子[こ]どもの時[とき]、学校[がっこう]にプールがありましたか。Did you go to school with a swimming pool when you were young?
私[わたし]は日本[にほん]で小学校[しょうがっこう]、中学校[ちゅうがっこう]、高校[こうこう]に行[い]きました。どの学校[がっこう]にも25メートルのプールがありました。行[い]った学校[がっこう]は、公立[こうりつ] (= public)学校[がっこう]です。今日[きょう]、朝日[あさひ]新聞[しんぶん]の記事[きじ] (= article)を読[よ]んで初[はじ]めて、その理由[りゆう]を知[し]りました。日本[にほん]は、「一校一プール」という原則[げんそく] (= principle)があったのです。ビックリ!! 日本語[にほんご]が読[よ]めない人[ひと]も、この記事[きじ]を見[み]てください。この記事[きじ]にはグラフがあります。このグラフは、日本[にほん]の学校[がっこう]のプール整備率[せいびりつ] (= possession rate)を示[しめ]しています。オレンジ色[いろ]の線[せん] (= line)が小学校[しょうがっこう]の整備率[せいびりつ]です。
今[いま]、多[おお]くの学校[がっこう]に問題[もんだい]があります。それは、プールが古[ふる]くなっていて、修理[しゅうり] (= repair)が必要[ひつよう]なんです。プールの修理[しゅうり]はお金[かね]がかかります(= it costs a lot)。じゃあどうするか?－はい、みなさんのご想像[そうぞう]通[どお]り(= as you guess)、いくつかの学校[がっこう]で1つのプールを共有[きょうゆう]したり(= to share)、外[そと]の水泳[すいえい]教室[きょうしつ] (= swimming lesson)をしている会社[かいしゃ] (= company)にお願[ねが]いしたりしています。
このような変化[へんか]に問題[もんだい]があります。それは、その代理[だいり] の(= alternative)やり方[かた] (= method)について、特[とく]に決[き]まり(= rule; regulation)がないことです。水泳[すいえい]は大切[たいせつ]な子[こ]どもの教育[きょういく] (= education)の1つです。どの子[こ]ども(= each child)も、泳[およ]ぎ方[かた]を学[まな]ぶ機会[きかい] (= chance)が必要[ひつよう]です。
私[わたし]は子[こ]どもの時[とき]、とても恵[めぐ]まれていた(= was privileged)のだなあ～、と今[いま]強[つよ]く思[おも]います。
I went to an elementary school and high school in Japan and both had a 25m swimming pool. Those schools are public schools. Today I learnt the background of this swimming pool-situation in Japan; according to Asahi Shimbun Newspaper, the Japanese government used to have “a swimming pool per school” policy. That’s why both schools I went had a swimming pool; I did not know that. Please have a look at this page; there is a graph showing swimming pool possession rate in Japanese schools. You can understand the rate is quite high even if you do not understand Japanese language (by the way, the orange line in the graph shows the rate in elementary schools in Japan).
Now many schools are facing problems with their old swimming pool; as you know, nothing lasts forever and those pools now need repair. That sort of repair would not be cheap. What do those schools do? – yes, your guess is right; they have started sharing a swimming pool with some other schools and/or outsourcing. Quite a few private swimming schools now take in charge for their swimming lessons.
This situation could cause all sorts of problems as there is no particular regulation on how the schools should handle the situation after "a swimming pool per school" policy more or less collapsed. Each school/local government handles its situation on its own judgement. Would it be okay? – maybe. Maybe not.
Swimming is a very important part of kids education and every one of them has to be assured for his/her learning opportunities.
I can now really appreciate my childhood – we were all privileged to have our own school swimming pool!