Save our Schoolkids: Lives depend on getting it right at roundtable meeting

WHAT could be more important than improving child safety? This question should be at the core of a State Government-hosted roundtable meeting today that will discuss how to improve water safety programs in Queensland primary schools.

• Vital campaign for compulsory swimming lessons to save young lives
• Surf lifesavers pushed to the limit by kids who can’t swim
• World champion Emily Seebohm reveals her brush with death in the pool

WHAT could be more important than improving child safety?

This question should be at the core of a State Government-hosted roundtable meeting today that will discuss how to improve swimming and water safety programs in Queensland primary schools.

The gathering will be a first, bringing together many different voices, from surf lifesavers and royal lifesavers to principals, P and C chiefs, representatives from Catholic, independent and state schools and an array of government department heads.

It follows The Courier-Mail’s S.O.S. (Save Our Schoolkids) campaign launched after water safety leaders revealed concerns for a generation of young people who could not swim to save themselves.

The campaign sparked considerable debate, including just who was responsible for teaching kids to swim – parents or schools?

The Queensland Government put forward the view that many schools already had programs.

However, experts, including surf lifesavers, physical education teachers and top instructors, pointed out that these were not benchmarked, or mandatory, and failed to produce competent and safe swimmers.

St Ita’s Catholic Primary School students Tess Mackinnon, 11, Riley Clarke, 10, and Isabella Byrne, 10. St Ita's school teaches its students to swim and to be safe around water. Picture: AAP Image/Claudia Baxter

Rescue data showed young people were being pulled from the surf in large numbers and the obvious concern was this could manifest in drowning figures in the future.

The consensus was we need to find a way to give children slipping between the cracks the vital swim skills needed to survive and enjoy life in one of the world’s great aquatic playgrounds.

Education Minister Grace Grace is to be commended for bringing together a large, diverse and knowledgeable group to consider improvements.

Ms Grace, as part of her other portfolio, Industrial Relations, had considerable success when she gathered stakeholders in similar fashion to strengthen diving and snorkeling guidelines after a horror run of 10 tourist deaths on the Great Barrier Reef.

The right people again have been assembled and now it’s over to them to make the most of the opportunity. They need to put aside any self-interest, make their views count, listen intently to all options presented and collectively search for solutions.

The word “compulsory’’ is seen by some as a stumbling block and others no doubt will wrestle with multiple issues such as funding, how programs could be rolled out in remote areas without pools, liability costs and adequate staffing.

But we can learn from other states, some that have found they don’t need to force schools into programs. They provide the funds, engage the appropriate facilitators and take-up rates soar close to 100 per cent.

Western Australia cleverly includes the option of intensive holiday programs, where students aged five to 17 can gain the appropriate skills and knowledge and achieve their benchmarked certificates.

Now it’s our turn to take the plunge and restore Queensland to its rightful place as a leader in water safety education.

It’s time to put children first. Lives depend on it.