No facility to learn swimming in Khulna

A majority of the children growing up in Khulna city know how to ride a bicycle but don’t know how to swim, which is a bad news, considering they live in a country criss-crossed by rivers and other water bodies. According to Chairperson of Nagarik Forum, Khulna, Sheikh Abdul Kaiyum, “People of all ages feel the urge to get into water when they come across a sea, river or pond. But in the absence of facilities, most of them, mainly children living in city areas, don’t know how to swim. And that is why, many such people meet watery grave during launch accidents.”
Besides, most water bodies in the city remain dirty and unsuitable for learning swimming, he added. There are swimming pools at Khulna Club and BNS Titumir of Naval Base at Khalishpur, apart from those in two aristocratic residential hotels in the city, i.e. City Inn and Castle Salam International. Of these, the swimming pool at Khulna Club is reserved for members only, whereas the one at BNS Titumir is reserved for employees only. As for the swimming pool at Hotel City Inn, Managing Director Md Alamgir Hossain said that they offer swimming facilities only to boarders at a charge of Tk. 362 per hour per client. Similarly, Manager of Hotel Castle Salam International Morshedur Rahman Babu said they offer swimming facilities only to boarders for Tk. 150 per hour per person.
General Secretary of Red Crescent Society, Khulna city unit, Mollik Abid Hossain Kabir, says that there are no swimming facilities for middle-class people in the city as opportunities offered by the two residential hotels are beyond the paying capacity of common people. A UNICEF study last year revealed that at least 48 children, aged between five and 17 years, die in drowning incidents every day across the country, while the figure is over 18,000 a year, as they do not know how to swim.
In the wake of the UNICEF study, the Education Ministry, in a bid to reduce deaths from drowning, issued a circular last year making swimming training and practice compulsory for primary, secondary and higher secondary students of the country as part of their academic activities. The ministry circular also instructed the Education Engineering Department to take necessary steps to make ponds and other water bodies in their respective areas suitable for swimming lessons, while the Zila Parishad and Upazila Parishad would assist the department in doing so.

No facility to learn swimming in Khulna

A majority of the children growing up in Khulna city know how to ride a bicycle but dont know how to swim, which is a bad news, considering they live in a country criss-crossed by rivers and other water bodies. According to Chairperson of Nagarik Forum, Khulna, Sheikh Abdul Kaiyum, People of all ages feel the urge to get into water when they come across a sea, river or pond. But in the absence of facilities, most of them, mainly children living in city areas, dont know how to swim. And that is why, many such people meet watery grave during launch accidents. Besides, most water bodies in the city remain dirty and unsuitable for learning swimming, he added. There are swimming pools at Khulna Club and BNS Titumir of Naval Base at Khalishpur, apart from those in two aristocratic residential hotels in the city, i.e. City Inn and Castle Salam International. Of these, the swimming pool at Khulna Club is reserved for members only, whereas the one at BNS Titumir is reserved for employees only. As for the swimming pool at Hotel City Inn, Managing Director Md Alamgir Hossain said that they offer swimming facilities only to boarders at a charge of Tk. 362 per hour per client. Similarly, Manager of Hotel Castle Salam International Morshedur Rahman Babu said they offer swimming facilities only to boarders for Tk. 150 per hour per person. General Secretary of Red Crescent Society, Khulna city unit, Mollik Abid Hossain Kabir, says that there are no swimming facilities for middle-class people in the city as opportunities offered by the two residential hotels are beyond the paying capacity of common people. A UNICEF study last year revealed that at least 48 children, aged between five and 17 years, die in drowning incidents every day across the country, while the figure is over 18,000 a year, as they do not know how to swim. In the wake of the UNICEF study, the Education Ministry, in a bid to reduce deaths from drowning, issued a circular last year making swimming training and practice compulsory for primary, secondary and higher secondary students of the country as part of their academic activities. The ministry circular also instructed the Education Engineering Department to take necessary steps to make ponds and other water bodies in their respective areas suitable for swimming lessons, while the Zila Parishad and Upazila Parishad would assist the department in doing so.