Primary pupils are being denied lifesaving swimming lessons due to a “postcode lottery”, it has been claimed.
Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Liz Smith caused shockwaves by revealing that while pupils in Perth and Kinross were offered a minimum of five hours of tuition a week, in Fife the picture was different.
In the kingdom, she said, a Freedom of Information request revealed there were no compulsory lessons offered during the school day with non-swimmers offered extracurricular tuition on an opt in basis.
Scottish Swimming has claimed that as many as 40% of primary school children are heading into secondary school as non-swimmers.
And swimming is not a compulsory part of the curriculum in Scotland, unlike in England.
“Swimming should be an integral part of the sport curriculum in every school and it is simply not good enough that four out of every 10 primary school children are heading into secondary school as non-swimmers.
“There is very clear evidence which shows not only the health benefits of swimming but also its ability to develop all round physical fitness and confidence in young people,” she said.
While much had been said about the Scottish Government’s legacy of Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games, Ms Smith added a failure to fund swimming “clearly does not match up with the grand claims”.
However, at Labour-run Fife Council, sport and physical activity spokesman Mark Hood hit back, saying the party believed every child should learn to swim, but that was increasingly difficult because of both SNP and Conservative Government budget cuts.
“In Fife we currently provide free swimming lessons to children in primary six.
“We have also introduced the free summer swim scheme and the weekend quid-a-kid scheme.
“All of these schemes have proven to be popular with families and the number of people swimming has increased dramatically since their introduction.”
He also explained a primary one swimming pilot which had seen a 100% increase in children learning to swim in this age group.
“Plans are being put in place to roll this scheme out across Fife next year,” he said.
“Fife Labour believe that every child should learn as part of their primary school education however this is becoming harder to achieve each year as we see cuts to local council budgets from both Conservative and SNP governments.”
All pupils in Perth and Kinross Primary schools receive one block of swimming instruction during their time at primary school as part of their PE curriculum.
Swimming instruction is mainly delivered to upper primary pupils, from primary four to seven.
