Sikh Grammar School in Rouse Hill in Sydney will welcome students of all backgrounds
It is a good news story for the Indian Australian community, particularly, the Sikh community based in New South Wales and in the North West of Sydney. Sikh Grammar School in Rouse Hill will be the first Sikh school in the area and will be built with the estimated cost of $200 million which will be entirely funded by the members of the Sikh Community.
The local community leaders hope the school will be capable of educating and producing future Indian-Australian judges, politicians and sports stars.
The NSW government has given its seal of approval for its construction. The school will welcome students of all backgrounds but is expected to attract more children with an Indian heritage given the mix of population in its close proximity.
According to the plans, the school will not only teach students from kindergarten to year 12, it will also have boarding facilities and a Sikh temple.
The school’s website (Sikh Grammar School) said there were few younger people from the Indian subcontinent in national or state sporting teams, Parliament, media or the legal system.
“We wish to develop all round ability and personality of our next generation. Each child can have special interest or abilities that need to be developed to exploit their full potential in the area of the interest of the child. Most of the parents in our community wish their children to be in medical, engineering or information technology professions. Currently there are not many people from the younger generation from the Indian subcontinent in any of the following professions:
- Australian national or state sporting teams.
- Judges or magistrates
- Members of state or national Parliament
- Australian of the year, nationally or state based
- National or international prize winners including nobel prize
- Scientists or inventors
- Media personalities
- Leaders in law enforcement
“This school will invest time, attention and money to create leaders of tomorrow in all of the above and other fields. No other school will invest resources in this respect whereas we will create special focus areas based on the interest of the students and their families and invite specialists in the field to achieve this ambitious goal.”
The website goes further:
“If we want our students in the national/state cricket team, we will select students to provide them elite bowling and batting coaches. These coaches will not be hired by any other school … only a school of our size and vision can hire them to deliver the results.”
The school website has a lot of detailed information including various stages of its development with estimated completion to be in 2023.
Why a Sikh School?
Currently, over 100,000 people of South Asian origin including Sikhs live in Blacktown and other adjoining council areas. About 50% of them are in the age group of 25 to 40 years, having school going children. There is enormous support for this school. All funds raised have been donated by the community.
“This emphasises the need for a school that can fulfil their academic, cultural, sporting and religious aspirations. This school will aspire to fill this vacuum…”.
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Rob Stokes, said the school would be built near Tallawong metro station, on the north-west line.
The group conducted a survey in Sydney to get a sense of the demand for this school. Out of a pool of about 600 families, majority of the parents were willing to send their children to this school.
According to the school’s website, “there has been an overwhelming growth of the Sikh community in Sydney, in particular within the vicinity of the school land, thus increasing the potential student availability for the school.”
The support for the school project has come from not only within New South Wales, it has come from the whole of Australia, and globally from Indians living in New Zealand, USA, Canada, Singapore, Thailand, UAE, and Europe.
“The school will not only to impart the highest quality academic education, but also to teach them their mother tongue, the values of respect, sharing and taking care of others, including their elders, and to enhance their sporting, cultural, and all-round abilities” says the school website.
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