Girls in 60 govt schools get martial arts training

New Delhi: With no let up in incidents of crime against women, Delhi Government has started imparting training on various martial arts like karate, taekwondo and judo to girls studying in 60 schools run by it.

Girls studying in 60 government schools are being trained in Karate, Taekwondo, Judo, Wushu, Jeet Kune-do and Sqay Martial by qualified trainers. Officials said 6,000 girl students have already been trained. The students on Tuesday displayed their competence at a function organised at Thyagraj Stadium in the presence of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. Impressed by performance of the girls who have completed their training, Dikshit said learning martial arts was of paramount importance for self-defence for girls. "The government would like to offer martial arts training in more and more schools at the earliest in order to cover all government schools in a phased manner. The government would also like to sanction nutritional support for the girls undergoing such training so that they could remain healthy," said Dikshit. Speaking on the occasion, Education Minister Kiran Walia said the initiative was taken to make the girl students confident. She said the martial art training for the girls was started earlier this year. The Chief Minister also presented cash awards to 22 outstanding sportspersons for their performance in various national and international events. PTI