Children of Government UPS, Vilappilsala are making a splash. A new scheme under Prateeksha, a philanthropic trust established by entrepreneur and author C. Balagopal, encourages students of the school to learn swimming.
Under the scheme, 15 students are learning swimming at a pool at Government UPS in Nedumcaud, Karamana.
“The rules stipulate that children with a height of 120 cm can be taught swimming. As such, we selected 17 boys. Of that 15 have been learning swimming from November 1 onwards,” says Vilappil Radhakrishnan, president of the Trust.
“With such a long coastline and with so many water bodies, it is surprising that many people do not know how to swim. Every year, so many people drown because they do not know swimming. We thought we would begin with the children and ensure that they learn how to swim,” states Balagopal.
All the children were provided with wet suits and caps and a bus was engaged to transport the children from Vilappil to Karamana and back.
“The classes are from 3.30 pm to 4.30 pm. So the students come straight from school to Karamana and are taken back to the school once the class is over. A teacher accompanies the students. The swimming instructors are from the Fire Force and they told us that the children would have to attend classes for 10 days, without a break. Then they can go on alternate days or on weekends. They are taught very systematically,” explains Radhakrishnan.
Balagopal hopes that all government schools make the effort to ensure that the students learn swimming as part of the curriculum. Although the first batch is an all-boys team, Radhakrishnan is confident that the next batch will have girls as well to dive into the pool. The swimming lessons are one of the many schemes under the Trust.