The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested strict implementation of solutions to prevent child drowning.

On the afternoon of June 7, the People's Committee of Nghe An province held an online conference with 21 districts, cities and towns on preventing child drowning accidents. Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired the conference.Photo: Tien Hung

Lack of entertainment and recreation for children

Although in recent times, all levels and sectors in Nghe An have had a series of related documents and plans, drowning incidents among children are on the rise.

Assessing this situation, Mr. Vi Ngoc Quynh - Deputy Director of the Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs said that children's knowledge, skills, awareness of self-protection and prevention of drowning risks are still limited. Some families and caregivers have not done a good job of managing and supervising children. The rate of children who do not know how to swim and have not been trained in safety skills in the water environment is still high. Entertainment venues for children in some areas are still limited, not meeting the needs...

Mr. Quynh said that the reason for these shortcomings is that some local authorities and party committees have not regularly paid attention, directed and invested adequate resources in child protection and care. The coordination between departments, branches, organizations, families, schools and society in some places is sometimes not tight. The awareness and responsibility of some families and people in protecting and caring for children is still limited. The swimming pool system is still limited. In some places, the living environment around children is unsafe, many lakes, rivers, streams, and irrigation dams have many potential risks leading to accidents for children...

The scene of the drowning incident that killed 5 Yen Thanh students recently.

At the conference, leaders of some localities also pointed out many shortcomings and made recommendations to reduce this situation. Mr. Hoang Danh Truyen - Vice Chairman of Yen Thanh District People's Committee said that regarding the organization of swimming lessons for students, the physical facilities of the school and the commune are not available. Therefore, the number of students participating in swimming lessons is not high, the rate of students who know how to swim is still low, especially female students.

Local leaders of the area where the tragic drowning incident that killed five students recently recommended that the provincial authorities should direct units to ensure safety when constructing and repairing dams and irrigation works; and ensure the reclamation of deep holes that could cause danger...

Meanwhile, Mr. Thai Van Thanh - Director of the Department of Education and Training suggested that in the coming time, departments and localities need to discuss action solutions, not just stop at propaganda. First of all, in teaching swimming, there must be enough coaches in schools, in training on drowning, it is necessary to focus on drills and handling situations when drowning occurs...

Comrade Thai Thanh Quy concluded the conference. Photo: Tien Hung

Many localities have not yet taken drastic action.

Concluding the conference, comrade Thai Thanh Quy said that the coordination and monitoring of relevant sectors on drowning is not tight, through reported data on the number of cases and deaths due to drowning since the beginning of the year.

In the report at this conference, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs reported 18 drowning cases that killed 25 children since the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, the number of Nghe An Provincial Youth Union was 28 cases and 37 people, while the statistics of the Provincial Police were 40 cases and 47 people.

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also frankly pointed out the limitations related to this issue such as poor propaganda work; many units and localities have not been strong and decisive in their direction. Notably, at the conference, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee criticized 10 District People's Committee Chairmen for not attending the online conference.

“The invitation clearly stated that the Chairmen of the People’s Committees of districts, cities and towns were invited, but today 11/21 Chairmen were absent from the connecting points, one of whom had a legitimate reason. This proves that you still do not consider this issue important,” said the Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee and requested the Office of the Provincial People’s Committee to make a list of criticisms and include it in the year-end emulation ranking.

In addition, comrade Thai Thanh Quy also requested that localities need to step up the direction of drowning prevention through conferences and meetings, with specific assignments, combined with inspection and supervision at the grassroots level; promote socialization in building swimming pools in schools; review all black spots with the risk of drowning, to put up warning signs and organize mobile teams to regularly inspect these areas.