Sikh school plan rejected

A Sikh primary opened in London in 1993 and is now state-run

Education officers have thrown out plans to open a Sikh primary school for children in Berkshire.

The £6m school in Slough would have been only the second primary in England dedicated to the faith.

Slough Borough Council schools committee voted against the project to build the school next to St. Ethelbert's Catholic Primary School in Wellington Street.

But Sikh parents now have the right to ask an independent adjudicator to review the decision.

Some parents opposed the plan, fearing it would force at least two non-religious schools to close because they would not be left with enough pupils.

Racial tensions

They were also concerned that a single-faith school might cause racial tensions, although one in every five of its pupils would have come from other backgrounds.

Slough has the highest percentage of Sikh residents in England, making up 9.1% of the town's population, according to national census figures.

The country's first Sikh primary school was the Guru Nanak Primary in Hayes, Greater London, which opened in January 1993.

The school became state-run in 1999 and now has 216 pupils.