Education Secretary, Michael Gove MP officially opened the new Krishna Avanti Hindu Free School in Leicester.

The Krishna Avanti Free School project started in September 2011 and is set in the beautifully refurbished Evington Hall. It will offer a broad based curriculum, with the addition of Yoga, Meditation, Ethics & Philosophy, as well as Sanskrit.

The School is only the second Hindu school in the country - half the places are reserved for Hindus, with the other half open to children of any faith or none. It will add a new year group each year and be full with a capacity for 420 pupils by September 2017.

The gradual growth of the school will enable it to become an integral part of the community as well as enabling every child to be well known to all staff.

Opening the School, Education Secretary Michael Gove said, ‘Free Schools like Krishna Avanti Primary are helping to raise standards across the country. "Krishna Avanti provides an inclusive education with a special Hindu ethos that is rightly very popular with parents. I am delighted to have this opportunity to meet the staff and children of Krishna Avanti.’ Promised by the Conservatives before the general election and introduced by the Coalition, Free Schools are all-ability state-funded schools set up in response to what local people say they want and need in order to improve education for children in their community.

As a state funded school there are no fees.