Professor Richard Dawkins and Sir David Attenborough have scored a victory over creationists after anti-evolution groups try passing creationism off as science in classrooms. (Guardian news article)
Free schools in the UK are state-funded and don’t necessarily have to follow the national curriculum. Creationists have tried abusing this set up in order to get funding from the government to then effectively spend on classes teaching creationism as science. One group is ignorantly called Truth is Science, and encourages teachers to incorporate intelligent design into their science curriculum. It’s also sent free resources to all secondary schools and sixth-form colleges.
Dawkins stated that:
It is clear that some faith schools are ignoring the regulations and are continuing to teach myth as though it were science.
Evolution is fact, supported by evidence from a host of scientific disciplines, and we do a great disservice to our young people if we fail to teach it properly.
However, efforts from Dawkins and Attenborough, alongside the British Humanist Association (BHA) have worked to stifle creationists’ attempts at receiving funding. The Department for Education has now made an amendment to the funding agreement for free schools, which will allow funding to be taken from schools who attempt to teach creationism as science.
