Strengthening education on knowledge and skills for drowning prevention for students in Vietnam in the period 2025-2035

Strengthening education on knowledge and skills for drowning prevention for students in Vietnam in the period 2025-2035​ (Image from the internet)

On December 31, 2024, the Prime Minister of Vietnam issued Decision 1717/QD-TTg approving the Program to strengthen education on knowledge and skills for drowning prevention for students in Vietnam in the period 2025-2035.

Strengthening education on knowledge and skills for drowning prevention for students in Vietnam in the period 2025-2035

The Prime Minister of Vietnam approved the Program to strengthen education on knowledge and skills for drowning prevention for students in Vietnam in the period 2025-2035 with the primary tasks and solutions as follows:

(1) Organize communication to raise awareness and responsibility regarding students' drowning prevention:

- Develop, standardize content, and digitize communication materials suitable for each group of management staff, teachers, parents, and students at different education levels.

- Regularly organize communication activities to raise awareness and responsibility of management staff, educators, parents, sectors, levels, related organizations, individuals, and students about drowning prevention. Diversify communication forms and methods suitable for each target group and specific regional characteristics, natural, economic, and social conditions of the locality.

- Annually conduct peak periods, and launch ceremonies to implement communication, education activities to raise awareness so that students know and comply with drowning prevention regulations, especially recognizing unsafe locations and potential drowning hazards for each class before summer vacation, holidays, and Tet.

- Strengthen the role and responsibility of media agencies at the central and local levels; family, schools, and society in activities to raise awareness, and compliance with drowning safety regulations for students at all times and places.

(2) Educate knowledge, skills in drowning prevention and teach safe swimming for students:

- Integrate the content of education on drowning prevention knowledge and skills for students into lesson plans for relevant subjects and educational activities.

- Develop content, and educational materials on drowning prevention knowledge and skills suitable for each education level and implement them through life skills education topics beyond classroom hours. Organize for students to participate in playgrounds, and competitions to learn about drowning prevention knowledge and skills.

- Develop materials and guidance for teachers on teaching safe swimming in the Physical Education subject. Guide optional swimming lessons in the Physical Education subject and recognize students' swimming achievements outside the school.

- Develop programs, materials, guidance for assessing, evaluating results, and organizing safe swimming lessons for primary, secondary, and high school students outside classroom hours. For schools lacking conditions to organize safe swimming lessons internally: cooperate with school clusters locally or cooperate with parents, collaborate with external swimming pools to organize safe swimming lessons for students following guided programs, materials, with school coordination, supervision, and evaluation.

- Equip libraries with books and digital learning materials on drowning prevention knowledge and skills in schools, and community learning centers.

- Promote the role and create conditions for the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, and Team organizations in schools and communities to participate in propagating and educating guiding students on drowning prevention skills in schools and residential areas.

(3) Review, and complete mechanisms and policies for organizing safe swimming lessons in schools:

- Review, amend, and supplement regulations, policies related to investment in infrastructure, funds for organizing safe swimming teaching, and student drowning prevention in schools. Focus on policies and preferential policies on land, and encourage attracting both domestic and foreign resources to invest in swimming pools, equipment ensuring swimming teaching, supplying equipment, supporting training, and organizing swimming teaching activities in schools.

- Review and issue regulations on organizing safe swimming lessons in schools; guide expenses for one safe swimming course, and drowning prevention for one student; provide policies on specific incentives for swimming teachers and lifeguards at student swimming pools outside classroom hours.

(4) Invest in infrastructure, swimming pools, and regular expenditures for schools:

- Develop a plan to gradually invest in building, installing, and maintaining effective operation of swimming pools in schools (including fixed or mobile swimming pools and swimming learning equipment, life-saving tools, and related auxiliary works) to serve safe swimming teaching for students. Invest per school, per school cluster, or build community pools to serve general safe swimming teaching and drowning prevention for children and students in the area.

- Allocate regular expenditure sources for maintaining swimming pools invested within schools or communities; ensure regular activities, and maximize multi-purpose use. Mobilize contributions from students' families when organizing safe swimming courses for students in schools according to the decreed norms by the competent authority.

- Mobilize, and attract investments from individuals, organizations, and businesses to build swimming pools, and effectively cooperate in exploiting and using swimming pools in schools and communities as per regulations.

- Appropriately, effectively integrate with the programs, schemes approved by the Government; especially in difficult localities, effectively integrate the use of funds from ongoing national target programs, ensuring synchronization, and efficiency during program implementation.

(5) Train, and improve capacity for management staff, teachers, and school health workers:

- Develop programs, and materials, and regularly organize training for management staff, teachers, school health workers on drowning prevention knowledge and first aid.

- Develop and organize training, and improve methods, and skills of safe swimming teaching for physical education teachers, part-time teachers, and lifeguards at swimming pools to ensure sufficient quantity, professional level, and capacity for implementation. Encourage school staff, teachers, and employees to participate in training courses on swimming and safe rescue methods to support organizing swimming teaching in schools.

(6) Strengthen inter-sectoral coordination between schools and related organizations, individuals:

- Develop an effective coordination mechanism between the Education sector and the Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs sector, Culture - Sports and Tourism sector, Health sector, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, and the Vietnam Women's Union, and other related sectors and organizations; connect organizing education on drowning prevention knowledge and skills, safe swimming teaching with the work of protecting and caring for children, preventing and combating child injury, and organizing swimming practice, and competition for students.

- Effectively exploit local cultural and sports facilities to support organizing safe swimming teaching for students.

- Promote the participation, supervision, and critique of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and its member organizations, as well as specialization cooperation, and training from the Vietnam Underwater Sports Association and associations related to drowning prevention.

- Mobilize the participation of international organizations, social organizations, businesses, organizations, and individuals related to support building, installing pools, and practice equipment, training; conduct teacher training; organize communication activities and support the development of exemplary models for organizing safe swimming teaching and drowning prevention for students.

(7) Build a monitoring and evaluation system:

- Develop database on the current state of infrastructure, the number of effectively operating swimming pools in schools, and community residential areas; the number of trained teachers sufficient to teach safe swimming to students; the number of students achieving safe swimming, drowning prevention standards; the number of children, and students drowning in each locality and region.

- Develop software, tools for statistics, monitoring, and evaluation of effective organization of drowning prevention knowledge and skills education, and safe swimming teaching for students, and regularly evaluate the results of organization implementation at schools and swimming teaching facilities.

Refer to detailed contents at Decision 1717/QD-TTg dated December 31, 2024.

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