Andhra Pradesh Residential School, Tadikonda

The Andhra Pradesh Residential School, Tadikonda (popularly known as APRST), is one of most prestigious residential schools in Guntur, India. It was established in 1972 by the State Government of Andhra Pradesh to bring up the rural talent under Andhra Pradesh Residential Educational Institutions (APREI) Society.

Background and history

Residential education in the public sector for the rural is the contribution of the late prime minister, P.V.Narasimha Rao. Drawing cue from the concept of "Gurukulam" (గురుకులం) in the epic stories of ancient India, Mr. Rao conceived the idea of setting up residential schools in Andhra Pradesh. The idea of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas in the country are also the brainchild of Mr. Rao.

Mr. Rao, soon after becoming the Chief Minister of the State, had set up a residential school for boys at Sarvail near Samsthan Narayanpur in Nalgonda district in November, 1971.

He brought about a piece of legislation in 1972 forming the Andhra Pradesh Residential Educational Institutions (APREI) Society and had it registered under the Societies Act. This is an autonomous body with State funding. With the advent of the APREI Society, the State Government added two new schools, one at at Tadikonda in Guntur district and another Kodigenahalli in Anantapur district. With the result, all the three regions in the State, coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana had one school each.

Geography

Tadikonda is located at coord|16.4167|N|80.45|E|. [ [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/2/Tadikonda.html Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Tadikonda] ] .

APRST on Wikimapia is at http://wikimapia.org/284442/

Concept

The name of the school in local language, Telugu is Andhra Pradesh Gurukula Patasala. The school operates with the theme and inspiration of Gurukulam. Gurukulam is an ancient Indian school system where teachers and students live together in a remote natural campus setting, away from civil life.

All activities both inside the classroom and outside are carried out with tight student teacher association. Academic club membership and PE (games and sports) involvement are mandatory for each student. Students undertake rotational volunteer duties like dormitory cleanup and serving at the mess (cafeteria). From early morning PE till late evening study hour, both students and staff lead an active and involved life at APRST.

Only rural residents are eligible for admission. APREI Society conducts a common entrance test for all the rural students of Andhra Pradesh which is the criteria for student selection. APRST used to cater to the rural students from all coastal Andhra Pradesh, i.e. from, Srikakulam, Vijayanagaram, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts. Impressed with the success of the residential schools, Chief Minister N.T.Rama Rao introduced many new schools under APREIS. With the introduction of new schools, recently, the jurisdiction of the APRST has been limited to Guntur district alone.

Prayer

" Om Sahanavavatu Sahanau Bhunaktu Saha veerayam karavavahay |"
" Tejaswi navadhitamastu Ma vidvishavahay ||"
" Om Shanti Shanti Shanti |"
O Lord protect us (student and teacher) both.
O Lord nurture us both.
May we become strong together.
May what we study be invigorating.
May we never bear hatred for each other.
Om may there be peace!


ఓం సహనావవతు, సహనౌభునక్తు సహవీర్యం కరవావహై
తేజస్వినావధీతమస్తు మా విద్విషావహై ఓం శాంతి శాంతి శాంతిః

"సహనావవతు" - (గురు శిష్యులం, మనం) కలసి జీవింతుముగాక.
"సహనౌభునక్తు" - కలసి భుజింతుముగాక.
"సహవీర్యం కరవావహై" - మన శక్తులన్ని కలిపి పని చేయుదముగాక.
"తేజస్వినావధీతమస్తు" - విద్వత్తుతో వెలుగొందుదముగాక.
"మా విద్విషావహై" - మన మధ్య విద్వేషములు లేకుండుగాక.
"ఓం శాంతి శాంతి శాంతిః"

Hostel

The hostel reminds old Gurukul concept (sahanA vavatu) where both students and teacher live together. Apart from the wardent, one in-charge teacher is assigned to each dormitory room who lives (supposed to live, but not sure now how it is working, it worked until 1990) right next to the dormitory and take care of the assigned students.

Typical Day in School

Top Rankers

Notable Alumni

It is not exaggeration to say that there is field or no place on the earth where APRST alumni do not have their presence.

Entrepreneurs
P. B. Srinivas (1981)- CEO, & Founder, Sri Sai Agro Bio Labs
T Divakar (1981), MD & Co-founder Innominds Systems
MPs & MLAs
Dr. D. Shankar Rao (1983) - ex-MP, Parvatipuram 1999-2004
Civil Servants
T Dharma Rao(1975) - IAS
YBRRN Sarma( Now Y Rajendra )( 1979 )- IRS
G.Sree Harsha (1979) - Customs
S Satyanarayana (1980) - AP Group I
V Premchand(1982) - Civils
S Harikrishna(1982) - AP Group I
Kantilala Dhande (1983) - IAS
Srinivas Ankareddy (1985) - Senior Vice President,CFC
Professors
Dr. D.V.V. Ramana (Davuluri) (1983), Associate Professor & Director of Computational Biology, The Wistar Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Prof. S. Venkateswarlu (SVR) (1983), Professor & Head of Computer Science and Engineering, KLCE, Vijayawada, India.

Principals

18-08-1972- 08-10-1973 ---K.Seshu Iyanger- M.Sc, B.Ed 11-08-1973- 05-10-1973 ---C.Sambasiva Rao 06-10-1973- 10-05-1978 ---K.M.Suguna- B.A, B.T 11-05-1978- 29-07-1978 ---S.E.V.Subramanyam 30-07-1978- 28-02-1983 ---M.V.Krishna Rao- M.A, B.Ed 01-03-1983- 06-08-1983 ---P.Radha Krishna Murthy 07-08-1983- 25-10-1983 ---S.Rama Krishna Rao 26-10-1983- 23-07-1987 ---S.C.V.Subrahmanyam- M.A, B.Ed 24-07-1987- 31-12-1987 ---V.V.S.N.Acharyulu 01-01-1988- 13-06-1990 ---V.Nageswara rao- M.Sc, M.Ed, P.Hd 14-06-1990- 08-07-1990 ---K.Pitchi Babu- M.Sc, B.Ed 09-07-1990- 18-06-1991 ---P.Obaiah- M.A, M.Ed 19-07-1991- 27-08-1991 ---K.Pitchi Babu- M.Sc, B.Ed 28-08-1991- 05-08-1995 ---G.Gunabushnam Naidu- M.Sc, B.Ed 06-08-1995- 12-09-1995 ---K.Venkaiah- M.A, B.Ed

13-09-1995- 09-07-1997 ---K.Pitchi Babu- M.Sc, B.Ed 10-07-1997- 15-11-1997 ---J.Lukanandam - M.A, M.Ed, M.Phill 18-11-1997- 26-11-1997 ---M.Dhanujaya Reddy 27-11-1997- 06-07-2005 ---K.Venkaiah- M.A, B.Ed 16-07-2005---- TillDate-----G.Devakarunamma- M.A, B.Ed

Current State

Would someone like to describe the lost glory?

References

External links

* [http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/11/04/stories/2002110403210500.htm Article on school's Silver Jubilee celebrations]
* [http://www.schoolreportcards.in/seeschoolreportdetail07.asp?cmbschool=28171300609&cmbstate=28&cmbdistrict=2817 2007 School Report]