Australia Although creationist views are popular among
religious education teachers and creationist teaching materials have been distributed by volunteers in some schools in
Australia, many Australian
scientists take an aggressive stance supporting the right of teachers to teach the theory of evolution, unhindered by religious restrictions.
Brazil In
Brazil, teaching of creationism in scientific education classes is forbidden by the
Ministry of Education (MEC). Religious education is not forbidden as such, but the federal constitution states that the union can neither impose, nor promote, nor finance any religion, because by law Brazil is a
secular state. In 2004 however, teachers of religious education classes in schools of the education department of
Rio de Janeiro began to present creationism in their classes as scientific fact. The practice was directly initiated by politicians in power who were promoting their personal religious views, and their action moved Brazilian scientists to protest the abuse. For example, a Brazilian senator,
Marcelo Crivella, the former
Minister of Fishing and Aquaculture, publicly declared his religiously founded antagonism to evolution. Such prominent influences have drawn the attention of the defenders of the secular state.
China Evolutionary theory is part of the public education in the
People's Republic of China. As private religious schools are rare, nearly all students receiving primary and secondary education in Mainland China receive education that includes evolutionary theory. However, one study has identified limitations with the textbooks used in Mainland China, including the absence of topics covered in other countries such as the USSR and the USA.
Council of Europe On October 4, 2007, the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted its Resolution 1580 titled "The dangers of creationism in education". The resolution observed that "The war on the theory of evolution and on its proponents most often originates in forms of religious extremism closely linked to extreme right-wing political movements," and urged member states "firmly oppose the teaching of creationism as a scientific discipline on an equal footing with the theory of evolution and in general the presentation of creationist ideas in any discipline other than religion."
Denmark On April 25, 2007, Member of Parliament
Martin Henriksen (
Danish People's Party) asked
Education Minister Bertel Haarder (
Liberal Party of Denmark) for information about how many educational institutions had received
The Atlas of Creation (2006) by
Harun Yahya. The minister responded that the Ministry of Education was not in possession of information about the number of educational institutions that had received the book. Further, he stated that the choice of educational materials is decided by local school boards. Moreover, it is his view that the end goal of primary school biology instruction is to enable students to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to explain the basic elements of
heredity and evolution and to address the issues related to the biological coursework. In interview sessions during 2002, less than 10% of the interviewed Danes declared the theory of evolution as being definitely false.
Hungary Evolution was accepted by the Hungarian education system soon after Darwin wrote about it.
India From April 2023, content on evolution was removed from science textbooks. According to India's National Council for Education, Research and Training (NCERT), this decision was made to lighten students' workload following the Covid-19 pandemic. In the broader sociopolitical context, some
Hindu-nationalist politicians had recently been expressing skepticism about evolution, despite a longer history of compatibility between
Hindu views and the theory of evolution. Many scientists and educators were critical of the deletion of evolution-related material from textbooks.
Iran Iranian
scientific development, especially the health-related aspects of
biology, has been a goal of the Islamic government since the
Iranian Revolution of 1979. Since Iranian traditional practice of
Shi'a religion isn't preoccupied with
Qur'anic literalism as in case of fundamentalist
Wahhabism but
ijtihad, many influential Iranian Shi'ite scholars, including several who were closely involved in the Iranian Revolution, are not opposed to evolutionary ideas in general, disagreeing that evolution necessarily conflicts with the
Muslim mainstream.
Japan The theory of evolution is taught in Japan as part of the education policy. The teaching of evolution began already under the
Japanese Empire, and the first academic lecture on evolution was given at
Tokyo Imperial University by American biology expert Edward Morse on September 12, 1877.
Netherlands In the
Netherlands some factions teach creationism in their own schools, besides evolution. In May 2005, a discussion on intelligent design erupted when
Minister of Education Maria van der Hoeven suggested that debate about intelligent design might encourage discourse between the country's various religious groups. She sought to "stimulate an academic debate" on the subject. Following strong objection from some scientists, she dropped plans of holding a conference on the matter.
