual expenditure of under £5, and the remaining 37 schools spend from So to £40 per year. In the last-mentioned group are schools whose pupils pay to attend public city baths. In a few cases the rates on the water used at the school baths are high."