Drowning deaths and grace marks

The incident of a 16-year-old student and his father drowning to death in Kannur, while practicing swimming to get grace marks for Plus Two admission, raises several questions. With the introduction of bonus points for swimming in plus one admission, numerous students across the state have begun learning swimming to obtain certificates. Students learning to swim is a good thing, especially in the wake of the frequent drowning deaths reported these days.

In the tragic incident, Kannur Eachur bank secretary P P Shaji and his son K V Jyothiradityan had drowned to death in a pond due to the absence of a trainer. The duo used to come for swimming training, accompanied by a trainer, for the past few days. On the day of the incident, the trainer was not present. On seeing his son drowning in the pond, the father, who did not know swimming, jumped into the water to save the boy. However, two valuable lives were lost in the unfortunate incident. On that day itself, two engineering students had drowned to death in Karamana river in Thiruvananthapuram. The dead were identified as Kozhikode native Rahul (22), a third-year student in Sreekaryam CET and Muvattupuzha native Jiji Jacob (22), a civil engineering student. The students, who did not know swimming, had slipped and fell into the river.

Students learning to swim can go a long way in avoiding such incidents of drowning deaths. In foreign countries, children are taught to swim at an early age itself. That is the most fruitful way. The local bodies should arrange facilities for students to learn swimming at an early age. Trainers should also be appointed for the purpose. There is no need to waive the grace marks given for plus one admission on the ground of such isolated mishaps. The grace marks were implemented following the Thattekad boat tragedy, which had claimed the lives of 15 children in 2007. In order to get points, the students earlier had to get a certificate from their respective panchayats and upload it. However, following complaints of illegal purchase of certificates, the district sports council made it mandatory to check the certificates from last year onwards. Nevertheless, it is better to let the local bodies issue certificates for the students. In village areas, the local authorities can hire and supervise swimming instructors at rural ponds and other water bodies. In addition, the education department should analyze ways to teach to swimming students before the end of their secondary education.