London - Britain's first state-funded Hindu school in Harrow is all set to welcome its first batch of 30 pupils from September 2008.
The school, called the Krishna-Avanti Primary School, will open one year group in the first year. It will add 30 students every year until 2016 when it will have the nursery and 210 primary school pupils.
Harrow has the highest Hindu concentration of any borough in the United Kingdom. It is home to over 40,000 Hindus representing 19.6 per cent of the Harrow population.
Naina Parmar, the school's head teacher, said: "We aim to create an effective, calm and happy learning environment where the vision and mission statements are lived by combining the wisdom of Vedic teachings and exemplary professional practice."
The Department of Education and Skills announced the Hindu faith school in November 2005. It is being built at a cost of 10 million pounds by the I-Foundation, a leading Hindu charity organisation.
Nitesh Gor, director of I-Foundation, said: "The school aims to give Hindu parents a choice of school that is consistent with their faith. At present, voluntary aided schools exist for every other major religion in the UK and it is right that the Hindu community is not denied this option in the education of their children."
He added: "It will have a strong environment aspect, including teaching outdoors, in accordance with traditional Hindu ways of teaching and learning."
The school is working in affiliation with ISKCON (the International Society for Krishna Consciousness) as the official faith advisor.
