About four lakh girl students will will undergo a three-month-long training in self-defence. more-in Among the adverse circumstances faced by girl students in the secondary education sector, security is paramount. The State government, through the Rashtriya Madhyamika Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), aims to address the issue by imparting them training in self-defence skills. Come August, some 3,88,909 girl students of ninth and tenth classes drawn from the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalas (KGBV, a scheme launched to set up residential schools for girls from SC, ST, OBC and Minority communities, at upper primary level), model schools, mandal and zilla parishad schools, municipal schools, government schools and schools run by welfare departments, will undergo a three-month-long training. Private martial art training academies and institutions are being roped in to equip the girls with the wherewithal to protect themselves. The project is jointly funded by the Central and the State governments. The objective is also to improve attendance of girl students in the secondary schools. “This is also meant to spread the message to perpetrators of violence against the fairer sex that the latter will not take it lying down any more. This would also serve the dual purpose of girls attaining physical fitness besides becoming self-confident,” said an official of the School Education Department. The three-month-long programme comprises 30 classes and each class will be of 90 minutes duration. The training will focus on the historical background of Karate-do and principles of ki-ai (super power); vulnerable areas of the body; body conditioning and flexibility exercises, different types of stances, punches, hooks and balancing acts besides blocking techniques (uke-waza) and kicks; different kata forms; self-defence tactics and advanced exercises of kumites. The learners will get to master one-step sparring techniques (ippon-kumite), three-step sparring techniques (samban-kumite), pre-planning fighting (kyo- kushi-kukumite; no-contact fighting; full contact fighting with guards (ju-kumite); contest sparring techniques (shiahi-kumite) and specialised training in katas; karate teaching methods and kodudo weapons training. The training will commence on August 1 and conclude on October 31. “The programme will give multiple results as the learners could groom a strong character through the skills, improve their concentration, master coordination of reflexes, bring in discipline and calm in their lives,” said the official.

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