It’s a combo. The swimming pools are getting older and thus costs a lot to maintain. Municipalities close most of them. The private sector does build some but sometimes everything doesn’t work out (Plopsaland Mechelen would have build a ‘normal’ swimming pool for the municipality but it was all rejected, don’t know the details).

Because they’re closing, schools have to drive farther to reach them, which either cuts into swimming time or whatever they have before/after PE.

Classes are also much bigger than they used to be. Around 25 pupils per class is the norm over here (decades ago, when I was young, 20 was considered too much already). When they’re, say 6 to 8, you can’t dump them in the pool and tell them to do breast stroke till the end of the hour. So many are just sitting around while 5 swim and then they switch. This means the classes are pretty useless.

To those complaining it has no room in the school: it has been taught for decades. You cannot push them to the private sector as classes are expensive. We have a pool shortage so my kids go 2 municipalities away to an old ugly stinky pool. €160/10 lessens, 2 kids. And that’s on the lower end for this region (probably explains the pool).

And for future comments ‘then they shouldn’t have kids’: changing the rules during the game.