Swimming lessons
“The decree is just a piece of paper”
Do swimming lessons only cost parents money or not? "No", was the answer from the Upper Austrian Education Directorate. But parents have had different experiences and contacted the "Krone". We asked again in detail.
Parents reacted angrily to the "Krone" article about the discussion surrounding the assumption of costs - bus, admission, instructor - for swimming lessons. "What makes you think that anyone - apart from the parents - would cover the swimming costs? Despite forwarding the relevant decree from the Upper Austrian Education Directorate to the school principals, because they were not even aware of it until November 2023, the parents - and only they - have had to continue to pay the costs since the start of school. This is not even being discussed, as it is a matter of course. The decree is just a piece of paper," said one Linz mom, venting her anger - that would be up to 100 euros per year for one of her children.
However, she does not have to pay, but the child does have to attend swimming lessons, explains Herwig Kerschbaumer from the Upper Austrian Education Directorate: "Parents are allowed to make a contribution, but there is no obligation to do so." There would be agreement on this - at a legal level - between the Ministry of Education and the Association of Municipalities. "However, some municipalities that are responsible for maintaining schools are still reluctant," says Kerschbaumer.
Swimming lessons are included in the curriculum, and all young Upper Austrians should be able to keep their heads above water for at least one swimming pool length after completing compulsory schooling. How often the classes have to go to indoor pools for this is not in the curriculum, it is at the discretion of the teachers.
"To move in water under one's own power (through certain movements of the fins, arms and legs)" - this is how the dictionary defines the word swimming.
It does not say how far and how safely you should be able to move when swimming. And many parents and children fail to mention or overestimate this when asked whether their offspring can swim. As a person who likes to accompany children to swimming lessons, I have a lot of experience of this myself.
Especially when children have only splashed around in their parents' pools. They proudly show off, but in the slightly larger and deeper pool they run out of strength after a few seconds - and swimming turns out to be like pushing off the bottom of the pool.
Swimming courses in schools should be much more intensive as they save lives. From this point of view, the question of money is secondary.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
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