Slough (KP) – This month the Slough Sikh Education Trust announced a site that they wish to purchase to make a Sikh secondary school. The site is an old school that has been shut down for three years, situated on Stoke Road in Slough. The Trust received just under 2000 letters of support for the secondary school project. The Slough Sikh community hope that under the Government’s Free Schools policy they can bring the capital funds from the Department of Education to help the community in this project.
Members of the Trust recently met with Slough officials to discuss the possibility of a Sikh secondary school however they have stated that the site in question has been selected for creating social housing and a football stadium. The Trust is worried that if the only remaining secondary school site is sold for houses then there will be no sites available to build any new schools.
“We are very disappointed with the current stance that Slough Borough Council is taking, where they are saying they are too far down the road to turn back even though there are no contractual obligations. There are more than 10,000 Sikhs in Slough and the council should listen to their demands” said Nick Singh Kandola.
The Sikh community living in Berkshire are urged to write to their local MP and councillors to urge them to support the proposal for a Sikh secondary school as it would benefit not only the Sikh community but the wider community also, especially with the shortage of secondary schools in the area.
For more information on this project, contact Hardip Singh: Tel: 07588 928910. Email: info@khalsaacademy.com.
This comes down to $$$, the local council are thinking how much tax revenues they will get from a couple of hundred houses. Housing taxes, kickbacks from developers, 're-development' cash, jobs creation from local stores etc..
Then look at a religious school, already faith schools arouse controversy among the general population. They will get a lot less money from the school than they will from housing which is great demand in the southeast.