By Kim Bo-eun
Publishers of six science textbooks for high school students plan to delete or revise content on the archaeopteryx — an extinct primitive bird, officials said Friday.
Three of them will also remove text on the evolution of horses.
The decision came after Christian creationist groups filed a petition last December with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to delete the entry about the archaeopteryx, which is considered evidence of evolution, from high school textbooks.
They claimed it contained incorrect information; that the archaeopteryx had not evolved from a reptile into a bird as currently stated in textbooks, but that recent studies suggested it was a kind of dinosaur with feathers.
The ministry conveyed their opinion to seven publishers of which six decided to delete or revise the related content.
Publishers are currently working on the revised versions of the textbooks, which will come out by the end of September. They are to submit the revised material early next month to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.
This is the latest development in a dispute between Christian groups and the Korean Association of Biological Sciences (KABS) over textbooks content on evolution.
Under the current textbook publication system, publishers can edit material at their discretion, as long as the changes conform to the guidelines set by the ministry. The current national curriculum for biology is based on Darwinism, but it doesn’t stipulate details of what should be taught.
Scientists have urged the government to ignore the creationists’ objections, and in July, the KABS submitted its own petition to the ministry saying these were based on religious beliefs, not science.
The clash between the two sides attracted great attention not only from domestic media but also the science journal Nature, which wrote about the issue.
The ministry said at the time it would set guidelines for publishers to follow by collecting opinions from experts.
KABS declined to comment on the issue.
Meanwhile, decisions on the publication of other controversial material were also made ahead of the deadline.
The poet-turned-lawmaker Do Jong-hwan’s poems and the works of Ahn Cheol-soo, an entrepreneur-turned-professor who has emerged as one of the strongest possible presidential contenders, will remain in textbooks.
These had recently sparked a heated debate as questions were raised about the political neutrality of textbooks that carry works by politicians.