Norway In 1986, Norway's then-
Minister of Church and Education Affairs Kjell Magne Bondevik proposed new education plans for the elementary and middle school levels which included skepticism of the theory of evolution and would hold that a final answer to the origin of mankind was unknown. The proposal was withdrawn after it had generated controversy.
Pakistan Although it has been claimed that evolution is not taught in
Pakistani universities; the
Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, which is the federal body which sets standards of course content, has knowledge and understanding of evolution as being compulsory for several courses such as
microbiology,
bioinformatics,
zoology,
botany as well as others. In 2006, the
Pakistan Academy of Sciences became a signatory of the
InterAcademy Panel Statement on "The teaching of evolution." Many of the contemporary titles on the
creation–evolution controversy, such as those by
biologist Richard Dawkins, are available for general sale.
Poland Poland saw a controversy over creationism in 2006 when Deputy Education Minister
Mirosław Orzechowski denounced evolution as a lie taught in Polish schools. His superior,
Minister of National Education Roman Giertych, has stated that the theory of evolution would continue to be taught in Polish schools, "as long as most scientists in our country say that it is the right theory." Giertych's father,
Member of the European Parliament Maciej Giertych, has however opposed the teaching of evolution and has claimed that "in every culture there are indications that we remember
dinosaurs. The Scots have
Nessie; we Poles have the
Wawel dragon."
Romania In 1998, Ioan Moisin, a
Christian Democratic senator and a Greek Catholic priest, called upon
Romania's
Ministry of Education to establish a commission of Catholics who would revise biology textbooks and philosophical textbooks to not contradict
Biblical creationism. Moisin disapproved of students learning from their religious teachers that
God created
human beings and then learning the contrary from biology and philosophy teachers that humans and
apes descend from a
common ancestor as a product of evolution by Darwinian
natural selection. Moisin's proposal to establish the commission also sought to form a Council of
Public Morality that would feature representatives composed of teachers and clergy, to oversee public education, and to be subordinated only to the direct authority of the
President of Romania. Romania's
Parliament and Ministry of Education never seriously considered the latter proposals. However, starting the year 2006 and ongoing Darwinian evolution was discontinued from newly printed school books throughout the country without being reintroduced.
Russia In December 2006, a schoolgirl in
Saint Petersburg,
Russia, and her father took the issue of the teaching of evolution in Russian schools to court. The
Russian Ministry of Education supports the theory of evolution. Representatives of the
Russian Orthodox Church backed the suit. In February 2007, the first instance court, and in July, the second instance court, ruled in favour of the Ministry. In August 2014 the Mayor of
Kazan,
Il'sur Metshin, expressed surprise at schools teaching the "theory of Darwin". He added that he intended to raise the question of the school curriculum at the federal level.
Saudi Arabia As a religious state,
Saudi Arabia has denied the theory of evolution in their science education. Science textbooks approved by the
Saudi Ministry of Education have associated Darwin with
Western philosophy which they reject and perceive to be "problematic". Saudi's denial of evolution originated from the lack of
secularization in the nation, the continuing development of its
education system, and its homogenic religious population.
Sheikh Saad al-Shithri, a religious scholar, stated that
"the recommendation is to set up sharia committees at this university to oversee these studies and look into what violates the sharia (
Islamic law)"
. As an Islamist state, Saudi education policies are centered around an Islamic worldview. This is referenced in various science textbooks, such a 6th grade textbook teaching
divine creation by citing a Quran verse that states "we have indeed created man with the best of moulds". "After a deluge of protest from scientists, teachers and opposition parties" says the
BBC report, Čolić's deputy, Milan Brdar, made the statement, "I have come here to confirm
Charles Darwin is still alive" and announced that the decision was reversed. Čolić resigned after the government said that she had caused "problems that had started to reflect on the work of the entire government."
