Taipei, Oct. 28 (CNA) An inter-agency national action plan will be launched to teach more Taiwanese students and servicemen how to swim, a government official said in a press conference Thursday.
The ambitious 12-year plan, supervised by the Executive Yuan, hopes to teach at least eight out of 10 Taiwanese students, soldiers, policemen and firemen how to swim, which will dramatically reduce cases of drowning, said Tai Hsia-ling, minister of the Sports Affairs Council (SAC).
"In an island country like Taiwan, it is difficult to fathom why there are so many drownings and why so few people know how to swim, " Tai said, adding that President Ma Ying-jeou, an avid swimmer, is the driving force behind the scheme.
Almost all major developed countries, such as Japan, France and the United Kingdom, have public policies to promote swimming, she said.
According to Tai, the ratio of swimming pools per 100,000 students between Japan and Taiwan is an eye-popping 188 to 9.6. Citing a World Health Organization study conducted in 2001, she added that the ratio of drownings per 100,000 children under the age of 14 in Japan and Taiwan is 0.6 to 1.8.
Under the project, swimming pools will be built, personnel will be trained and pool management will be improved from 2010-2022 so that local people will have better access to swimming facilities.
Joining the SAC will be the Ministry of National Defense, the National Police Agency, the Coast Guard Administration, the National Fire Agency, the Ministry of Education and 25 municipalities around the country.
A supervisory committee under the Executive Yuan will set targets for different groups. Among them, 80 percent of school children, 85 percent of military servicemen and 80 percent of police officers will have to be able to swim for at least 50 meters, while 90 percent of firemen and all Coast Guard Administration staff will be required to pass a 200-meter test.
With more people participating in swimming, Taiwan will be able to select athletes to represent the country in international competitions, said Thomas Tsai, President of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee.
Educators also hope the project will be able to help bridge the huge gap in the balance of resources between the north and the south, where only around half of the townships have swimming pools, said Cheng Mei-nu, an elementary school principal in the southern county of Yunlin. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J