Some 1700 youths have successfully completed the annual ‘Teach Them Young: Learn to swim’ programme executed by the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports and the National Sports Commission.
The four weeks exercise which commenced on July 18, allowed children from 10 -18 years old the opportunity to develop key swimming techniques.
At the closing ceremony on Sunday, Minister Charles Ramson Jr. noted that safety was a major priority and the parents were allowed to attend and share in the responsibility of safety for the participants
“Seventeen hundred children participated in a programme, which involves water, swimming, learning to swim when over seven hundred of them never knew how to swim before and we succeeded without having a single issue of safety occur,” Minister Ramson said.
He noted everyone wants what’s best for their children and it is the parent’s responsibility to guide their children.
“You have to make intelligent decisions, wise decisions on their behalf so you have to put them in the good programmes, you have to put them in the sports programmes in the craft programmes that will supplement what they are doing in school, all of which the ministry of culture youth and sport is putting together for you,” he urged.
He also urged parents to get their children involved in different activities and noted that the government will continue to provide opportunities for them to develop in various fields.
In underscoring the importance of such an initiative and its impact on the lives of young people, Simone Major, a parent from Linden, expressed gratitude to the government for such an undertaking.
“The swimming programme was really impacted to the children of linden because it was beneficial to them, Linden has a lot of potential swimmers, I would like to thank the honourable minister Mr. Charles Ramson, the Director of Sports Mr. Steve Ninvalle and the staff of NYC,” Simone Major said.
Classes were conducted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at two locations – Colgrain Swimming Pool, Camp Street, and the National Aquatic Centre.
