Child rights panel wants swimming in curriculum

Concern over increasing incidents of drowning in water bodies

Staff Reporter

Kozhikode

The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has suggested inclusion of swimming in the school curriculum.

A release said here on Monday that the commission directed the Director of General Education and the Secretary, Education Department, to ensure that all school students are trained in swimming. This followed a petition by Amal Saji, functionary of the Rakshak campaign for the protection of child rights.

The commission said that incidents of children dying after falling into rivers, lakes and open wells were on the rise in the State. Issuing guidelines to avoid their recurrence would save lives, the commission said. It added that unused public wells should be filled and those in use should be protected with retaining walls, apart from ensuring the safety of ponds. The order issued by K. Naseer directed the Revenue Secretary to take steps for the purpose.

The child rights panel said that ponds and water bodies owned by private persons should have barbed wire fence or compound walls. Unused public wells under local bodies should be filled. Warning boards should be installed around ponds. Swimming pools and water tanks being constructed in houses should have also have proper protective walls. Local bodies should include such guidelines before approving their final plan. Provisions for this should be included in the Kerala Panchayat Building Rules, 2019, and the municipality rules. The Secretary, Department of Local Self-Governments, and directors of panchayats and urban bodies should issue orders, the panel said.