Marikavalasa tribal school sit-in rejects the Centre of Excellence shift

On Monday, 31 August 2026, parents, tribal organisations and political representatives staged a sit-in at the Andhra Pradesh Tribal Welfare Residential School for boys at Marikavalasa on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam. Their demand was blunt: keep the gurukulam running as a school, and withdraw GO-69 that clears the path to convert the campus into a Centre of Excellence. Rain did not break the dharna.

The state government’s stated purpose is to create free residential coaching for Scheduled Tribe students aiming at JEE and NEET. APTWREIS secretary M. Gowthami has said a transparent process is meant to raise ST representation in IITs, NITs and medical colleges. Tribal Welfare secretary M.M. Nayak and Collector Abhishek Kishore have defended the conversion. Reporting also places Marikavalasa among six Centres of Excellence being set up statewide for ST students, with Physics Wallah selected through bidding and a cited capacity of 600 intermediate students — 300 boys and 300 girls.

The human friction is the relocation of children already studying at Marikavalasa. Minister Gummidi Sandhya Rani had earlier said 445 students were shifted in phases, with 411 already placed in other schools and 34 remaining, allegedly influenced by opposition and tribal groups. An earlier published account put relocated numbers differently — 232 in one tally, including 77 to APSWREIS campuses at Srikrishnapuram, Sabbavaram and Devarapalli, and 128 to APTWR schools as per preference. Those figures do not match across reports. This cutting therefore records both published counts and refuses to invent a single reconciled total.

Monday’s protesters included MLC Kumbha Ravi Babu, former minister P. Balraju (also referred to as Pasupuleti Balaraju), Visakhapatnam Zilla Parishad chairperson J. Subhadra, former Paderu MLA Bhagyalakshmi, and former Vizianagaram Zilla Parishad chairperson Swathi. Police detained AP Girijana Sangham leader Appala Narsa and CITU leader Rajkumar when they tried to join. RDO Sangeetha Madhur and ACP Venkata Rao asked for talks. Protesters demanded that cases registered under the SC/ST Act be withdrawn and warned of a larger agitation if the school’s conversion proceeded without consent.

The Marikavalasa dispute is therefore not a simple argument against coaching. It is an argument about whether an existing tribal residential school community can be relocated to make room for a new excellence campus, even when the new campus is framed as a benefit for ST students. Supporters see scarce coaching seats and a path into national entrance exams. Opponents see a neighbourhood school emptied, children moved in phases, and a government order that outran local consent.

Until GO-69 is withdrawn or the conversion is completed and accepted, Marikavalasa will remain a test of how Andhra Pradesh balances targeted excellence infrastructure with the everyday continuity of tribal residential schooling. Monday’s sit-in put that test on the road outside the campus gates.