Concern new syllabus could mean fewer swimming lessons

Cantonal parliamentarian Zari Dzaferi, who is also teacher at a secondary school in Menzingen, is concerned that the introduction of the new “Lehrplan 21” syllabus, which is being unfurled across primary schools in the 21 German-speaking cantons, might lead to a reduction in the amount of time pupils spend practising swimming in pools as part of their timetable.

As far as the canton of Zug is concerned, the new syllabus is to be fully implemented from the beginning of the new school year in 2019, though many schools are working to it already. Dzaferi (second photograph), an SP politician who represents Baar, has tabled an official question to the cantonal government as he wants to know precisely how much time is given over to swimming practice in each school, in each municipality and in what year. He has also discovered that some municipalities opt for swimming simply because too few sports halls are made available to them for other activities, whereas in other municipalities hardly any swimming lessons take place at all because pools are not available. He feels greater coordination by the government on this would help, with municipalities not doing their bit in this regard forced to act.

This is not the first time the matter of swimming lessons, or lack of them, has been raised as a cause for concern in the canton, a previous parliamentarian calling for them to be made compulsory for all children in the canton back in 2009. “Nothing has been done about this since that time. It would be tragic if a child had to drown before anything was done about it,” complained Dzaferi.

Speaking on this matter earlier this month, the cantonal director of education, Stephan Schleiss, said he felt a pragmatic solution could be found but Dzaferi feels the director simply wants to avoid confrontation with the individual municipalities.