Rijiju, Irani launch online training programme for women PE teachers, coaches

New Delhi: Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and Women and Child Development minister Smriti Irani on Monday launched an online training programme exclusively for female physical education teachers and community coaches to celebrate International Women’s Day.

According to a Sports Authority of India (SAI) release, the initiative, which is a convergence of the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ and ‘Fit India’ programmes, aims to empower women teachers in primary, secondary and senior secondary schools by giving them fitness training so that they can, in turn, empower students.

The programme has a registered participation of 12,500 PE Teachers and community coaches, who will be imparted training for free.

The online program will have a total of 28 sessions (in Hindi and English) i.e., two sessions of 90 minutes each daily and will commence from Monday till March 26.

Elaborating on the collaborative events planned ahead, Rijiju said, ”This online training programme is the first of many of projects that the ministries will organise together. In the second half of the year, when the COVID situation is completely under control, we have planned to organise Girls’ Super Leagues in kho kho, basketball, kabaddi and football in association with MoWDC.”

Speaking at the event, Irani added: ”I understand that women’s participation in the Khelo India Games has gone up by 160 per cent between 2018 to 2020 and I would like to thank Shri Rijiju for executing the vision of our Honourable PM so well. Going forward, through the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao and Khelo India initiatives, we would like to support and promote our female athletes.”

With this initiative, Fit India and WCD aim to provide an opportunity for women teachers to learn from the best trainers not just in India but from the world over and in the process empower them in the field of physical fitness and health.

On the occasion, the Fit India Mission also organised an All Women’s Fit India Walkathon on Monday morning, where thousands of volunteers participated in the event held in 1000 locations across India.

Rijiju flagged off the Walkathon at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here.