Hindu school will not lead to racial divide, says head

Education chiefs at Britain's first Hindu state school today denied that it would fuel racial segregation.

Chairman of the governors Nitesh Gor insisted the Krishna-Avanti primary school in Harrow would not create a social rift between Hindu and other British children and said he hoped there would be more Hindu schools.

The new school - which opened its doors for the first time today - will serve only vegetarian food and incorporate Hindu music, Sanskrit lessons and exercise techniques such as yoga into its lessons.

It is operating in temporary classrooms until a new £10million campus is built on playing fields in Camrose Avenue, Edgware, and will eventually have its own temple. Initially only 25 children are starting in the first year butwhen all classes are filled the joint primary and nursery school will accommodate more than 200.

Mr Gor, director of the I-Foundation - the Hindu charity which is backing the voluntary-aided school - said: "We have been campaigning for a state Hindu school for decades.

"Now finally we have a place where parents can send their kids in the knowledge that they will be taught about their culture alongside the national curriculum. These kids are British and of the Hindu faith. We are simply offering them a normal education with a Hindu background. There's nothing sinister going on. Our critics would do well to wait and see how we get on before making wild allegations and assumptions that are not true."

The school has chosen not to admit children from all faiths because it says there are too few places to cater for all the Hindus. There are at least 90,000 in the north London boroughs of Harrow, Barnet and Brent.

Dr Jonathan Romain, chairman of Accord, a coalition of religious and non-religious groups, said: "Some parents will feel reassured by a school that shares their faith and cultural background, but everybody should also be aware of the impact this may have - limiting their children's knowledge of and interaction with children from other cultures, and also depriving other community schools of Hindu participation."

Alistair McBay, of the National Secular Society, said: "If you segregate people by religion you are also by definition segregating them by race. Doing this at a young age is going to condition children's friendships not just throughout school, but also throughout the rest of their lives."

Ejiro Ughwujabo, deputy head of St Mary's Catholic High School, in Croydon - which has a quarter non-Catholic pupil intake - said: "The school must ensure that its pupils are taught about British culture and are educated about other faiths as well as their own."