South Korea The theory of evolution is part of the educational curriculum in public schools in South Korea. However, in 2012, South Korean Ministry of Education announced that many high-school textbooks would be revised to remove certain examples of evolution, such as of the horse and the dinosaur
Archaeopteryx, following a petition by a creationist group. The changes were limited to removal or revision of certain examples
Turkey In
Turkey, a country where the majority of population is Muslim, evolution is often a controversial subject. Evolution was added to the school curriculum shortly after the
Turkish Revolution of the 1920s and 30s. There was some resistance to this, such as that of
Said Nursî and his followers, but opposition was not particularly powerful. In the 1980s, conservatives came into power, and used the ideas of
scientific creationists in the
US as a method of discrediting evolution (notwithstanding material on the
age of the Earth, which
Islamic creationism is less specific about). One anti-evolutionist group in Turkey is the
Istanbul based
Bilim Araştırma Vakfı (BAV), or "Science Research Foundation," which was founded by
Adnan Oktar in 1990. Its activities include campaigns against the teaching of evolution. It has been described as one of the strongest anti-evolution organizations outside of
North America. US based creationist organizations such as the
Institute for Creation Research (ICR) have worked alongside them. Some scientists have protested that anti-evolution books published by this group (such as
The Evolution Deceit (1999) by Harun Yahya) have become more influential than real biology textbooks. The teaching of evolution in high schools has been fought by Ali Gören, a member of parliament and professor of medicine, who believes such education has negative effects. The situation is very fragile, and the status of evolution in education varies from one government to the next. For example, in 1985 the
Minister of National Education, Youth and Sports Vehbi Dinçerler had scientific creationism added to high school texts, and also had the discredited
Lamarckism presented alongside
Darwinism. Only in 1998 was this changed somewhat, with texts presenting a more balanced view, though still mentioning creationism and Lamarckism. In April 2008, the defendant was acquitted by a court and a judge ruled against banning the book due to the fact that it limited
freedom of thought. Turkish academics who have defended evolutionary theory have received
death threats, for instance Turkish biologist Aykut Kence received an email telling him to enjoy his "final days."
United Kingdom In each of the countries of the
United Kingdom, there is an agreed syllabus for religious education with the right of parents to withdraw their children from these lessons. The religious education syllabus does not involve teaching creationism, but rather teaching the central tenets of major world faiths. At the same time, the teaching of evolution is compulsory in publicly funded schools. For instance, the
National Curriculum for
England requires that students at
Key Stage 4 (14–16) be taught: • that the fossil record is evidence for evolution • how variation and selection may lead to evolution or extinction Similar requirements exist in
Scotland,
Wales and
Northern Ireland. In 2003, the
Emmanuel Schools Foundation (previously the Vardy Foundation after its founder,
Sir Peter Vardy) sponsored a number of "faith-based" academies where evolution and creationist ideas would be taught side-by-side in science classes. This caused a considerable amount of controversy. The former
Archbishop of Canterbury,
Rowan Williams, has expressed his view that creationism should not be taught in schools. An organisation called
Truth in Science has distributed teaching packs of creationist information to schools, and claims that fifty-nine schools are using the packs as "a useful classroom resource." The government has stated that "Neither intelligent design nor creationism are recognised scientific theories and they are not included in the science curriculum. The Truth in Science information pack is therefore not an appropriate resource to support the science curriculum." It is arranging to communicate this message directly to schools. The teaching of creationism and intelligent design in schools in the UK is being opposed by the
British Centre for Science Education (BCSE). Some
Democratic Unionist Party DUP politicians have called for
creationism to be taught in schools.
United States In the United States, creationists and proponents of evolution are engaged in a long-standing battle over the legal status of creation and evolution in the public school science classroom. The
Edwards v. Aguillard ruling of the Supreme Court set a
Lemon test that limits teaching of creationism in government run schools. However, as of 2014 at least 13 US states allow pro-creationist content to be taught either in
charter schools or private schools that are at least partially supported by government funding. The 2022 Supreme Court ruling of
Carson v. Makin necessitating that a
school voucher program must not exclude religious private schools may prevent any state with a voucher program from preventing voucher money being provided to schools that teach creationism. ==See also==