ATTAPPADI: A raging debate is on in Attappadi on whether the Adivasi boys and girls should be given training in karate or not. The training will affect the education of the tribal students and therefore it should be discontinued or performed only during holidays. The other school of thought feels that the directive by the Integrated Tribal Project office to immediately stop the training in karate is just an excuse to keep the tribal students backward and defenseless by providing lame excuses. The Integrated Tribal Project office has issued a directive two days ago that the karate training imparted to 150 tribal students of the Agali girls hostel and the Bhoothivazhi boys hostel in Attappadi should be stopped immediately. “The prime focus of the tribal students should be to learn their lessons. When they are trained in karate in the evening sessions, they become tired and cannot pursue their studies. Moreover, the tutors visit the hostel at 4 pm and the rule states that they should go out by 6 pm. Therefore, the karate classes clash with the tuition classes and therefore it has been discontinued,” says Attapadi block panchayat president M R Sathyan, who is the president of the Hostel Management Committee. “Why focus on karate alone, the tribal students can learn volleyball, football or other games in the evening. Let them teach karate during holidays and vacations. There are 16 tribal hostels in Attappadi. The Adivasi Chindakki High School this year secured 100 per cent pass in the SSLC examination. The training in the evenings will affect the studies,” says Sathyan. Therefore we have directed that it be discontinued.“All these are lame excuses. We have been imparting training in karate to 150 tribal students for the past four months. All of them have secured yellow belts. The training is not given on all days and only when I have free time. The learning of martial arts will only supplement the academic career of the tribal students,” says Agali police station sub-inspector V Krishnankutty who has been training the 150 tribal students in karate. He says that the tribal students who live in the “oorus” have to walk long distances alone along the winding paths. The knowledge of karate is a form of self-defense for these tribal children - be it boys or girls. Many sponsors had also provided white uniforms for these children. “I had been a teacher before joining the police force. I also take tuition in English for the tribal students who were doing their SSLC. The argument that karate would hamper their studies just sounds hollow,” says Krishnankutty. “The training will increase the confidence level of the students,” says District Collector K V Mohan Kumar. “Training is being imparted in karate to the students of the Moyans Girls School and other schools in Palakkad but it did not affect the studies,” says district panchayat president T N Kandamuthan.
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