Playgrounds have always been a part of schools. Now, some institutes in the eastern metropolis have made swimming pools an integral factor of the learning process.
KOLKATA: Playgrounds have always been a part of schools. Now, some institutes in the eastern metropolis have made swimming pools an integral factor of the learning process.
"In the education process, games are very important and swimming is just one of them," says PA to the Principal of Delhi Public School, Megacity.
One school, Sri Shikshayatan, however, has had a swimming 5,000 sq ft pool for the past 52 years since its inception.
Students of the school have swimming classes once a fortnight.
"The pool is reserved for students during the day, while outsiders are allowed to swim in mornings and evenings," says school principal Sarada Narayanaswami.
For swimming instructions, the school has four lady trainers.
The pool which is used by outsiders during four shifts in the morning and an equal number in the evening is cleaned regularly, the principal says.
Another school, Ballygunge Siksha Sadan does not have a pool of its own, but has a regular arrangement with the Anderson Club, a swimming club.
Students have to pay Rs 1,000 for each swimming session aided by trainers apart from two club members who help in the training, Vice-Principal S Banerjee says.
Swimming, she stressed, was optional for students, who were taken to the club in a bus. A session lasted from the summer vacation till the end of November.
"Education does not mean only books. It should enable a student to become a socially responsible citizen," she says.
Sister S M Cyril of Loreto Day School, Sealdah, feels amused. "I don't mind swimming pools as long as every single person in slums have adequate supply of water.
Parents too differ on whether they should send their wards to schools having a swimming pool.
Jhuma Bose, the mother of two-and-a-half-year-old Kaniska of Kidzee prefers schools like the Heritage, which have a swimming pool.
However, Father Krishanu Bose prefers traditional schools like Don Bosco, Park Circus and Dolna, which do not have swimming pools.
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