Outcry as Turkey moves Darwin’s theory from curriculum

A move by the Turkish education ministry to remove evolution from the national school curriculum has sparked an outcry and accusations the government is “brainwashing” students. The government says the change – part of a broad revision of the school curriculum – will modernise learning. But critics see it has a step back from scientific rigour towards creationism by the Islamic-rooted authorities under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The head of the Turkish education board, Alparslan Durmus, said in a video message evolution would no longer be taught in biology lessons in high schools from September onwards as it was “controversial”. The theory – formulated by Charles Darwin in the 19th century as the theory of natural selection – would be studied from university-level onwards. The change is not the only shift in a planned curriculum overhaul that will be implemented by 2019. The move comes after Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said in January the theory of evolution was “a scientifically obsolete and rotten theory”. Education Minister Ismet Yilmaz said the new curriculum – approved by Erdogan – would “give children a much better education”. The goal was to ensure “our children and students do not just use knowledge and technology but at the same time will create” them, Yilmaz said, quoted by Dogan news agency on June 27. ‘Dangerous, backward’Feray Aytekin Aydogan, head of the secular Egitim-Sen teachers’ union, described the move to remove evolution as “backward, dangerous”. Aydogan said the move would make Turkey compare unfavourably with Iran, where she said students received 60 hours of lessons on evolution and 11 hours on Darwin. “We will not surrender to the darkness. We will continue to promote scientific education,” said Aydogan whose union represents over 100,000 education and science workers. Critics say there will also be fewer mentions in the new curriculum of the Turkish Republic’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who set up the modern secular Republic in 1923 out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire.