Students at Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm Primary School learn to swim at a local swimming pool in HCM City's District 1.Photo: sggp.org.vn

HCM CITY— Over the past five years, sport competitions for students in HCM City have increased significantly but the conditions of sport facilities at schools have not met demand.

According to the city’s Department of Education and Training, by the end of the 2019-2020 school year, around 77 per cent of kindergartens and 100 per cent of primary schools, secondary schools and high schools had a playground.

However, only 29.6 per cent of primary schools, 47.1 per cent of secondary schools, and 45.5 per cent of high schools had sport halls that met the prescribed standards.

In order to implement the Prime Minister's direction on strengthening sports facilities in schools, the Department of Education and Training has developed sport facilities, including the expansion of training grounds and construction of more sport halls and swimming pools.

In addition, the city department has increased funding to purchase sport equipment for schools in the city.

Mai Bá Hùng, deputy director of HCM City’s Department of Culture and Sports, told Sài Gòn Giải Phóng (Liberated Sài Gòn) that in order to overcome the limitations of facilities, the department has worked with the city’s Department of Education and Training to develop physical education and sports activities at schools.

Thanks to the cooperation between the two departments, schools now can  use local sport facilities such as gymnasiums, swimming pools and training grounds and receive support from sports associations and sport clubs in the area.

In District 4, the district’s Department of Education and Training annually coordinates with the district’s Sports Center to implement swimming classes for third-grade students in primary schools in the area.

By the end of the previous school year, the percentage of students who could swim and master safety skills in the water environment throughout the district reached over 80 per cent.

In addition, the locality has also strengthened sports activities by holding more district-level competitions such as football, volleyball, badminton, and martial arts for students in primary schools, secondary schools and high schools.

Trần Anh Tuấn, director of District 1’s Sport Centre, said that every year the centre worked with schools in the district to establish sport clubs in schools.

At Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm primary school in District 1, students have two swimming lessons per week and learn to swim at the local swimming pool nearby.

According to the school's leaders, they have worked with the District 1 Sports Center and Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm Swimming Club to organise an extracurricular swimming activity for students to prevent drowning accidents. VNS