FIFE Sports and Leisure Trust are "absolutely confident" that they can fit in extra swimming lessons for school pupils.
Councillors were concerned that competing demands - there is already pressure at places like Carnegie Leisure Centre with clubs, the public and learners all vying for pool time - would prove a problem if they agreed the proposals.
But trust chief executive Emma Walker said the suggested slots are at "off-peak times" and it'll get easier when Cowdenbeath Leisure Centre, which is currently closed for an £8 million refurbishment, re-opens in the Autumn.
She added: "Programming capacity is always going to be a balancing act between club hours, which is really strong in Fife, your public swimming, as well as your learn to swim programme and now this school swimming.
"But I'm absolutely confident that we can do that within the infrastructure we have, especially with Cowdenbeath pool coming back."
The closure of Cowdenbeath Leisure Centre, for an £8m refurb, has put extra pressure on the Carnegie Leisure Centre in Dunfermline. (Image: Newsquest) READ MORE: Burst Crossford pipe has been 'wasting water for over a year'
At the education scrutiny committee, five options were put forward to provide swimming lessons for primary school children in Fife.
The trust will work with the council to deliver the programmes.
Committee convener, Councillor Kathleen Leslie, explained: "At the moment there is no legislative requirement to provide swimming lessons for our young people and there is no budget allocated to swimming provision.
"However swimming is a life skill and almost 30 per cent of our P7 children cannot swim, according to the results of a survey carried out in June last year.
"We are therefore keen to explore different options to help more of our young people learn to swim."
A working group was set up last year to look at providing lessons, taking into consideration time, cost and availability of facilities.
The five options will now be presented to the council's cabinet committee for further discussion and decisions.
Dunfermline Central councillor Aude Boubaker-Calder. (Image: Newsquest) Dunfermline councillor Aude Boubaker-Calder wants every child to be able to swim by the time they leave primary school and tabled a motion on the "priority" issue back in March 2023.
While pleased with the "positive" progress, she said none of the proposed options allow swimming to take place during the school day as part of the PE curriculum, something she believes could lead to reduced participation, particularly among pupils in lower-income families.
She added: "Swimming is not just about safety. It’s about health, confidence and equity of opportunity.
"My ultimate goal remains to see swimming fully embedded in the PE curriculum for all pupils.
"This is a national issue as much as a local one.
"If we’re serious about giving every child the chance to learn to swim, we need to make space for it in the school day, and that will take leadership from the Scottish Government."
The five options
Option 1 would be delivered as extracurricular (after-school) provision, with each pupil receiving an eight-week block of lessons, each session lasting 60 minutes.
There would be 34 classes per week across nine venues, with 400 children per block, and, excluding transport costs, this would come to £132,448.
Option 2 would be delivered at "an appropriate time at the end of the school day", utilising quieter facility times and seeing pupils finish their school day early.
Approximate transport costs of £128,750 push this total up to £248,198.
Option 3 would offer kids a placement within the existing Learn to Swim programme - either 500 children receiving 12-months of lessons, two separate groups of 500 children each receiving six months of lessons (1,000 kids), or two separate groups of 750 children each receiving six months of lessons (1,500 kids).
The estimated costs range from £149,600 to £214,400.
Option 4 would also offer placement within the existing Learn to Swim programme, but for four months with 500 children receiving 8.5 hours' worth of lessons over a 17-week period.
This would amount to £52,450.
Option 5 is a hybrid model, offering multiple options for families; the existing Learn to Swim programme, holiday provision and bespoke extra curricular offering for all children and young people identified as being unable to swim.
This would total £154,942 (excluding any transport costs).
The proposals are based on one year group, recommended as P5.
Share