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Leading experts and scientists are calling on the Welsh Government to ban the teaching of creationism as science.

The 46 scientists and educators, including Sir David Attenborough , want to ensure that students are taught evolution at primary school and to explicitly ban the teaching of creationism as science in all Welsh state schools.

The Welsh Government's draft national curriculum does not teach children evolution until ages 14 and 15 and, at present, allows creationism and pseudoscience to be taught as science in all schools.

This is not the case in England where evolution is taught at primary level and schools are forbidden from teaching creationism as scientific fact.

What the letter says The letter, whose signatures include Sir David Attenborough, Humanists UK and its President Professor Alice Roberts, the British Science Association, the Association for Science Education, the Campaign for Science and Engineering, Revd Professor Michael Reiss, said: "As scientists and educators we believe that good science teaching is vital to the education and development of all children, wherever they live in the UK. We note the Welsh Government is currently consulting on a new national curriculum that will drastically overhaul education in Wales, including science education. The new Science and Technology Area of Learning and Experience (AoLE) doesn’t explicitly prohibit presenting creationism and other pseudoscientific theories as evidence-based, and evolution is only mentioned once (and only at secondary level at that). "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution. It is a fundamental concept that describes and explains the development of the diversity of life on the planet. Pupils should be introduced to it early – certainly at primary level – as it underpins so much else. What’s more, without an explicit ban on teaching creationism, intelligent design, and other pseudoscientific theories as evidence-based, such teaching may begin to creep into the school curriculum, when it is vital children in Wales are not exposed to pseudoscientific doctrines masquerading as science. "State schools in England, including primary schools, are already required to teach evolution ‘as a comprehensive, coherent, and extensively evidenced theory’, and ‘must not allow any view or theory to be taught as evidence-based if it is contrary to scientific or historical evidence or explanations’. We urge the Welsh Government to introduce the same requirements in Wales. "The currently proposed curriculum reforms will see more flexibility given to schools over what is taught, and Humanists UK is concerned that teaching creationism as science could become possible where currently it is more difficult. This campaign, if successful, would prevent that possibility."

Darwin's theory of evolution is well established scientific fact and is as widely accepted as gravity as being correct. At the moment some independent faith schools in Wales do teach creationism as an alternative to evolution.

They will not be affected by any potential ban as they are not a state school.

There are concerns that if a ban is not introduced the integrity of science teaching and young Welsh people's critical thinking will be under threat.

What is creationism? Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life and humans began with supernatural acts of divine creation. It has been presented an "alternative theory" to evolution.

Kathy Riddick is a coordiater at Wales Humanists who helped organise the letter.

She said: "Under the current draft Welsh national curriculum, there is no ban on teaching creationism as science. Coupled with the fact that the curriculum will allow schools much more flexibility over what they teach, this is very worrying, as it could make it much easier for a school, such as a religious school, to openly teach creationism as science.

"This would deny Welsh students the right to a high quality, evidence-based education that enables them to understand how life came to be, to reason scientifically, and to be equipped to tackle misinformation in everyday life.

"We urge the Welsh Government to follow a similar approach to that in England which introduces the teaching of evolution in primary school and makes it explicit that schools cannot teach creationism as scientific fact."

A Welsh Government man said: "Under the current and the new curriculum it is expected that all pupils will be taught evolution. It is wholly incorrect to claim that evolution will only be introduced at 14 -16. We believe that providing children with an understanding of evolution at an early age will help lay foundations for a better understanding of wider scientific concepts later on.

"We note that Humanists UK have broadly welcomed the new draft Curriculum for Wales 2022 and have explicitly said it will mean Wales is ‘leading the way’ in the UK on these issues.”