Girls of classes nine and 10 in government high schools have taken to karate training for self defence, introduced by the Department of Public Instruction, in large numbers in the district.
The 12-hour karate self defence training spread over two months began early this month. A total of 7,125 girls in 106 high schools in the district are receiving this training imparted by Black Belt Karate masters.
The training was made possible after the Union government released Rs. 3.18 lakh to the Department of Public Instruction under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shishkan Abhiyan scheme.
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P. Nagaraj, Deputy Project Coordinator of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), said that after the Nirbhaya incident in New Delhi in 2012, the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development came up with the idea of providing self defence training to female students and allocated funds for it.
“As many as 35 karate masters have been hired to provide training to girls of classes nine and 10. Each karate teacher gives training in two to five schools. Each of them will get Rs. 15,000 as fees for conducting 12 training classes,” he said.
The training is imparted twice a week to the students. Since the physical education teachers too are involved in the training, they would provide additional practice in karate for the students during the games or sports hour.
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There has been a good response to the training. Rooparekha H., Assistant Headmistress of Volakadu Government High School, said the girls were so interested in the training that they eagerly awaited their karate classes. “In fact, the demand for karate classes had come from the girls,” she said.
What do the students feel about it? Sharnya Ballal, a student of class nine at the school, said she and her friends were delighted to receive the training. “The karate teachers are really good. Besides teaching the basics of karate, they are teaching us how we should defend ourselves in different situations,” she said.
Her friend Ashrita Acharya, said the self-defence training had increased her self-confidence. “The teachers have taught us how we should handle trouble-makers while travelling in buses,” she said.
Another student Rakhi R. Shet said that after learning the basics, she now wanted to learn more in karate. “My friends and I are all happy about getting the training,” she said.