By: Surinder Jain.
Hindu Council of Australia supports the formation of first Hindu school in Australia. Hinduism is the third largest religion in Australia, consisting of more than 684,002 followers, and representing 2.7% of the population (as at 2021 census). We expect these numbers to be around 800,000 with a significant population living in Sydney.
Despite such a large Hindu population in Sydney, there is no Hindu school to cater to the needs of Hindu children. Hindu Council and Faith Australia (also known as Better Balanced Futures) have prepared a submission highlighting the need for government funding in establishing such a school. We are working with HEACC (Hindu Education and Cultural Centre) who have taken significant steps to secure a five acre land and are in the process of acquiring the land and build a school on it.
From Left to Right : Prof Nihal Agar (Hindu Council), Alister Henskens (Shadow AG), Surinder Jain (Hindu Council), Shivakumar Rajagopalan (Heacc), Mark Speakman (Leader of opposition), Sarah Mitchell (Shadow Education Minister) and Murray Norman (Ceo, Better Balanced Futures)
The joint team of Hindu Council of Australia, Faith Australia (also known as Better Balanced Futures) along with representatives of Heacc have met with the NSW opposition team and have requested financial support for the school. The meeting was attended by Opposition leader Mark Speakman, Shadow Education Minister Sarah Mitchell and Shadow Attorney General Alister Henskens. The proposal to fund the school by a government grant was discussed at length and Hindu Council has been assured that Coalition will look at it favourably and get back to us soon.
Hindu Council and Faith Australia are also seeking further funding from the federal government to ensure that efforts to establish first Hindu school in Sydney gets a kick start.
Hindu Council calls upon all Hindus in Australia to generously contribute towards building fund of the school.
