540 rural children get swimming lessons in Sirajganj

About 540 children of six schools in Tarash upazila, Sirajganj, have learned to swim under a multifaceted workshop named “Swimming Training to Save Lives” organised by Socheton Nagorik Society and facilitated by the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs.

The closing ceremony of the 15-day training programme was held on Friday morning at the Upazila Auditorium, confirmed Mezbaul Karim, Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of the upazila, who presided over the programme.

Marking the successful completion of the first phase of the workshop, chief guest of the programme, Member Of Parliament (MP) from Sirajganj- 3 constituency DR. Md. Abdul Aziz handed over the prizes to the winners of a 50-metre swimming competition. The rest of the participants received consolation prizes from the MP, and all of them got a high-quality life jacket from the organisers.

Every year almost 17,520 children die from drowning in the country, accounting for 43% of deaths among children between the ages of one and four, said MP Aziz while addressing the closing ceremony of the workshop.

“On average, 30 children under five who are not even grown enough to learn swimming die from drowning each day, and we must train our children to save their lives and others,” he added.

The MP further mentioned that reducing the number of deaths by drowning is essential to achieve the UN SDG (Sustainable Development Goals), which is possible through family awareness, and joint government-private-NGO cooperation.

“We wish to bring down children’s death from drowning to zero in the same way we have successfully reduced the maternal and child mortality rates,” the MP added.

According to the Chief Coordinator Officer of the Socheton Nagorik Society, MSH Badhon Chowdhury and Programme Coordinator Syeda Tarin Anowar, the three-year-long project will facilitate 6660 children of seven upazilas of the Rajshahi division through conducting different swimming and life-saving training programmes in Sirajganj’s Tarash, Raiganj and Shahjadpur upazilas, Rajshahi’s Paba upazila and Dinajpur’s Sadar, Birol and Bochaganj upazilas.

Gold-medalist and esteemed swimming trainers from Bangladesh Swimming Federation had conducted the swimming training for the children. The participants of the programme also learned awareness, rescue and life-saving techniques to save lives from drowning, fire and first aid training, said organiser Syeda Tarin Anowar.

At the end of the 15-day training programme, a 50-metre swimming competition was held to ensure the viability of the programme and uplift the children’s spirit, said Chief Coordinator Officer Badhon Chowdhury.

Md Abdul Wadud, associate professor of Nimgachhi Degree College, Raiganj upazila, told The Business Post “My 11 year old daughter was once frightened to go near the water. However, through the training programme she learned how to swim and we as parents could not be more relieved as the mortality rate by drowning in Sirajganj is high.”

Fifth-grader, Sheuly, a participant of the training programme, told The Business Post that she lost one of her childhood friends who died by drowning last year. She said: “I could not save my friend then. But now I learned how to save myself and others from drowning.”

Countless drowning incidents occur every year in Sirajganj as the district is full of natural and artificial water bodies. That is why we chose Sirajganj’s Tarash upazila to initiate the project, said Tarin, Programme Coordinator of the organising committee.