Even as confusion prevailed outside the premises of Padma Sesahadri Bala Bhavan in K.K. Nagar, on Saturday morning, over a parent-teacher meeting, many said they had come hoping that the school would tell them exactly what transpired on Thursday.
Several parents voiced concerns about the swimming session. While some parents said they had been keen that their children learn swimming, until the accident involving M. Ranjan, many others said they had voiced concerns about the class right from the start.
A parent of a class four student said her child was afraid of swimming, and attended the classes reluctantly. Students are initiated into swimming at the end of class II, and it is compulsory until class VII. “I put him in a private swimming class, where I tag along, so he would learn to swim and not fret about it in school. A year ago, a few parents had appealed to the principal asking for better trainers, and she gave us a patient hearing. But nothing has changed,” she said.
One parent said he would not want the school to discontinue swimming classes, instead they must step up safety measures and employ better trainers. “Many students have not overcome fear of water despite attending classes for over a year. I do not know for how long it is acceptable to push a reluctant child into the water,” he said.
Parents said students were exempted from swimming only on medical grounds. The module should be made optional, many parents said. A student of class four said while he enjoyed swimming, many of his classmates continued to stand on the edge of the pool.
Another parent of a class IV student said there should ideally be one trainer for two students, and in the case of beginners, parents must be allowed to accompany the child. Many parents said they had little knowledge of the safety measures in place.
“Until now, we placed complete faith in the school because they had been running a swimming class for so many years, and nothing untoward had happened,” a parent said. He did not take it seriously when his son expressed fears about swimming because he felt every child went through that phase, the parent said.
Some parents, however, brushed off Thursday’s accident as a one-off incident, and said they wouldn’t mind if swimming classes resumed. The police have, so far, questioned Indira Vaidyanathan, principal of the school, and Usha Srinivasan, the class teacher. They have also made enquiries with Ranjan’s parents and his uncle.
Sir.
I see very happy ,that my suggestion of keeping swimming class is
optional to the students is very good. Also the same way the managements of schools can leave the carrying of student to school in time to school to bus owners in charge, so that the managements of school/in charger will not coming into the field.
yours
It is a shame that parents and students have no right to choose special type of physical education. It is OK to have general physical education, but compelling the student to swim, weight lift, gymnastics, Sumo wrestle and so on is utter non-sense out of the poor show of India in Olympics. India wants to emulate China to get the government involved in every aspect of sports and games to project the image of a world power. It is individuls interest in most other countries that produce outstanding athlets with the support of the parents, community and private sponsors instead of compelling students by the government to practice one kind of sports or other. In China children 6 years or older are even siezed by the government from the parents for training them in sports and games for the glory of China. Without any compulsion of students for specific sports and games, US, UK and several other countries have outstanding performance in international sports and games. When will India learn?
While this is a big loss to the family,the demand to remove swimming classes is a retrograde step. I live in Australia where swimming is taught at schools at an early age. This keeps the mind and body fit and also prevents drowning accidents later. The problem is not with swimming per se but with the casual attitude and lack of skills of trainers and lack of safety equipment. Parents would gain a lot in putting their children in swimming classes.
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