KEY POINTS:
Unless more New Zealand children learn to swim, drowning numbers will soar, Water Safety New Zealand (WSNZ) says.
The organisation yesterday released research from Nielsen that indicated the swimming ability of the country's youth had reached a crisis point and it forecast that continued failure to address the issue would result in a significant increase in drownings.
"When the findings of the research are matched with increases in population and increasing participation in water-based activities, we believe the drowning toll will exceed 150 deaths per annum within the next 12 years and then up to 180 beyond 2030," said WSNZ general manager Matt Claridge.
He said New Zealand already had one of the highest rates of drowning in the developed world, currently averaging 114 a year (2003-2007), and the Government needed to act to improve the situation.
"Learn to swim lessons were an integral component of the education delivered through the school system but this is no longer the case," Mr Claridge said.
"Changes to the school curriculum and reduced funding have resulted in swimming lessons having a lower priority."
WSNZ wants the Government and its agencies to work together to develop a plan that encourages and supports schools, and that learning to swim once again be a compulsory component of the curriculum and reinstated in all schools.
- NZPA
