Toddlers, those aged 1-4, make up nearly one half of all child drownings in Asia. Toddlers are more likely to wander off while their mothers are busy with household chores. Mothers may not be used to their children being able to walk, or think others are watching them. Another key risk factor is that toddlers can drown in a bucket or any other small amount of unattended water.

For children older than five, those who can swim rarely drown. However, many can’t swim and young school aged children, those aged 5-9, account for more than one out of three child drownings in Asia. In Bangladesh, drowning was the single leading cause of death for children this age — and 86 per cent of children older than 4 who drowned couldn’t swim. Swimming becomes more critical for children this age, who are more adventurous. Barriers or supervision alone won’t stop them exploring water.

Drownings drop off by more than 50 per cent for children aged 10 –14, with an estimated 4,500 drownings per year, and again for late adolescents, 15-17, with 300 drownings. Children this age are more likely to be able to swim, or to be swimming with children who can.

Almost 90% of the 1-4 year old age group drowned within 100 metres of their home and 47% drowned within 10 metres of their home.

Anchor Moy wrote: ↑Sun Jun 09, 2019 7:56 pm

Username Taken wrote: ↑Sun Jun 09, 2019 7:00 pm Maybe the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport could introduce compulsory swimming lessons into the school curriculum.

That would be a good start to tackling the problem. When I ask parents about swimming lessons for the kids, most of them (parents) don't really know how to swim or even stay afloat.

Username Taken wrote: ↑Mon Jun 10, 2019 9:47 am Sounds like you work for the ministry, hanno.

Let's not bother looking for solutions.