It is not surprising if parents think twice before sending their girl child to school after frequent incidents of sexual harassment on students in State. Understanding the concern, Scheduled Tribe Pre-Metric Girls’ Hostel at Aladangady, near Guruvayanakere of Belthangady taluk has started teaching Karate skills to all 50 students of the hostel, belonging to Class VI to SSLC, under its ‘Vyakthithva Manthana’ programme.
The first phase of the Karate training programme was finished during interim holidays in October. In its first of its kind programme, Karate teacher from Belthangady Vasanth K Bangera taught the basics of the art for six days. The hostel has plans to continue the programme during next holidays. “At present, there is no separate fund from the government for the purpose. However, Panchayat Development Officer Prakash Shetty Noccha had sponsored the honorarium for the Karate teacher,” Hostel Superintendent Hemalatha told Deccan Herald.
Talk to parents
The hostel also organised special talk to the parents of the girl students. Advocate Vasanth Marakkada and Belthangady Station Inspector Lingappa Poojary delivered awareness talk to them about the steps needs to be taken if any unfortunate incident happens with their kin.
It included tips about dress code, self defence skills and legal procedures like filing First Information Report (FIR) etc.
“The main objective of this interaction programme is to develop courage among girls to express themselves if anything goes wrong with them. In a separate meeting with parents, we have conveyed our intentions behind organising Karate classes so that they can also motivate their children. They were also told about various government facilities available to ST community girls,” the Superintendent said.
In the month of November, the hostel will organise special training programme for SSLC students on examination preparation.
Meanwhile, the hostel would get volleyball, handball and Kho kho courts by the end of November. The hostel is already made its name by its unique dressing room concept for students, kitchen garden where variety of vegetables are grown, sophisticated library and various other facilities.