In the light of increasing number of attacks on women, about 3,500 girls of Class 9 in 106 government schools in Udupi district, will learn karate under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shikshan Abhiyan (RMSA) for about two-and-a-half months from November.
For every three schools, there will be one black belt teacher, who will train students for two days a week in each school. The RMSA unit under the Department of Public Instruction has hired 35 black belt karate trainers for this exercise, which will begin on November 2.
The physical education teachers of the schools will be present during the sessions.
“The funds are being provided by the RMSA, and amount of Rs. 4.77 lakhs will be spent on this programme,” P. Nagaraj, Deputy Project Coordinator of RMSA, told The Hindu .
The self-defence training for girls was taken up under the RMSA after the Nirbhaya incident in New Delhi in 2012.
The physical education teachers in the district received basic training in self-defence a couple of years ago.
“After the completion of the two-and-a-half months training by the karate teachers, the physical education instructors will continue to train the girls as was being done last year,” Mr. Nagaraj said.
Ravi Salian, in-charge President of Udupi District Karate Teachers Association, said, “We will emphasize on physical fitness, because no amount of training will help if there is no physical fitness.”
B. Nirmala, Headmistress of Volakadu Government High School, said there should be more karate trainers in schools having more girls in Class 9. “It is a good programme. Girls develop self-confidence and can react immediately to any emergency,” she said.
