This is not the first time such a tragedy has occurred.
Last May, in Phu Tho, 9 students invited each other to go bird hunting and then went down to the Lo River to swim, just a few minutes later, 5 students permanently did not return.
On June 26, two biological brothers aged 7 and 8 in Dak Mil commune (Lam Dong), invited each other to swim in a pond in the garden and then drowned.
Tragic drowning incidents keep repeating, and then after each painful time, people regret it with the two words "if only".
If only they knew how to swim, if only they had learned how to recognize dangerous waters, if only they had been equipped with the skills to save themselves and save friends.
According to statistics, on average, Vietnam has nearly 2,000 children dying from drowning each year, belonging to the group of countries with the highest rate of child drowning deaths in the Western Pacific region.
What is worth thinking about is that our country has a dense system of rivers and lakes, children in rural areas live close to the water environment every day, but many children do not know how to swim.
Education cannot just stop at teaching knowledge, but also helps people know how to live safely, know how to adapt to life and know how to protect themselves.
Teaching swimming is teaching life skills, teaching survival ability.
The Ministry of Education and Training's implementation of a safe swimming program for students is the right direction. The program is designed according to each level of education, from getting acquainted with water, safety skills, swimming techniques, self-rescue and first aid for drowning people.
The swimming teaching program needs to become a substantively organized content, with conditions to ensure that all students can access it.
To do that, we cannot just rely on the school.
Local authorities need to continue to review points at risk of drowning, install warning signs and barriers in particularly dangerous areas.
The education sector needs to coordinate with localities, unions and businesses to invest in swimming pools, especially in rural and mountainous areas, where conditions are still scarce.
Socialization of swimming teaching must aim for the goal that all children have the opportunity to learn to swim, not just those who have the means.
Parents regularly remind their children of the risk of drowning, and especially invest time for their children to learn to swim.
Five female students in Lam Dong no longer have the opportunity to return to school. Society needs to act to stop the tragic losses.
