Undergoing aquatic instruction sessions, learning swimming techniques. - Saxony aims to enhance swimming instruction classes.
Saxony aims to enhance the swimming instruction for kids in preschool and elementary school. As revealed by the Education Ministry, a more robust collaboration with the state swimming association is in the works for this purpose. "We concur that contemporary swimming education in Germany should be hands-on, consistent, and most importantly, secure. By mutually recognizing swimming certificates between schools and the Saxon swimming association, we're edging closer to achieving this," explained Education Minister Christian Piwarz (CDU).
Piwarz referred to the notion of the four competency levels, which were incorporated into mandatory swimming lessons in primary schools since the 2019/2020 academic year. These levels are named water acclimation, fundamental skills, basic swimming, and safe swimming. This has established a platform for kids to progressively and methodically grasp and reinforce swimming abilities.
"Parents will receive straightforward and unambiguous feedback from schools and the swimming association on whether their child is already proficient in safe swimming or still at the fundamental skills level," stressed Piwarz. This could put an end to any confusion regarding a child's swimming capabilities. The clarity of these competency levels is a substantial benefit over the "Seahorse" swimming badge. Although parents frequently connect the "Seahorse" with strong swimming abilities, the competencies required for it are only at level two and should not be mistaken for safe swimming.
In alignment with Piwarz's plan, schools and the swimming association will now mutually recognize swimming certificates, ensuring that children who have completed ['swimming lessons'] at the safe swimming level can move seamlessly between different educational settings. Furthermore, as the four competency levels have been integrated into mandatory swimming lessons, children in Saxony will have a structured pathway to develop and improve their swimming skills over time.
