The draft national curriculum does not prohibit the teaching of creationism in schools, raising questions about whether this will open the door to its promotion as a science in classrooms.
The NSW Board of Studies has explicitly ruled out the teaching of creation theory from the Bible as a science, however it allows the teaching of spiritual perspectives on creation in science classes, as long as they are not dressed up as scientific or used to substitute any curriculum content, such as the teaching of evolution.
Greens MP John Kaye said he did not oppose discussion of Aboriginal Dreamtime or Christian explanations of the world's origins in science classrooms, as long as they were presented as non-scientific beliefs.
However, while the NSW curriculum explicitly required schools to present and ''discuss evidence that present-day organisms have evolved from organisms in the distant past'' and to ''relate natural selection to the theory of evolution'', the draft national curriculum ''was remarkably silent on the connection between natural selection and the evolution of ancient species into modern forms''.
"[The state curriculum] leaves open no wriggle room to slip in religiously based views on the origin of species as science,'' Dr Kaye said.
"The draft national curriculum has left open loopholes that would allow the teaching of intelligent design and old earth creationism as science.
"While the draft national curriculum has all the right words such as the fossil history of five-fingered limbs and selection pressures, it lacks the NSW curriculum's iron-clad instruction that natural selection and evolution are the driving force behind the diversity of species.''
Dr Kaye said the reference to Dreamtime stories in the draft Australian curriculum had not encouraged confusion between belief and science. He said the existing NSW curriculum contained references to Aboriginal cultural perspectives, without raising any such confusion.
Some NSW education authorities were surprised yesterday that Barry McGaw, chairman of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, had moved to remove the reference to Aboriginal Dreamtime stories as an example of cultural understandings of the natural environment from the draft national science curriculum for students in kindergarten to year 10.
Professor McGaw said it was not necessary to prohibit the teaching of creationism as science in the national curriculum.
''We are not writing prohibitions,'' he said. ''Our curriculum will not justify teaching creationism.
''We are saying what is science. It is not our intention that intelligent design or other [metaphysical] explanations of origins be taught as part of science. Schools can teach them if they want, but not as part of science.''
Stephen O'Doherty, who heads Christian Schools Australia, said he did not support the teaching in schools of a literal interpretation of God's creation as science. However, the existing NSW syllabus did not preclude discussion of a non-scientific biblical perspective of the world's creation in science classes.
''We believe science as evidence-based inquiry must be taught. We have no quibble with teaching science,'' he said.