by Guest

contribution by Jonny Scaramanga

A Christian fundamentalist qualification which teaches that the theory of evolution has “no scientific basis” has been declared comparable to A-levels by UK Naric.

NARIC is the UK’s National Agency responsible for providing information and opinion on vocational, academic and professional qualifications from across the world.

The International Certificate of Christian Education (ICCE) uses a curriculum that was previously criticised for claiming the Loch Ness Monster “appears to be a plesiosaur,” and that the mythical beast is evidence against evolution.



The Herald Scotland reports that they teach Nessie “has been recorded on sonar from a small submarine, described by eyewitnesses, and photographed by others.”

Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) materials form the basis for ICCE. The workbooks state scientific tests “seem to prove that homosexuality is a learned behaviour.” They claim the second law of thermodynamics disproves evolution, and teach that “if a scientific theory contradicts the Bible, then the theory is wrong and must be discarded.”

The 2012 evaluation marks the second time Naric has approved the ICCE qualifications. After Naric’s previous benchmarking of ICCE in 2008, their spokesman told the Times Educational Supplement that the study had not looked at content, only academic rigour.

The rigour of ICCE tests has also been questioned by critics however. Writing in the Australian Journal of Education, Professors Cathy Speck and David Prideaux said options on ACE multiple choice tests are often “meaningless”. One example: ‘Jesus died on the [cross, toss, chrome]”

Other questions from a year 10 ACE history test seen for this piece for Liberal Conspiracy include:

“True or false: Our peace – as Christians – is in Jesus Christ.” “The very next event on God’s calendar is the __________ Coming of Jesus Christ.”

a. First b. Second c. Sixth “The leader of the Katanga Province was _________________.”

a. Patrick Henry b. Mohammed Ali c. Moise Tshombe

In the past, ACE curriculum materials have also come under fire for racism. The TES reported that ACE materials claimed apartheid was beneficial.

In a training booklet for ACE staff, future teachers are told, “It’s interesting that in the African primitive languages there is no word for wisdom. We in the West find that surprising, but you see, the idea of wisdom came through the Biblical channels of the Judaeo-Christian religion and filtered into all of western culture and society.”

UK Naric points out that its recognition is not for the ACE materials in isolation, but for the ICCE as a whole, which requires students to complete additional essays and science projects.

The ICCE General Certificate is comparable to Cambridge International O-Level standard, while the Advanced Certificate is comparable to Cambridge International A-Level standard. UK Naric is operated by ECCTIS Ltd., on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills (BIS).

Daniel Govender, of ACE UK distributors Christian Education Europe, said organisation would not comment to the press on the content of the texts.

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Jonny Scaramanga researches religious education and Christian fundamentalism within the UK. He also works as a musician and music teacher.