Race divide fears over first Hindu state school

England's first Hindu state school opens its doors to pupils this month amid fears that it will fuel racial segregation.

Krishna-Avanti primary school in Edgware will have its own temple and vegetarian catering facilities.

There will also be Sanskrit lessons and yoga classes for pupils.

The primary and attached nursery will accommodate 236 children and comes in response to demand from the Hindu community in the area.

But the project has drawn criticism. Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, warned the school would create more segregated communities.

"Until now, the Hindu community has been a pathfinder in integration," he said. "The new school will not be diverse at all, ethnically or religiously, and its opening will make surrounding community schools less diverse.

"This will deprive the new pupils of the multiplicity of other cultures and backgrounds and also deprive the schools to which they would otherwise be admitted of some excellent role models."

Krishna-Avanti is the first Hindu faith school to receive central government funding.

Ministers have backed a series of Christian city academies and offered support to Muslim and Hindu groups wishing to set up state schools, arguing that it would be discriminatory to refuse.

Mr Porteous Wood said: "The Government's obsession with opening Christian schools engenders a 'me too' attitude, and this is the result - racial and religious segregation." Nitesh Gor, chairman of governors at the school, rejected the argument, saying faith schools were popular with parents and provided a good education.

He said: "If we are going to continue to have faith schooling in this country then it is unreasonable and discriminatory to deny just a handful of Hindu parents the choice that is already available to much larger numbers of Christians, Jews,

Muslims, Sikhs and others. Faith schools have an excellent record of providing high-quality education and outperforming comparable nonfaith schools.

"By helping children to develop strong self-identities, the best faith schools also give children the confidence to play a full part in the wider community."

There are about 6,000 faith schools in England, the majority Church of England and Roman Catholic.

Krishna-Avanti's first reception class will be gin lessons on 15 September but the children will have to spend a year in temporary classrooms while its new £10million campus is built on William Ellis Playing Fields, Camrose Avenue.

Once the school is fully operational, it will have about 25 staff including 17 teachers and classroom assistants.

Priority for places will go to Hindu children but the school has been forced to drop plans that would have required parents to prove they were vegetarian and teetotal.

The school has reportedly sparked interest from across the world. Some Hindu families are also said to be considering moving to London from the Continent and India in the hope of winning places for their children.