Over five hundred people have drowned in the past eleven years with 35% of the drowning victims being school children.
That is the revelation from the Education Minister Filipe Bole who has raised concern with the figure especially since the Term Two school break draws near.
According to stats from the Fiji Police Force, for the last 11 years - 128 children under the age of 10 years died from drowning compared to 64 for older children between the ages of 11-17 years.
In total 555 people died as a result of drowning.
Bole has called on parents, guardians and care givers to be vigilant and work out a plan for the school holidays.
The Police also revealed that for this year alone, in the past six months 25 people have died with 8 of the victims being below the age of 16 years.
Bole said that parents should start enrolling their children in swimming classes and to ensure that they accompany their children to picnics.
The school holidays starts on the 20th of next month.
Story by: Paradise Tabucala
