For the first time, the State government has initiated establishment of an exclusive sports school for tribal students in Srikakulam district. The selection process for admissions will begin very soon in all the 13 districts from this academic year itself. The government wants to provide admission to around 120 tribal students who get training in various sports such as football, volleyball, archery, weightlifting and others.
They will continue academic studies also apart from getting training in sports in the Kodi Ramamurthy Stadium. The admission process will begin for fourth to seventh standard children. Currently, such a tribal school is located in Madhya Pradesh. The recently constructed youth training centre in the Government Degree College will be used as the Tribal Sports School for the next two years and later the school will be shifted to Sithampet where the government will construct a permanent building. The training centre can provide accommodation to around 200 students at a time.
Minister for Labour and Sports K. Atchannaidu said around Rs. 47 crores were sanctioned for the State- level school from SC-ST Sub-Plan funds. “The sports school will certainly helpful for the tribal children to get best training in various sports. They can participate in the State and the national-level competitions after being training under the supervision of eminent coaches.
Srikakulam District Sports Development Officer B. Srinivasa Kumar told The Hindu that the district administration had sought the permission of the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP) for the school.
“Srikakulam people are always good at sports. That is why the government wanted to promote sports by establishing an exclusive school for tribal people. The site selection process has already begun,” he said. “We are also searching for coaches who qualified in the tests of the National Institute of Sports,” he added.