Hindu School Thrives in London

February 10, 2005

Source: The Independent

http://education.independent.co.uk/schools/story.jsp?story=609413

On February 10, 2005 The Independent reported, "The Swaminarayan School, the only Hindu school in the Independent Schools Council, has blended the unchanging values of an ancient faith with the relentless demands of modern education, to create a warm and happy school - with exam results to die for... But back in the 1980s the picture was very different. The school, in north-west London, was an anarchic and failing Brent comprehensive. The authorities finally threw in the towel, closed it down and sold the site to be a car-park. But then, among the run-down flats and semis of Neasden, a fabulous transformation began to occur. The Swaminarayan Hindu community had been worshipping at a small temple in north London, but as the numbers of Indians in Britain grew, they acquired a new site and planned a stupendous temple. This was no small-scale project... the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, the largest Hindu temple outside the Indian subcontinent, [was built]... When, in 1992, as the temple began to take shape, the school site across the road became available, the community bought it, refurbished it, and opened the first Hindu school in Europe."