- You are here: Home
- » Campaigns
- » What You Can Do To Help
- » Teaching Of Evolution
- Teaching of Evolution
Teaching of Evolution
Email your MP
What is happening?
Last year, we welcomed news that the previous government had introduced legislation to make evolution part of the primary curriculum. However, this legislation was later dropped when Parliament ran out of time before the election to fully debate the issues and the new government has announced its intention not to proceed with implementing the new curriculum.
The new government has, in its more general education programme, also announced that it will ensure ‘all schools have greater freedom over the curriculum’. We are concerned that this will mean that there will be less evolution taught in schools and a greater risk that some schools, particularly ‘faith schools’ may try to introduce creationism into the science classroom.
The BHA have recently organised for a letter from twenty-six of the UK’s top scientists and science educators to be sent to the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, asking him to protect and promote science in the school curriculum. Read it here.
What can you do?
BHA supporter Dr Julian Huppert MP has tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) in Parliament which “regrets the inclusion of creationist and other pseudo-scientific theories in the teaching of science in some schools; and urges the Government to ensure that all schools teach and promote science and the scientific method and to include the theory of evolution in the science curriculum at both primary and secondary levels.” Early Day Motions help to demonstrate the extent of parliamentary support for a particular cause or point of view so it is very important to get as many MP’s to sign as possible.
There are also concerns that museums are being pressured to include creationist ideas in their education materials. One museum in Ulster has already faced such pressure. Julian Huppert has also tabled an EDM (number 185) on this issue which states “that the teaching or promotion of religious beliefs should be separate from the teaching or promotion of science.”
You can use the BHA’s automated system to Email Your MP to ask them to sign EDMs 243 and 185 on ‘science education in schools’ and the ‘Ulster museum exhibition.’
