Junior High Schools in Iwate Pref. City to Stop Swimming Class; Central Govt Opposed to the Decision

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:47 JST, February 20, 2025

A city in Iwate Prefecture has decided to end practical swimming classes at all six of its junior high schools from April.

The Takizawa city board of education gave aging pools, increasing absences, heatstroke risk and consideration for gender issues as reasons for the abandonment. But the Japan Sports Agency said: “All these reasons are weak, and the decision is unprecedented nationwide. The matter should be carefully considered.”

According to the education board, the number of absences from swimming lessons due to poor health conditions, among other reasons, have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, partly because the board had urged junior high schools to “respect the requests of students and parents.” At one junior high school, 36% of students were absent from swimming lessons in the 2023 school year.

The Courses of Study includes swimming as a compulsory subject, and the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry stipulates in its guidelines that schools must cover how to prevent swimming accidents.

Instead of swimming classes, junior high schools in Takizawa will expand classes on preventing water accidents, such as teaching cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), from April, according to the city.

“Swimming classes are vital for protecting children’s lives around water. Classes must be held while instructing students to not miss the classes,” Iwate University Prof. Shigeyuki Shimizu, who specializes in physical and health education, said.