Skip navigation

Regional Equality & Diversity Partnership


Font size and colour changer:
A A A [ · ] [ · ] [ · ] [ · ][ · ]

First Hindu school for Leicester is given the go-ahead

Summary: Leicester's first Hindu school has been given the green light to open in September.

The Krishna-Avanti Primary will be one of the coalition Government's new "free" schools – set up by charities, parents or teachers outside local authority control but paid for by the state.

The I-Foundation, an education charity behind the new primary, said its first intake will be 60 reception-age pupils but that it aimed to provide 420 places for children aged four to 11 by 2018.

Half of the new intake will be Hindu and the other half children who live nearest the Spencefield Lane site, regardless of faith.

Children will follow the national curriculum but their day will also include daily Hindu prayers, a vegetarian diet plus yoga and meditation.

Education Secretary Michael Gove confirmed on Friday that proposals for the Hindu school had been approved.

Pradip Gajjar, project director, said: "This is the final administrative hurdle we needed to jump to be able to get our school open later this year. "Now it is full steam ahead to create a beautiful facility, with an innovative and stimulating curriculum and an outstanding staff team.

"Naina Parmar, the head teacher of our hugely successful sister school in Harrow, will be guiding us along the way and her track record is second to none.

"We hope to enable pupils to enjoy learning, develop character and competence, and prepare for the responsibilities of adult life in contemporary Britain regardless of their faith or non-faith backgrounds."

Krishna-Avanti, at Evington Hall in Spencefield Lane, Leicester, will be the UK's first "cross-community" school.

Evington Hall was the home of Leicester Grammar Junior School until 2007. It is set in five acres of grounds and there are plans to overhaul the playground.

Prospective parents are being invited along to an open day on February 6 from 11am.

Mr Gajjar said it would give people a chance to find out more about the school's ethos and aims.

They will also hear from Naina Parmar, head teacher of its sister school in Harrow, about the curriculum development and teaching plans.

The Harrow school has five applicants for every one place.

Capital funding for the school will come from the Government. It will be funded via the local education authority, in the same way as most other schools, but money will go directly to the school.

Source: Leicester Mercury

All pages in this section:
© 2010 REDP. Contact us: c/o LCIL, 2nd Floor, 5-9 Upper Brown Street, Leicester LE1 5TE Sitemap - Access keys