I agree with Rae, most parents will be working, if kids are learning during weekdays, and have depend on their Mum-in-laws or maids to bring their kids to swimming lessons, so does that mean that the old granny needs to go into the pool too? Hee..
My kids started learning swimming at 2 years plus with a group of 5, the coach did not request any parents to be in the pool as he knows how to handle them.
I have surveyed many schools, only those infant swimming courses, whereby students are just a few months old, then the parents need to be inside the pool. Kids from 2 years onwards, coaches have a way to handle and coach them and they dun THROW them into the pool! Kids sure to swallow some water somehow, (even adults) when they learn swimming, if everything is so smooth in the learning process, then the world is so great!
If the childcare couldn't handle a group of kids, they shouldn't operate in the 1st place as this is the basic requirement. If every kid must have a personal teacher looking after him/her, it will be very costly then. Hee..
If any parent is concern about the safety of the kid learning swimming and without parent inside the pool, then i suggest that u choose PRIVATE lesson, 1-1. In that way, coach attention is all to your DD, so no need to worry.