---
title: "Creation and evolution in public education"
chunk: 1/5
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_and_evolution_in_public_education"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:29:59.849061+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

The status of creation and evolution in public education has been the subject of substantial debate and conflict in legal, political, and religious circles. Globally, there are a wide variety of views on the topic. Most western countries have legislation that mandates only evolutionary biology is to be taught in the appropriate scientific syllabuses.

== Overview ==

While many Christian denominations do not raise theological objections to the modern evolutionary synthesis as an explanation for the present forms of life on planet Earth, various socially conservative, traditionalist, and fundamentalist religious sects and political groups within Christianity and Islam have objected vehemently to the study and teaching of biological evolution. Some adherents of these Christian and Islamic religious sects or political groups are passionately opposed to the consensus view of the scientific community. Literal interpretations of religious texts are the greatest cause of conflict with evolutionary and cosmological investigations and conclusions.
Internationally, biological evolution is taught in science courses with limited controversy, with the exception of a few areas of the United States and several Muslim-majority countries, primarily Turkey. In the United States, the Supreme Court has ruled the teaching of creationism as science in public schools to be unconstitutional, irrespective of how it may be purveyed in theological or religious instruction. In the United States, intelligent design (ID) has been represented as an alternative explanation to evolution in recent decades, but its "demonstrably religious, cultural, and legal missions" have been ruled unconstitutional by a lower court.

== By country ==

=== 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.

An essential element in the teaching of science is the encouragement of students and teachers to critically appraise the evidence for notions being taught as science. The Society states unequivocally that the dogmatic teaching of notions such as Creationism within a science curriculum stifles the development of critical thinking patterns in the developing mind and seriously compromises the best interests of objective public education. This could eventually hamper the advancement of science and technology as students take their places as leaders of future generations.

=== 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. Subsequently, in congress a "religious bench," or faction, has become increasingly influential. 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.