After a series of water-related accidents involving international students, Canada’s colleges and universities are being urged to provide water-saftey training to them, reports CBC News. A student from South Korea studying at Okanagan College is in critical condition after nearly drowning last Friday. The college says it plans to start a water-safety program soon. A student from China drowned earlier this month in British Columbia, while a student from Kenya, studying at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, drowned in May. A survey released earlier this month by the Lifesaving Society of Canada found that people who are new to Canada are four times more likely to drown.
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3 Responses to Canadian Colleges Are Urged to Teach Water Safety to Foreign Students
wnlureg - July 29, 2010 at 8:42 am
US colleges should never have given up on required swimming. Some of us (I’m at W&L) have, for over 100 years, required graduating students to possess at least rudimentary skills for dealing with situations where they are literally in over their heads. Just another of the learning experiences.
hansonb - July 29, 2010 at 9:15 am
Just recently had a similar discussion with my college age daughters who were surprised to hear that colleges once required that all students pass a swim test to graduate. I too wish colleges would again require that all students have at least drown proofing skills.
elyria - July 29, 2010 at 10:25 am
I agree…but it looks like the drownproofing needs to come during orientation week, not tied to graduation.