Australia prepares to open first Hindu school. It’s a notable victory for the country’s burgeoning Hindu community of almost 800,000 strong. This new public schoolhouse is in Oakville, part of the Hawkesbury district in New South Wales. It seeks to provide an environment for Hindu children to practice their faith and culture without any fear of persecution. Construction of the new school is tentatively scheduled to begin in 2025, with an opening date projected for 2027.
The new school will be located on a two-hectare block the community bought last year. In the first phase, it will provide education from Kindergarten through Year Two of college. As demand increases, it hopes to go up to Year 12. According to the release, the project’s estimated cost will be awarded at approximately $35 million. In order to support these construction efforts, the federal government has pledged $8.5 million in federal grant funding.
As our country continues to become more religiously diverse, the interest from families across all walks of life is palpable for these educational opportunities that align with their cultural values. The creation of a consolidated, mainstream Hindu school is a huge relief. It will focus on key tenets of Hinduism such as Ahimsa (non-violence) and Dharma (discipline). Yoga and meditation will be core aspects of the curriculum, focused on helping to improve students’ physical and mental well-being.
To some, that sounded like an impossible dream. Surinder Jain, one of the principal architects of the effort, remembered thinking at the time, “I really don’t think we’ll ever get a school of our own. Then, a group of motivated parents came together, funded the effort, and said, “We’re going to launch a Hindu school!
The Hindu Education and Cultural Centre has been very involved in the development of this school. They’re just about to launch their first development application process next month. Kiran Sampathkumar, another supporter of the project, spoke on his desire to create a safe place for Hindu children.
“I saw a lot of the boys were able to really, they used to go to the same churches together on a Sunday so they built a brotherhood that I sort of have not seen with Hindu kids in Sydney as yet,” Sampathkumar remarked. “It just provides that safe space for Hindu kids to come and bring the sort of food that you eat at home and you can wear your ‘thilak’ when you come to school and you’re not really going to be afraid someone is going to judge or ask you all these hard questions.”
It is understood that the school would, and should, foster their cultural identity, in addition to offering them a full, rich, academic education. Anupriya Mehra, another proponent for the school, underlined the importance of honoring personal identity while engaging in scholarly exchange.
“It will give them a sense of cultural identity, of course it’s going to be the same academic education and everything else which they are going to be exposed to but it is important to kind of value your own individual identity which is what we want our children to be able to do,” Mehra said.
Parents and community members have already started pitching in to help pay their way to join the new initiative. Sampathkumar noted that contributions are coming from various segments of the community, including young students who are participating in fundraising efforts.
“Not only the elders, or the people who have just been settled in or the new migrants, everybody started chipping in, even now there are new, young students who are contributing $100 per month and this process is continuing,” said Sampathkumar.
As for the school’s leadership, they are clearly excited about the school’s future enrollment potential. Both charter leaders said they plan to begin with one class per grade and grow further as demand dictates. We hope we can develop something which is more than just a learning school, which is more than a community gathering place, a place for people to come together and make sure that the future generation of Australians, Hindu Australians sort of gain a lot of motivation and education from this place,” said Rahul Jethi.
Surinder Jain explained that learning about what one believes is an important first step. The first step toward being a good Hindu or a good Christian, or a good member of any other religion for that matter is learning what it is. That’s the vision this school will be imparting,” he continued.
