Students of Chennai Corporation girls school undergo self-defence training

CHENNAI: Students of the Government Chennai Girls Higher Secondary School in Old Washermenpet Road underwent self-defence training as part of a campaign focused on child safety.

The campaign by a NGO – Protection and Empowerment of Naari (PENN) Trust and Chennai Port Trust – is aimed at educating children on self-defence techniques.

The ‘Udayal Padai’ wing of the Trust is a group of girl students trained in self-defence, who demonstrated techniques to over 1,000 girl students. “Students have shown interest in the workshop and some of their parents also joined their wards. The techniques are going to be effective for the girls in the future and we’re glad we were able to empower them in this manner,” said Gilda, assistant HM of the school.

The trustees said that they wanted to adopt a proactive approach towards safety of women and children through collaborations across various sectors. The Udayal Padai wing is actively engaged in training women in self-defence techniques across various sections including the underprivileged communities, corporate staff and students.

Students participated in batches of 150-200 from July 1-5 in two sessions. “Self-defence not only gives them the physical strength but also makes them mentally strong as they feel prepared to handle such unforeseen and unfortunate situations. We believe that proactive measures should be taken to protect women and instil a sense of safety in them,” said R Sathya, one of the trustees of PENN.