State going against current
LEGENDARY swim coach Laurie Lawrence says it is “ludicrous” Queensland kids are not taught how to swim at school as Education Minister Grace Grace tried to play down the state’s swimming crisis highlighted in the Gold Coast Bulletin’s S.O.S campaign.
As calls to introduce State Government-funded swimming lessons in primary school gained momentum around the state yesterday, Ms Grace said it was parents who should take responsibility to teach their kids how to swim before they started school.
Awkwardly, Ms Grace also said the Government had taken advice from experts – referring several times to Lawrence – that the earlier children learnt to swim the better.
WE’RE THE NO. 1 SWIMMING STATE IN AUSTRALIA AND WE CAN’T GET OUR KIDS TAUGHT TO SWIM AT SCHOOL. GIVE ME A BREAK QUEENSLAND LAURIE LAWRENCE, SWIM COACH
However, the swim legend has fully backed The Bulletin’s call for compulsory swimming and water safety lessons and said the state was failing school-aged kids.
“To see the Government drop out of helping teach schoolkids how to swim is ludicrous,” Lawrence said.
“Every single kid in Tasmania learns to swim and it’s paid for by the Government.
“We’re the No. 1 swimming state in Australia and we can’t get our kids taught to swim at school. Give me a break Queensland.”
He said while it was vital to teach children how to swim prior to them coming to school, not all families can afford to send their kids to swimming lessons, even with State Government vouchers.
“I have always tried to get kids in to swimming before they even get to school (through his Kids Alive program and Laurie Lawrence swim schools), but not every parent can afford to do that.
“But now, the only school kids who are learning to swim at school are the ones who are lucky enough to have access to a school pool.
“We used to get bus loads of schoolkids turn up for 10 free lessons, which was all paid for by the Government.”
Since the Save Our Schoolkids campaign launched across 46 News Queensland papers simultaneously yesterday, there has been a wave of support to introduce swimming lessons in primary schools that are benchmarked and funded by the Government.
As calls came from across the state – including pleas from parents who had lost children to drowning – to commit funding in line with other states, Ms Grace was left to front the media for the State Government.
While she said she was “open to all options”, the minister did not address criticism that Queensland was the only state without a compulsory or comprehensive swim program in schools that was funded by the Government.
“All options are on the table and we can see what other states are doing, but Queensland is a large diverse state. It is very hard to have a compulsory swimming program in a controlled environment where there are no pools available in some very remote areas,’’ she said.
However, Western Australia, almost 50 per cent larger than Queensland, has introduced a successful schools swimming program with a participation rate of 97 per cent.
“I think swimming is an important part of our lifestyle here in Queensland so together with stakeholders and Surf Life Saving Queensland, we are open to discussing all options in relation to what best equips children to be safe around waterways and swimming pools,” Ms Grace said.
Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham said Queensland needed to follow the lead of southern states.
“Plenty of other states have found ways to ensure water safety and swimming programs are accessible, no matter how remote students may be,” he said.