“Free” swimming class from a teacher in the West

Teacher Quy guides students in swimming movements.

For nearly 10 years, every afternoon, the swimming pool of Tra Noc Thermal Power Plant (Binh Thuy Ward) has been bustling with the laughter and splashing of children. There is a free swimming class of Ms. Quy, training thousands of children to swim, including some who have won high achievements in swimming competitions at district and city levels...

Teacher Do Thi Ngoc Quy shared that she graduated from the Physical Education and Sports Department and started teaching in 2006. During a conversation with her colleagues, she realized that the situation of children drowning in the Mekong Delta was alarming.

With a passion for sports and a desire to contribute to the community, she came up with the idea of opening free swimming classes for children, especially students in difficult circumstances.

Ms. Quy teaches freestyle swimming to students.

The southwestern region has many rivers and canals. Children living in the river area who do not know how to swim always face unnecessary risks. Therefore, when Ms. Quy expressed her intention to open a class, both the school and parents supported her.

With no swimming pool in the school, Ms. Quy contacted several swimming pools to ask to open a class. Afterwards, she was supported and accompanied by Mr. Duong Quang Vu, the owner of the swimming pool at Tra Noc Thermal Power Plant.

In addition to free swimming lessons, swimming tickets are reduced or even completely exempted for children in difficult circumstances. Tra Noc 2 Primary School supports Ms. Quy in renting a 16-seat car to take students to the swimming pool. For students who finish school late, Ms. Quy is willing to use her own motorbike to take them to class.

Thanks to this support, Ms. Quy's swimming class has been stable for many years, becoming a familiar meeting place for elementary school students in the area, especially during the summer vacation. Every year, Ms. Quy organizes 3 to 6 swimming courses with about 50 students per course. The class takes place every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Ms. Quy's students are of many ages.

Before each lesson, Ms. Quy kindly asked about each child's health, checked the swimming buoys, diving goggles, and swimming suits, and then carefully instructed the warm-up exercises. The lessons started with water familiarization movements such as breathing, balancing, and basic floating.

For students who have mastered the basic techniques, she moves on to teaching freestyle swimming, arm and leg coordination, and breathing control. On average, after only 5 to 10 sessions, many students can swim proficiently. About 80% of students in each course can swim after studying with her.

Fifth graders are given priority to ensure they can swim well before they enter secondary school. In addition to being taught basic swimming techniques, Ms. Quy’s students also learn water survival skills, which are very important when living near rivers, lakes, and canals. They are also taught how to handle situations when they see someone drowning and how to save them.

I teach swimming to children without any remuneration. In class, children are not only taught swimming but also necessary skills in water, skills to save drowning people. I am happy when children have the opportunity to be safe.

Teacher Do Thi Ngoc Quy

In over 10 years of teaching swimming to students, Ms. Quy has experienced countless challenges. In the early days, when she did not have much experience, she could not help but feel confused when interacting with the first and second graders, who were very naive.

Not only teaching swimming, Ms. Quy also guides children in water survival skills.

In such cases, Ms. Quy spends more time not only teaching swimming but also being close, caring, and encouraging the children to complete the movements well.

With a methodical, dedicated and sharing spirit, her class is an inspiring model in many localities in the Mekong Delta region.

Ms. Quy shared that physical education is not only a subject about physical strength, but also a way to help children develop their spirit, social skills and positive attitudes towards life.

Therefore, with the desire to improve the spiritual life of students, Ms. Quy cherishes the plan to expand other extracurricular activities such as football, badminton, etc. These activities will be associated with community projects, organizing sports exchanges between schools and volunteer activities to support disadvantaged children.

The free swimming class model of teacher Do Thi Ngoc Quy is inspiring many teachers not only in Can Tho but also in the Mekong Delta region.

Thousands of students have learned to swim from Ms. Quy's class.

Currently, Can Tho City aims to have at least 55% of fifth graders and 75% of twelfth graders know how to swim safely by 2030. Primary schools are also working to ensure that each school has at least two physical education teachers with swimming certificates.

Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Can Tho City, Le Thi Thuy Dung, said that the Department has issued a specific plan, mobilizing social resources to prevent drowning and child injuries, including supporting swimming teaching models like Ms. Quy's.

With her outstanding contributions to the profession, teacher Do Thi Ngoc Quy has received many noble awards and certificates of merit. In 2024, she was awarded the title of "Outstanding Teacher" by the Ministry of Education and Training. In 2023, she won the Second Prize in the Competition for Excellent Primary School Teachers in Binh Thuy District (old).

In 2022, she was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Prime Minister for "Having achievements in education and training from the 2017-2018 school year to the 2021-2022 school year, contributing to the cause of building socialism and defending the Fatherland". All the money from the awards and certificates of merit that Ms. Quy received, she used to fund the maintenance of the free swimming class.

From a small initiative stemming from a love for the profession and a sense of responsibility to the community, the “zero-cost” swimming class of teacher Do Thi Ngoc Quy has become an effective life skills education model, suitable for the characteristics of the western river region. Such models need timely and sustainable support from management levels so that they do not stop at a movement but truly spread and create long-term effects.

LAN ANH

Source: https://nhandan.vn/lop-day-boi-0-dong-cua-co-giao-mien-tay-post899576.html