Every secondary school has been invited to sign up to a transcendental meditation programme. The twice-daily programme, which was founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1958 and whose followers include the musicians Sheryl Crow and Moby, will be offered to help schools tackle pupils' behaviour.
The Maharishi Foundation claims its techniques will calm pupils, make them more attentive to work and can even mitigate some of the problems experienced by Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder sufferers.
But critics will say it is another step in the expansion of a multi-million-pound global empire built on the fees charged for training in the technique.
Schools will be offered training over the space of a year in a programme that normally costs £340 per person. But subsidies are being offered as part of an international drive funded by the filmmaker David Lynch to encourage children to meditate.
Lynch has launched a campaign to pay for "consciousness-based" education around the world, including a concert in New York on 4 April that will see former devotees Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr reunited for the first time in seven years.
The technique involves adults meditating for 20 minutes morning and night and children for 10 minutes twice a day. Its proponents say it is not a religion or a philosophy.
The movement also has many critics on the internet, including former followers who dispute its claims to be a non-religious movement and question the fees charged for the training.