EVOLUTION IN SCHOOLS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 731, 2 August 1929, Page 11

EVOLUTION IN SCHOOLS

POSITION MISUNDERSTOOD STATEMENT BY MINISTER (From Our Own CorrespondentJ HAMILTON. Today. That the position regarding the teaching of Evolution in schools is misunderstood is indicated in the following letter which the Hamilton branch of the New Zealand Bible League has received from the Minister of Education, the Hon. H. Atmore: “I have to say that the intention of the author of the syllabus has been misunderstood. There is no intention that the theory of Evolution, in its connection with the ancestry of man, should be taught in our schools. The subject of the theory of Evolution is highly controversial ami touches the religious beliefs of a large section of the community, and for those reasons is quite unsuitable for a school subject. . , , _ “Further, the evidence involved in a consideration of this theory jS far bevond the comprehension of the children of our schools, and therefore it is quite unlikely that teachers will extract a wrong meaning from the reference in the syllabus. “The intention of the syllabus is that children should be led by a first-hand study of nature to discover some part, however small, of the wonderful plan of creation, gaining thereby an increased love and reverence for the Creator. “With reference to the books of Van Loon, I have to state that these works were placed in the bibliography for reference, but the Government does not in any way guarantee the correctness or otherwise of the statements contained in the books in question, or any books which might contain controversial matter.”